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Written By: Kyra Trumbull

A collection of 1940s and 1950s baseball cards including rookie cards of Roberto Clemente and Hank Aaron have proudly been purchased by Just Collect. A who's who of baseball Hall of Famer cards were discovered and purchased for 5 figures!  See the iconic cards and learn about the background of this fresh-to-the-hobby collection.

THE COLLECTION

A woman named Toni reached out to us through our form on the Just Collect website. She shared the story of a young man born in 1941–the owner of this collection and her brother-in-law. Like many of us, he was a huge baseball fan and hunted down an incredible collection of cards–eventually accumulating enough to fill up several large metal cases of them!

The collection originated in Brockton, Massachusetts. “The City of Champions” — Brockton is famously associated with boxing legend Rocky Marciano. Marciano was born and raised in Brockton and retired as undefeated heavyweight champion at 49–0. After the owner passed away, his wife–20 years younger than her husband–eventually became ill and ended up telling her sister to take his cards. Toni’s only regret was that her brother-in-law’s family never had the chance to sell them while they were still alive and well enough to travel.

Ultimately, it was Toni’s husband who went through the collection card by card, pulling out several important cards including a 1955 Topps Roberto Clemente Rookie –nothing short of a veritable holy grail! Without a shadow of a doubt, it is one of the most visually striking cards in this collection and widely considered one of the best cards of the 1950s.

The 1954 Topps Hank Aaron rookie card is arguably one of the top 5 most iconic baseball cards with a bright orange background that pops. This youthful portrait of the “Hammer” was fantastic to behold. It’s almost as legendary as the Braves player himself, a man that holds Major League Baseball’s all-time records for career runs batted in (2,297), total bases (6,856), and extra-base hits (1,477), among countless other accomplishments.  

As you look at the photos below, you'll see other key cards from the collection including:

• 1948 Leaf Babe Ruth

• 1948 Leaf Joe DiMaggio

• 1953 Bowman Color Mickey Mantle

• 1953 Topps Satchel Paige 

• 1954 Topps Hank Aaron rookie
  
  
• 1954 Topps Ernie Banks rookie
  
  

• 1954 Topps Jackie Robinson

• 1956 Topps Sandy Koufax

Photos of the collection:

APPRAISAL AND PURCHASE

All in all, the collection contained approximately 100 vintage 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 like Toni's. This is where we are happy to help you! We have purchased thousands upon thousands of collections and bought and sold over 50 MILLION dollars in cards. 

After we provided her preliminary values on some of these legendary cards, Toni decided to send the entire collection to us via our shipping program through FedEx so we could evaluate it in its entirety. Our acquisition specialist, Dan, carefully evaluated the entire collection. The total retail value came to over $17,000!

The following day, we made a strong offer to Toni to purchase the entire collection, and she agreed. We then paid Toni by check. When you choose to sell your collection to Just Collect, we can pay you in cash, company check, or wire transfer. From the moment Toni contacted us to the moment she received her check, the entire process took less than 2 weeks! 

If you have an old card collection sitting in storage, an attic or basement, you never know what might be hiding inside. Reach out to Just Collect for a free appraisal–we’d be happy to take a look! As one of the most trusted names in the hobby, Just Collect has been a top buyer and seller for 20 years and is ready to talk to you today! 

INCREDIBLE COLLECTIONS PURCHASED

Check out blogs featuring incredible collections Just Collect proudly purchased such as:

• The Oregon Farm Collection with a 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle discovered in an old barn!
• Two 1979 O-Pee-Chee Wayne Gretzky rookie cards - a pair of rookies from the Great One!
• 1990's Precious Metal Gem basketball cards include some of the rarest, most sought-after cards in modern history.
• The Aaron Judge Collection with high-end one of one cards and multiple rookie autos.
• Topps Venezuela Collection including a scarce Willie Mays card.

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WE ARE ALWAYS BUYING

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 many ways to evaluate your cards other than or using our website, too.

• Come to convention

We keep a LIST of card shows we'll be attending. Come stop by the Just Collect table and chat.

• Meet in-person

If you have a valuable collection and want us to come to you, we'll hop on the next plane out.

• Meet in New York City

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.

• SHIP your collection

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.

OUR BUYING PHILOSOPHY

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.

CONTACT US ANY TIME

Whether you have vintage cards or modern wax you want to sell, you can reach out to us any time!

• JustCollect.com
• (732) 828-2261
• info@justcollect.com
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• Post right here on the blog

Written By: Kyra Trumbull