A 1948 Bowman Stan Musial rookie card, vintage cards of Mickey Mantle, Hank Aaron, and Ted Williams were proudly purchased by Just Collect. The astonishing part of this story - most of these cards of legendary players were a SUPRISE!
When Kelly reached out to us through our easy-to-use
Kelly had a collection of cards from both his and his father that spanned from the 1940's to the 1960's. In the first photo below, you can see 1948 Bowman baseball cards. Each card is black and white, and measures 2-1/16" by 2-1/2". Just 48 total cards make up this set (compared to a 2025 Topps baseball complete factory set of 700 cards!), but the checklist is a who's who of baseball glory. The key card is the first in the center row - a Stan Musial rookie card. "Stan the Man" brought his St. Louis Cardinals three World Series championships, won three MVP awards, led the league in batting seven times, and was elected to 24 All-Star teams. Talk about a great rookie card to own! Next to Musial in that row is Yogi Berra's rookie card! Berra won more World Series championships than any other player in MLB history with ten. Like Musial, Berra also won three MVP awards with the New York Yankees. Warren Spahn's rookie card follows. How good was Spahn on the mound for the Braves? Spahn led the league in wins eight times, had the best ERA three different seasons, and led the league in strikeouts four different times. A few other stars in the collection included Bob Feller, Phil Rizzuto, and Ralph Kiner.
Mickey Mantle steals the show in the second photo. These 1952 Bowman baseball cards are 2-1/8" by 3-1/8” in size and offer a painted rendition of a photo. The size of each card is bigger than the 1948 Bowman, and the set size is also vastly larger coming in at 252 total cards. The second card in the top row is of the three-time MVP, seven-time World Series champion, and New York Yankees legend, Mickey Mantle. Mantle's most famous and valuable card is the 1952 Topps rookie card. While not as valuable as the Topps rookie card, the '52 Bowman Mantle is stunning. Sandwiching the Mick is Roy Campanella on the left and Stan the Man on the right. More stars are highlighted in this photo including Pee Wee Reese, Enos Slaughter, and more!
The 1956 Topps set is one of our all-time favorite sets! Each card is horizontal and features both a portrait of each player - twice the fun. There are 340 total cards in the set and each measure 2-5/8" by 3-3/4”.As you look at the third photo below, let this historic group sink in. Ted Williams, Willie Mays, Sandy Koufax, Roberto Clemente, Mickey Mantle, Jackie Robinson, Luis Aparicio, Hank Aaron, and Pee Wee Reese. We'd be here all day if we added up the awards, championships, and accomplishments!
More 1956 Topps cards are shown in the fourth photo so you can see the amount of cards and the condition! These cards are not professionally graded, but you don't need to be an expert grader to see how nice each card looks. Condition is VERY important when determining the value of a card. Using a scale from 1 to 10 with 10 being Gem Mint perfect, the difference in just one numeric grade could be hundreds, if not thousands of dollars.
The cards in photo five are from the 1959 Topps set. Recognizable with the oval shape around each player's image, Kelly's collection of 1959 cards is another who's who of stars! Just looking at the top row you can see Frank Robinson, Sandy Koufax, Mickey Mantle, Roberto Clemente, and Whitey Ford. A 1959 Topps card is in the standard size you still see today - 2-1/2" by 3-1/2". The checklist tallies 572 cards with bright colors that pop!
Babe Ruth cards from the 1962 Topps set are in the final photo below. Topps included ten Babe Ruth cards in the 1962 set called Babe Ruth Special. These cards are numbered 135-144, and while not from his playing days (Ruth retired after the 1935 season), these are nice, Babe Ruth cards you can afford on a budget. Here is a fun question for you: would you rather have a PSA 1 1933 Goudey Babe Ruth from his playing days or a PSA 10 of a 1962 Topps card after Ruth's playing days?
Photos of the collection:
Kelly reached out to us through our
When the collection arrived, we were surprised! Looking at the 1948 Bowman cards, we found the Musial rookie. After opening the package Kelly shipped, we found star after star. Even the common player cards from the 1956 set were in such great condition, Kelly was surprised to learn the value of the entire collection! High-grade common cards from vintage sets are coveted by set collectors. Today, most collectors of modern products take base cards for granted and only chase "the hits." At Just Collect, we are always buying vintage, high-grade commons. The evaluation, appraisal, and offer took a few short days given the additional star cards Kelly shipped, but when completed, we made a fair offer which Kelly happily accepted. We then paid Kelly how he wanted to be paid! When you sell your collection to Just Collect, we can pay you in cash, company check, or wire transfer.
This isn't the first collection with a 1952 Bowman Mickey Mantle card that Dan purchased for us here at Just Collect! Just a few weeks ago, Dan purchased a collection with that '52 Bowman Mantle after a collector found us through a Google search. The collection has multiple Mantle cards and you can see them all HERE.
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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.
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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.
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If you have a valuable collection and want us to come to you, we'll hop on the next plane out.
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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!