If you love collecting autographs we have a fun, old-school way of obtaining signatures. You can also learn how to get a free fan pack from teams to keep the kids interested in our hobby!
Do you remember sending fan mail to your favorite baseball players growing up? I did the same! One Christmas, I asked Santa for a book of stamps and a box of envelopes. In the back of the Price Guide magazines, I'd find the team addresses. Off went a letter to my favorite player with a SASE (self-addressed-stamped-envelope). By sending a letter, card, and another envelope addressed to me, I'd often get a signed baseball card back in the mail. Ah, the days of asking for a 27-cent stamp for Christmas. Believe it or not, some players still sign autographs through the mail and some teams even mail out FREE fan packs! Here is a little information to get you started back into a fun autograph chase.
If you love RARE cards, check out the 1915 Cracker Jack with a Shoeless Joe Jackson collection we recently proudly purchased. We are always buying vintage cards!
TOP THROUGH THE MAIL BASEBALL SIGNERS
I use a GREAT website call Sports Card Forum. On their website is a tab titled TTM Manager. Here you can search by first name or last name for an athlete as well as sort by sport. In the results you can see an addressed used to sign the autograph request to as well as statistics of successful returns based on other fan submissions. What I enjoy seeing is the "Baseball Top 25" link on the left-hand side of the site; the best 25 signers!
Scrolling through the Top 25 I see a few Hall of Famers:
- Wade Boggs 92% success return of 1,323 requests at 6006 Windham Place in Tampa Palms, FL. 33647
- Goose Gossage 98% success return of 1,078 requests at 35 Marland Dr in Colorado Springs, CO. 80906
- Mike Mussina 91% success return of 538 requests at 1302 Spruce St in Montoursville, PA. 17754
- Nolan Ryan - we mailed 1968 Topps Nolan Ryan rookie cards out for signing and they came back with beautiful signatures and inscriptions! See how to get your Nolan Ryan autographs HERE.
Some players sign for free while others request a donation. Takes me back to being the kid at Christmas - even more so waiting to see if the players will write back. Check out the full SCF site for all info and let us know if you have any success in your autograph quests! Fun fact - my last return wasn't from a baseball player, but I geeked out when Mark Harmon of NCIS wrote me back. #GIBBS
FREE FAN TEAM PACKS
SCF also provides information on Team Fan Packs. This is nice for the kids! You can send a request to teams for a little goodie bag. I wrote to the Yankees at Yankee Stadium East 161 St. and River Avenue in Bronx, NY. 10451. If I recall back came some pens and pencils, a pack of cards, a calendar, and a few other little items kids will enjoy. Though, if you read that returns on SCF, some fans received the stadium giveaways including replica rings - awesome.
Shout out to SCF for having all of this info up; really enjoyed writing to players again.
If you're looking to sell your autograph collection, you have come to right place; Just Collect is buying! We recently purchased a dual-signed baseball of Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig that belonged to their Yankees teammate! We'd love to speak with you regarding your collection.
WE ARE ALWAYS BUYING
Just Collect is always buying vintage sports and non-sports cards from 1879 to 1979 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.
We have another location in New York you can meet us at; 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.
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!