3000 1960's cards.... now what do I do
Luke1989
Posts: 136 ✭✭
I just inherited 3000 TOPPS early 1960's cards.
Mickey mantle, roger maris, sandy koufax, joe torre, willie mays, hank Aaron, tons and tons....
First how do I tell which are the valuable ones that need more protection and which ones should I spend the money on to get graded if any?
All these cards are in 9 card sleeves inside binders and binders and binders.... have been that way for decades.
Some of the sleeves are bubbling.
Is there a listing somewhere of the more valuable cards from the early 60's?
I also have post cereal cards and some cookie cards... these worth anything?
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Comments
First...Turn off ur PMs
Second...ebay old listing, vintagepriceguide, auction listing, ol google search..Although I'm sure you've done that
...Ask the family of the deceased why he chose you ...Sounds extensive and he was an informed collector....They could probably help ....They vs strangers would prob have your best interest at heart. And yours them.
Third...Make ur name anonymous jennifer,,sorry, i mean luke....Hard for me to keep everyone straight on here....Good luck....A lot of info here and I'm sure offers.
Fourth....Or trade for other cases, cards, sets from the same era..People on here have unopened from the '50s and '60s that they inherited and are trying to get rid of.....Just beware of everyone first
" I just inherited 3000 TOPPS early 1960's cards.
Mickey mantle, roger maris, sandy koufax, joe torre, willie mays, hank Aaron, tons and tons....
First how do I tell which are the valuable ones that need more protection and which ones should I spend the money on to get graded if any?
All these cards are in 9 card sleeves inside binders and binders and binders.... have been that way for decades.
Some of the sleeves are bubbling.
Is there a listing somewhere of the more valuable cards from the early 60's?
I also have post cereal cards and some cookie cards... these worth anything? "
Hiya Luke
Welcome!
First, I recommend you move slowly so you don't do anything rash that you might regret.
Condition is everything with respect to these cards.
What state/city do you live in?
I would start with making a complete inventory of the cards by year and number - Topps first.
You can get a "catalog" like the Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards at the book store.
It would be nice if you had someone you know/trust that has some experience of with cards to determine the grade.
If you have a scanner? You can post what you think are the more valuable cards for discussion here.
Be careful of "someone" leading you in the wrong direction if ya know what I mean?
Yeah I hear you all and appreciate the help. They are all from my dad (who is still alive) but he has no idea of value and can tell me who the HOF's are and stuff but that doesn't mean the card is valuable. My dad actually wrote down every players name and how many and what year of each player he had. He didn't write down the topps #.
He even alphabetized the teams then alphabetized the players.
With so many cards it just seems idk where to start.... do I just pick a team and start looking up cards and players on completed eBay listings and jot down the ones that sold for a lot?
And what is worth preserving more? Or getting graded a $100 roger maris card worth grading? Or a $40 card? Idk. Also the grading of cards I know can make a big difference.
For cards that old, Id use PSA for the grading service. Look up old prices on ebay for the names you know off the top of your head. Those by reason are the bigger names. higher value. Basically study the condition of what u have vs the graded condition to get a general idea. Then from that you can figure out an approximate value. Minus the grading service fee and that will tell you whether its worth submitting. Your not gonna get a $40 card graded to make literally a couple bucks after shipping and grading. A $100 roger maris card graded? thats up to you if its worth your time. over time id imagine it is.
...theres a brief tutorial of the basics to get you started..let us know how it goes,....and post pics...
Actually, post pics now and it will enable us to give u a better idea much quicker. a lot of experts here....its very easy to post pics here now..
As with any collectible condition is important. Select a few of the cards- Mantle, Maris, Mays, Aaron, etc. to view. Go to this site to get an idea of how your cards might grade. https://psacard.com/Resources/gradingstandards#cards If your 60's cards are high end then you've got something special.
You will find lots of good advice from this forum. I do not recommend sending all the cards in for grading, only stars, as the cost of grading may be high and you may not recover this by selling low grade commons. Do tons of research for raw and comparable graded cards for those you have...this will help you determine present value. From there you can keep them or sell raw or get graded or whatever. You could also consign them, but do research first to find the right auction house. Welcome to the forum!
Luke, sounds like you have a great collection. My advice would be not to rush into anything. There are many cards from the early 1960's that might be a good card to grade but the card needs to be in very high grade. The less you do the better off you will be right now until you have some direction. You might consider finding a local collector who can help you with this. Another option would be to bring the collection to a major show and meet up with someone here. Lastly, you can always meet with a knowledgeable dealer for him to review. Don't sell anything until you have a good idea of the market value. Hope this helps
Shane
Pretty cool collection.
What would you like to do with them? Do you want to keep them all? Keep some/sell some? Sell them all?
If you intend to keep any, it might be worthwhile to invest in some new sheets or holders, since the old sheets are bubbling.
Maybe take a few pics of representative cards from each year in terms of condition and post here. That would give us a solid starting point for additional advice.
Good luck. Hope to see some pics.
Luke, do you intend to even sell these down the line? i didn't see that in your comments. If you're just looking to preserve these and maximize their worth by getting them graded,i recommend posting scans of the best players here. Like HGL said above,you won't get better honest unbiased opinions on what they could possibly grade than from the members here.
If you post scans and get honest opinions here,you won't have to go into any potential meetings with someone you don't know who is probably gonna try to take advantage of you. One of the members here prevented this from happening with an older gentleman at the National who walked in with a box of older cards that were very valuable. You can read about this story here: https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/984884/collection-of-thoughts-from-the-national-amazing-story-perspective-from-a-non-baseball-guy
I say just get as much info as possible here before taking them to a local dealer,just so you have a rough idea of what you have before walking into any meeting.
Eric
Erikthredd’s MJ Collection: https://www.psacard.com/psasetregistry/publishedset/395035
Erikthredd’s Nike Air Jordan Collection: https://www.psacard.com/psasetregistry/basketball/key-card-sets/nike-poster-cards-michael-jordan-1985-1992/alltimeset/408486
Buy a recent copy of Sports Market Report (SMR) off eBay. It has prices for valuable PSA graded cards, HOF from each year as well as other cards of value. Its my go to for collecting Be sure you keep an eye out for variation cards also.
Good Luck
No need to buy a copy, it's online for free: https://www.psacard.com/smrpriceguide/baseball-card-values/13
I'm sure you could grade all Mantles, HOF rookies, etc. and do fine..... looks like a big project but a fun one at the same time.
Looking to BUY n332 1889 SF Hess cards and high grade cards from 19th century especially. "Once you have wrestled everything else in life is easy" Dan Gable
Thank you all I will post some pictures tonight of the more popular cards. And find some of the better condition cards and some cards that reflect the overall grade value of most of the cards....
Stupid question... does photocopying cards damage them in any way?
Hi Luke. I agree with the previous posters, that you seem to have one heck of a collection!
You mentioned that the cards have been in the plastic pages "for decades", and that some of the pages "are bubbling". This could signal a potential problem. Can you tell us what brand the pages are? Or just post a picture of one. Before the late 1980s-early 1990s, the plastic pages were made with PVC (poly vinyl chloride), which is oil-based. Cards could be damaged by the oils in the plastic leaching from the pages, and into the cardboard.
Also, to answer your question in your last post, photocopying the cards won't damage them at all.
Steve
Here are some cards from the Angels and Dodgers... still going through and uploading and finding the "good" ones or the valuable ones according to ebay.
I will organize them better next time i upload... lol it will go Card Front, Card Back, etc. etc. etc... so that way you can see front then back of the same card... i think some of these may be mixed up...
Next team is the Braves...
attachments is angels and front of some dogers.... the backs of the dodgers are attached above... The dodgers has Sandy Koufax cards and don drysdale.
Nothing all that valuable in what you posted because of condition. The Koufax cards might be decent depending on the fronts. They're nice, collectable cards - you just don't have any PSA 10 or high-dollar cards in there (yet).
yeah my dad liked to put his initials on some cards as well... good thing he hated the yankees though lol
finished the braves will upload in a bit... then i will just skip to the yankees.
Braves... hank aaron... dad signed one for you all so it is worth more
attached files and pictures
Thanks for the scans. This is my era of collecting too (60-69). It looks like most of what I see would be in the PSA 4-6 (good-VG) range. O course this is just a generalization for you to compare prices to on line examples. Also keep an eye out for the higher numbers during these years, as even "no name" players can bring good value due to scarcity of them.
A Few Questions:
Are you at all interested in further collecting or are you going to just hold them or sell?
Do you have any years that are close to finished sets? Are you a set builder or ???
You have been given a lot of good advice already and now you just need to take your time and weigh out your options.
Good luck...
To be honest, no direction, but...
1966-69 Topps EX+
1975 minis NrMt Kelloggs PSA 9
All Topps Heritage-Master Sets
I am not a set builder (though looking through them all I am getting the itch lol)
I think for right now I want to assess everything. Get some graded and learn how to grade. Create an excell sheet with grades and estimates on how much each card could sell for etc.
It will probably be awhile but I would like to sell the doubles and keep the highest graded cards and try to complete sets 1961-63 as those are the years I have the most cards of.