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Yankees Hall of Fame Catcher Highlights Vintage Baseball Card Purchase

1930's Goudey, Diamond Stars, and Play Ball Cards Include Hall of Famers

June 19, 2024

A pre-war baseball card collection including multiple Hall of Fame catchers has proudly been purchased by Just Collect. From Goudey, Diamond Stars, and Play Ball cards of the 1930's is a collection highlighted by a Yankees legend. See which backstop is in the Leap of Faith Collection.

Bill Dickey is a seven-time World Series champion for the New York Yankees. As a catcher for the Bronx Bombers, Dickey played with the greatest to ever step on a baseball field: Babe Ruth. While the Babe may have stolen most of the headlines, Dickey was THE catcher of the league, making 11 All-Star teams in his career. In 1936, Dickey had a .362 batting average which was a record for a catcher until 2009! Dickey could swing the lumber; he had four consecutive seasons in which he had at least 20 home runs and 100 RBI. Before Yogi Berra donned number 8 for the pinstripes, that number belonged to Bill Dickey. In 1972, the Yankees retired number 8 for both of their Hall of Famer backstops.

THE LEAP OF FAITH COLLECTION

Lisa reached out to us through our form with a few images of cards from the 1930's and instantly we recognized the Yankee great.

Cards from three vintage, pre-war sets were included in Lisa's images. In the first two photos of the slide show below are a handful of cards from the 1934-1936 Diamond Stars set. Produced by National Chicle, a total of 108 cards were released over the span. These cards are 2-3/8" x 2-7/8" which is a little smaller than a standard card you'll find a pack today at 2.5 x 3.5". To see the year each card was released, you can flip the cards over and read stats on the back. For example, if you flip over the Bill Dickey card you see in the top row, center, of the first picture in our slide show you'll see "hit .322 in 1934." This stat indicates the Bill Dickey card is from 1935. The colorful images are eye-catching, aren't they? Lisa had 10 cards from the Diamond Stars set, each shown in images 1 and 2 below.

In images 3 and 4 are a total of 11 cards from the 1936 Goudey Premium Type 1 Wide Pen (R314) set. These black and white cards are a bit larger, measuring 3.25" x 5.5". Like the Diamond Stars cards, Goudey released the R314 cards over multiple seasons; collectors could find these cards on store shelves in both 1936 and 1937. The Type 1 release has 120 total cards. In the third image you can see FOUR Hall of Famers: Bill Dickey (elected 1954), Mickey Cochrane (1947), Charlie Gehringer (1949), and Earl Averill (1975).

The 5th and 6th photos are cards from the 1939 Play Ball set. Released by Gum, Incorporated, the black and white cards are 2.5" x 3-1/8" and tally up to 161 cards. The set is known for the Ted Williams rookie and an early card of Joe DiMaggio, but you'll need a keen eye to tell: there are no names on the front of each card! On the top row all the way to the right of the 6th photo you can see another Hall of Famer: Heinie Manush (elected 1954).

Each of these cards were found among photo albums while Lisa was cleaning out her mother's house. We always recommend checking Unexpected Places You Might Find Sports Cards. Photo albums are a great place to find cards!

Here is a slide show of each card from The Leap of Faith Collection:

THE APPRAISAL AND PURCHASE

After we received the images Lisa provided through our form, we began to review and appraise the collection. As the cards were not graded, we needed to see each card in-person. The Just Collect office is located in Summit, New Jersey which was too far for Lisa to travel for an in-person evaluation. Like many collections we have purchased over the last 25 years, we suggested that Lisa SHIP the cards. Hesitant at first, Lisa became more comfortable after we provided our FedEx account which is a two-day, fully-insured delivery. Recently, we purchased another pre-war collection of baseball cards from the 1800's that were shipped to our office. You can read that full story about the 19th Century Old Judge Collection HERE. When Lisa's collection arrived safely here at Just Collect, we found this note:

Letter

Thank you for taking the leap of faith with Just Collect, Lisa!

After properly appraising the collection in-person, we made a fair offer to Lisa which she accepted. We then paid Lisa with a company check. When you choose to sell your collection to Just Collect, we can pay you how you want to be paid. Either cash, check, or wire transfer!

Your local card shop is generally not well equipped to appraise or purchase vintage collections like this. 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. If you have a vintage card collection that you would like to sell and want to take a leap of faith, reach out to Just Collect any time - we'd love to hear from you!

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.

Travel to Us

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.

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.