The town of Monrovia, located just outside of Los Angeles in Southern California, has become somewhat of a mecca for vintage baseball card collectors and enthusiasts throughout the area. Nestled in the foothills of the San Gabriel Valley, Monrovia is home to one of the largest private collections of hall of fame baseball cards in the entire country. This vast and incredibly valuable assortment of vintage cardboard has been amassed over the past 50 years by Monrovia resident Phil Naccarato and resides in a temperature and humidity-controlled vault located on his sprawling property.
Phil’s fascination with collecting baseball cards began at a young age in the early 1960s when he would frequent the local drug store near his family home in nearby Arcadia. For a nickel, young Phil could buy a wax pack of Topps or Fleer cards and eagerly tear away, dreaming of pulling a superstar like Mickey Mantle or Willie Mays from the cellophane wrapper. This initial spark of nostalgia and boyhood love of the game ignited a lifelong passion for Phil, who sought out the rarest and most valuable baseball cards from every era to add to his growing collection.
As the decades passed and Phil’s card collection multiplied exponentially, it eventually outgrew the capacity of his home. In the late 1990s, Phil embarked on an ambitious project – he would retrofit a detached five-car garage on his property into a state-of-the-art storage facility specifically designed to house and preserve his prized baseball cards. Over an 18-month period, Phil oversaw the complete renovation of the structure which included installing professional-grade temperature and humidity controls, security alarms, bulletproof windows and a hermetically sealed hydraulic vault door capable of withstanding a small explosion.
Upon completion in the year 2000, Phil’s card warehouse stood as one of the most advanced and secure private collecting facilities in the nation. Rows of carefully organized cabinets, drawers and cases hold an awe-inspiring array of mint condition vintage cards, encompassing every decade from the 1930s to the modern era. Some of the true gems in Phil’s collection include:
A 1933 Goudey Babe Ruth card graded NM-MT 8 by PSA – One of the finest known copies in existence of arguably the most coveted baseball card ever made. Estimated value $2-3 million.
A complete 1949 Bowman set including the ultra-rare Jackie Robinson rookie card graded PSA 9. Due to its historical significance as the first card featuring an African American ballplayer, this set commands upwards of $500k.
A pristine 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle rookie PSA 9 – Considered the “Mona Lisa” of sports cards, just a few of these exist in similar grade. Worth over $1 million to the right collector.
A 1968 Topps Nolan Ryan rookie card BVG 9.5 – One of the finest known of this hugely popular issue from Ryan’s early Angels days. Valued at $150k-$200k.
An entire collection of pre-war Tobacco cards spanning the 1910s-1930s including rare stars like Walter Johnson, Ty Cobb and Honus Wagner. The accumulated worth likely exceeds seven figures.
While Phil keeps the bulk of his truly high-end cards locked away for privacy and security reasons, he’s happy to share the wonders of his vast collection with fellow enthusiasts by appointment. Over the years, Phil has graciously given private tours to collectors, dealers, Sports Illustrated writers and museum curators from across America who marvel at the near completeness and pristine condition of the cards that fill his warehouse from floor to ceiling.
For those interested in seeing some of Phil’s collection up close, he periodically collaborates with the Pasadena Museum of History to mount special exhibits displaying a portion of his cards. Past showcases have focused on specific years, players or subsets within Topps, Fleer, Leaf and more. The museum graciously provides security and display cases for these partnership events, which usually run for 6-8 weeks and prove hugely popular with collectors young and old.
Now in his mid-70s, Phil continues to methodically add to his monumental card collection on a daily basis, scouring auction sites, shops and shows for additions to complement the strengths of what he already possesses. Though not often in the business of selling individual cards from his personal collection, Phil does handle the occasional private sale for serious wealthy collectors looking to make significant acquisitions. For most, merely being granted a peek into the kingdom Phil has built within the city limits of Monrovia, California stands as a true privilege and pleasure for any baseball card aficionado.
