NYT: 20 Million Cards: A Sports Memorabilia Gold Mine Uncovered in Virginia

[bbcard1]

I am looking at a smaller but still very large collection from the 50s through the mid 70s plus a bunch of 80s an 90s stuff. I would probably keep it in a "bubble" and try to liquidate it all at a mild profit, not really cross-pollinating it with my collection (I do expect to upgrade some singles in sets but nothing significant). It's just a lot of chopping for the wood you get out of it. He's trying to negotiate and I would probably be as interested in backing out as I am in negotiating. I haven't seen a single card worth more than $50 or so.

I do expect from the collection in the NYTimes there may be a Jordan rookie or two and probably some semi-desirable sets but I don't think it will make any difference in the hobby.

[doug.goodman]

Certainly it's possible that there is some value hidden in one or more of those boxes, but I'm betting that those cards aren't worth what it would cost to ship them across the street.

Doug

[Peter_Spaeth]

Owner estimates 10,000 Michael Jordan cards.

So not all junk:
The collection includes at least every Topps baseball set produced from 1954 to 2016, as well as roughly three decades’ worth of completed sets of basketball and football cards. There are an estimated 10,000 Michael Jordan cards, 6,000 Kobe Bryant cards and 4,000 LeBron James cards. There are at least five different Babe Ruth cards, not to mention Ty Cobb, Lou Gehrig and Joe DiMaggio cards; authenticated tobacco cards of Walter Johnson, Christy Mathewson and others from the T206 and T205 set (1909 and 1911); hundreds of signed balls and bats; rolled-up sheets of uncut cards; and game-used catching gear worn by the Hall of Famer Bill Dickey.

[Tomi]

I can only imagine rare and desirable Jordan inserts worth who knows what. Possible for sure. Will be interesting when items start to appear online. Gotta love these finds.

[BRoberts]

Can't wait for the owner to come on here and start five different threads asking the best auction house to consign to.

[Eric72]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Owner estimates 10,000 Michael Jordan cards.

So not all junk:
The collection includes at least every Topps baseball set produced from 1954 to 2016, as well as roughly three decades’ worth of completed sets of basketball and football cards. There are an estimated 10,000 Michael Jordan cards, 6,000 Kobe Bryant cards and 4,000 LeBron James cards. There are at least five different Babe Ruth cards, not to mention Ty Cobb, Lou Gehrig and Joe DiMaggio cards; authenticated tobacco cards of Walter Johnson, Christy Mathewson and others from the T206 and T205 set (1909 and 1911); hundreds of signed balls and bats; rolled-up sheets of uncut cards; and game-used catching gear worn by the Hall of Famer Bill Dickey.

That changes my opinion somewhat. It might be fun in an "I've got nothing else to do for the next few months" kind of way.

[bk400]

This is the coolest thing ever. From the article, sounds like the owner might turn it into some kind of public exhibit or museum. I think it's awesome - especially if he leaves all the cards ungraded and in their current form for people to browse through.

[Lorewalker]

There is such thing as too much of a good thing. I would find this to be nothing but overwhelming. Based on the excerpts below it sounds like the collection is far from junk however I am certain there is plenty of that there. Joe Marrs is a part of Collectors.

Joe Marrs, an independent appraiser of card collections based in Chicago, visited Banazek’s acquisition in 2022. It’s not unusual for private individuals to quietly amass enormous stockpiles over decades in the hobby, he said. Still, he had never seen anything like the collection in Virginia.

“The sheer magnitude was just crazy,” Marrs said. “Within the last six months, I saw a collection that was probably 200,000 cards, which was maybe 60 or 70 of those white boxes. That was a very large collection. A really, really big collection might be a million cards, and this one is 40 times that or something. It’s just incomprehensible.”

Marrs said placing a value on the collection was difficult because of the possibility that some rare, extremely valuable cards could be lurking somewhere. “You have to factor that in,” he said, adding that $5 million was a conservative estimate, based on what he had seen.

[Leon]

That's a lot of cards. I think there are many more scenarios like this waiting to happen too.

And one of my favorite player action shots from the 50s...


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