158 graded 1909-11 T206 cards including multiple Hall of Fame players have proudly been purchased by Just Collect! This massive collection came about after a gentleman listened to our Trading Card Therapy podcast.
The 1909-11 T206 tobacco card set is arguably the most famous set in our hobby. You may have never owned a baseball card in your life, but you have probably heard about the Honus Wagner card worth millions of dollars. The Honus Wagner card is from the T206 set! These cards were placed inside of a pack of tobacco over 100 years ago. Inside each pack was one baseball card featuring a player on the front and an advertisement for the tobacco brand on the back. These T206 cards can be even more valuable depending on the brand of tobacco they were placed in. To see the rarity of the backs, we listed all 16 brands of tobacco in order of scarcity in our Set of the Week post. Just Collect previously purchased a collection of rare Hindu back cards that you can read about HERE. Popular among collectors, T206 cards are always highly-sought after. A gentleman named Scott enjoyed collecting T206 cards until about 10 years ago. While not collecting any longer, Scott enjoys our Just Collect blogs, the YouTube content, and listens to our Trading Card Therapy podcast. Thinking it was time to sell his collection, Scott chose the company he watches and listens to! Just Collect is proud to show you the 158 graded T206 card collection we purchased!
In the first photo below, you can see the volume of this collection! A complete set of T206 cards totals 524 cards, making this collection quite the sight. Scott incredibly amassed 158 graded cards from the T206 set Each card has been graded by the top two grading companies in the hobby - PSA and SGC. Scott mentioned that he focused heavily on the centering of the cards. Which brings in more of a premium based on past sales.
As you scroll to the second photo, you see a few of the greatest baseball players ever to play the game. The first three cards are of Napoléon (Nap) Lajoie. Inducted into the baseball Hall of Fame in 1937, Lajoie put up stats that few others could. Five batting titles, a triple crown (leading the league in batting average, home runs, and RBI) in 1901, and a .339 career average puts Lajoie up there with the all-time greats. Lajoie is still 14th in all-time career hits with 3,252 despite not playing a game since 1916! In 1937, the Hall of Fame opened it's doors to Nap Lajoie. Cards with Lajoie batting, throwing, and a portrait are in the collection, each with a beautiful background. A common theme with T206 cards is the gorgeous coloring you'll see purple, yellow, red, orange, and other astonishing colors in the backgrounds and horizons of each card. After Lajoie in the first photo are a pair of aces on the mound with Christy Mathewson and Mordecai Brown. Mathewson won TWO triple crowns by leading the league in wins, strikeouts, and ERA in 1905 and 1908. In 1905, Mathewson brought his new York Giants a World Series championship. After pitching a gem of a career, Mathewson retired with 373 wins - tied for third all-time. Mathewson still ranks tied for third in all-time wins despite not throwing a pitch in 109 years! After retiring, Mathewson became a manager and brought the New York Giants a World Series championship as the skipper. In 1936, Mathewson was one of the first players ever inducted into the Hall of Fame alongside the likes of Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb. Mordecai Brown is better known by his nickname, Three Finger. A farming accident took parts of two fingers but Brown used that to his advantage in baseball and developed a menacing curveball. Brown had the best ERA in the league in 1906, had the most wins in 1908, and won back-to-back World Series championships in 1907 and 1908 with the Chicago Cubs. The Hall of Fame welcomed Brown in 1949.
While your eyes view each photo below, you see Hall of Famer after Hall of Famer. John McGraw, Willie Keeler, Chief Bender, Hughie Jennings, Sam Crawford, Joe Tinker and more jump of the page!
Photos of the collection:
Scott was aware that we buy and sell collections here at Just Collect. Having watched our YouTube channel and listened to Trading Card Therapy, Scott knows we have purchased thousands upon thousands of collections and bought and sold over 50 MILLION dollars in cards. The retail stores are focused on selling modern products and simply don't have the time or the knowledge to carefully evaluate vintage collections. This is where we are happy to help you.
Scott used our
After the evaluation, John called Scott with an offer to purchase the entire collection. Scott needed a day to think the offer over and offered to call the next day. This worked out well as John was going to be out of the office, celebrating his special birthday surprised planned by his lovely wife, Jade. In John's place, Leighton was delighted to work with Scott on the final offer. Knowing Scott was a fan of his, Leighton made two things happen - he paid Scott $58,000 for the collection and sent him a Just Collect sweater! The same sweater Leighton wore on the latest episode of Trading Card Therapy.
Using our two-day, fully-insured FedEx account, Scott shipped his collection to our Just Collect office. After reviewing carefully reviewing each card, we then mailed a company check to Scott along with his sweater! When you choose Just Collect to purchase your collection, we pay you how you want to be paid be it cash, company check, or wire transfer.
When asked why he wanted to sell his collection getting out of the hobby about ten years ago, Scott said " I decided that it's time for others to enjoy these cards that have brought me such joy collecting over the years." Thank you for choosing Just Collect, Scott!
If you want to be the one to enjoy Scott's T206 cards, we'll be offering these for sale in both our store in Summit, NJ., and in our online shop. When you hold a T206 card, just think about how much the world has changed since 1909. Players didn't wear batting helmets. Games weren't televised. The Internet was a made-up word. Ty Cobb's contract the year before these cards were produced was $4,000! In 2025, Aaron Judge made 40 million dollars. Four thousand to forty million!
Do you have a T206 collection or other cards you're interested in selling? We are always buying! Read below to see how you can contact us today.
Love this story? Check out other blogs featuring incredible collections such as:
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Just Collect is always buying vintage sports and non-sports cards from 1879 to 2009 as well as select modern cards. If you have a collection that you are considering selling, contact us today to discuss or get our industry-leading purchase offer. If you have a collection that you want appraised, please contact us and we would be happy to discuss your collection and help you understand the real cash value of your collection in the current marketplace. Check out the Just Collect Buy List.
We always offer a FREE APPRAISAL for your collection here at the Just Collect site. Just click here:
We offer may ways to evaluate your cards other than or using our website, too.
If you can make the trip here like the son from my hometown did for this collection- we can make a deal at the office. We once met a father-son duo that drove eight hours from Virginia to meet us to sell a Michael Jordan rookie card stored in Tupperware since 1986 - great read here.
We keep a LIST of card shows we'll be attending. Come stop by the Just Collect table and chat.
If you have a valuable collection and want us to come to you, we'll hop on the next plane out.
If you're near New York City and would like to meet in a public place, our owner, Leighton, would be happy to meet you; read all the information here.
If you choose to mail your cards for an appraisal, we will evaluate your cards for FREE still. If you choose not to sell the cards, we'll ship them back shipping fees paid by us! We can offer our FedEx account with 2-day shipping, fully insured, all covered by us. Simply contact the office to set up this option.
We've run into a wide range of people and collections over the last 25 years. Although Just Collect is known for buying vintage sports cards and especially vintage baseball cards, we are also extremely interested in buying non-sports cards, too!
Every collection and every collector is different and we treat EVERY collection with the respect and attention that we show for our own collections. We understand that many have put their heart and souls into building their collections. So when you're ready to sell, we understand the feelings that you're going through and will work with you to help you reach a decision that is a WIN/WIN, because if you're not happy, we're not happy.
Whether you have vintage cards or modern wax you want to sell, you can reach out to us any time!