Multiple rookie cards of Ted Williams and Joe DiMaggio vintage cards discovered in storage have proudly been purchased by Just Collect. An Instagram DM about 1940 Superman cards led to an incredible find of war-era cards!
Valuable collections today are often safely stored. Cards worth thousands of dollars may be in a safety deposit box, bank vault, or a temperature-controlled environment. However, at Just Collect, we have purchased many collections discovered in unexpected places! When Dave reached out regarding a collection of cards from the 1940's, not only did have have iconic cards, it turns out these cards were discovered after being forgotten in storage!
During World War II, the US began a paper drive. Starting in 1939, the country began to collect paper products that would be recycled into war-time needs such as combat equipment, food packaging, draft cards, maps, and more. When we hear about cards from 1939 and into the early 1940s, authenticity is a question as baseball cards may have been recycled for the war effort. When Dave reached out to our owner, Leighton, via Instagram, he sent a pretty generic message of "I have cards from the 1940s." Being a vintage card expert, Leighton took one look at the collection and knew these cards were not only authentic, but they were some of the greatest cards in our hobby! It's a miracle these cards were not recycled for the paper drive!
Initially, Dave mentioned he had 1940 Superman cards. Gum, Inc., released a 72-card set featuring Superman, making it the very first card set of the hero from Krypton. Dave had collected knickknacks, but didn't have a great deal of knowledge about vintage baseball cards. His son did a Google search and found us here at Just Collect, where we specialize in vintage collections. 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 Dave'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.
As we reviewed the cards, Dave told us the backstory of the collection. Dave worked with a younger coworker who knew he collected "stuff." The coworker's mom had gotten remarried and they began to clean out her first husband's storage. In the storage were stacks of cards from the late 1930s and into the 1940s including a pair of WW2 veterans and Hall of Famers, Ted Williams and Joe DiMaggio!
Ted Williams played for the Boston Red Sox from 1939-60. The Splendid Splinter hit 521 career home runs, won 2 MVP awards (1946 and 1949), and won the triple crown twice by leading the league in average, home runs, and RBI in 1942 and 1947. Teddy Ballgame also won SIX batting titles including a historic .406 average in 1941; the last player to have hit over .400 in a season. Joe DiMaggio, the Yankee Clipper, led his New York Yankees to 9 World Series championships (1936-39, 1941, 1947, and 1949-51), and won 3 MVP awards (1939, 1941, and 1947). DiMaggio hit safely in 56 consecutive games in 1941, a record that stands today. To have a player with a .406 average and a player with a 56-game hitting streak in the same season is just unreal!
Williams and DiMaggio put their baseball careers on hold to serve their Country. Williams went to flight school and earned his wings as a pilot as a Marine. He became an instructor on the F4U Corsair until the end of WWII. Later in his military career, Williams flew 39 combat missions in the Korean War! DiMaggio reached the rank of Staff Sergeant as a member of the US Army.
This collection prominently features these two legends of the game!
In the first photo below are several 1939 Play Ball cards of Ted Williams and Joe DiMaggio. Gum, Incorporated released a set of 161 cards, each measuring 2.5" x 3x1/8". You're looking at a Ted Williams rookie card! DiMaggio's rookie is from 1936, making these black and white beauties one of his earlier cards. Notice something unique about this set? This collection has THREE Williams rookies and TWO DiMaggio cards!
Play Ball added names to their cards in 1940, and you can see FIVE Joe DiMaggio and THREE Ted Williams cards from this set in the second photo. Shoeless Joe Jackson is on the end after Williams, too. Play Ball included past legends in their 240-card set this season.
In 1941, Play Ball cut their set size to just 72 cards, but added color to their set. In the third photo, you can see three DiMaggio cards and three Williams cards. DiMaggio has incredible colors with the dark sky and light green grass behind his swing. The red behind Williams pops and the shadow is unique! DO you know of any other cards where the artist knew to put a shadow in?
Gum Products, Inc., gave us a set called Double Play (R330) in 1941. The set totals 75 cards, each measuring 2.5" x 3x1/8". Two players on one card! Now you get the name Double Play. In the fourth photo are NINE Ted Williams cards (he has two cards in the set!). Not to be outdone is DiMaggio and the NINE cards you can see in the fifth photo!
Just looking at these cards bring you back to a different time in the world. Forget the fact players didn't wear helmets, and fans wore suits to the games, a brand new house only set you back $4,000 in 1939! Bread was 9 cents per loaf, and you got your daily scores from the newspaper that you paid about two cents for.
While Ted Williams and Joe DiMaggio steal the show, the War Time Era Miracle Collection had many cards from these sets. As you scroll the photos below, you can see stacks of cards from the Play Ball and Double Play sets. Big names like Mel Ott, Chuck Klein, Joe Cronin, Jimmy Foxx, Pee Wee Reese, Hank Greenberg, and more are in the collection.
FOOTBALL, TOO!
This collection also included cards from the 1948 Leaf football set. Each card measures 2-3/8" x 2-7/8" and there are 98 cards in the set. Vibrant colors are in the background with stunning reds, yellows, and blues. As you make your way to the final photo below, Hall of Famers standing out our Sammy Baugh, Sid Luckman, and Doak Walker.
Photos of the collection:
After researching on Google, Dave found us here at Just Collect. With the help from his son, Dave learned that we are always purchasing collections, especially vintage cards like Dave owned. From there, Dave reached out on our Just Collect Instagram. The message was vague; Dave states he had cards from the 1940's. Mystery cards from the 40's definitely piqued our interest! Our owner, Leighton, sent a message back to Dave and began our process to offer a
Leighton walked Dave through on how we could evaluate his collection for condition and value. We offer many ways to evaluate your collection! You're always welcome to visit our store in Summit, NJ. stop by our booths at a show or convention we're set up at, ship your collection in, and we do travel for large collections! Once Leighton and his team finished his primary evaluation based on photos, Dave and his son were happy with the numbers. They scheduled a meeting here at our office in Summit, NJ. Once Leighton saw the cards in person, he carefully reviewed each piece of cardboard history. Leighton then told Dave about the final condition of the cards, the value, and made a fair offer to purchase the entire collection. Dave accepted the offer, and Leighton then paid Dave how he wanted to be paid! When you choose to sell your collection to Just Collect, we can pay you in cash, company check, or wire transfer. Dave asked for cash, and Leighton obliged!
Do you have a collection you're interested in selling? You can reach out on Instagram, Facebook, e-mail, phone call, or just come into our store. Read below to see how you can contact us for a free appraisal today!
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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 many 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!