I just saw this thread - I'm happy to answer any questions anyone has.
This collection is absolutely spectacular, but there's not a prewar card in it. It includes literally hundreds of sets, from 1948 through 2007, including way more shiny stuff than I'm astute enough to understand.
The people who consigned it are just lovely, as is the gentleman (longtime friend and member of this board) who referred me.
What was pretty hilarious was that it was initially described to me as a "Topps and Bowman set run." So I figured that would be about 60 sets - enough to fit in my car, which is a 2010 Nissan Xterra. When I told them I drove an SUV, they were sort of quiet.
Once I got there and took a look at what was waiting for me, all I could do was laugh.
This is about HALF the collection. Mostly modern stuff.
I loaded as much as I could into my car when I went there in March, and promised I'd be back for the rest. So last Sunday night, I climbed into a rented van and barreled down to Texas to pick up the rest. I got there Wednesday morning, and got back to New Jersey in the wee hours of Saturday morning.
It's gotten some pretty tremendous press, notably from David Seideman of Forbes magazine, who
wrote about it here. It was also on Fox News and the Daily Mail, which was pretty cool. I think what people mostly like is the "Bible Study" angle, but really, what's amazing about this to me is that it's a completely fresh collection, as the owner built the sets from scratch each year by buying packs. He didn't participate in the major auctions and he didn't participate on message boards; he built the collection from packs, attending local shows, and occasionally buying out of ads from the old SCD when he bought complete sets of SSPC, TCMA, and the like.
It's a pretty amazing collection. It was built by someone who loved baseball cards as much as we all do, and it seems like he cared just as much about 2005 Bowman as he did about 1952 Topps, which I think is unbelievably endearing and fun.
-Al