JD Harmeyer is considered one of the most prolific collectors of baseball cards in history. His collection spans decades and contains some of the rarest and most valuable baseball cards ever made. While collecting began as a childhood hobby for Harmeyer, it grew into an all-consuming passion that has defined much of his life and career.
Harmeyer was born in 1967 in Iowa and remembers going to convenience stores as a young boy in the 1970s to buy packs of Topps baseball cards with his allowance money. Some of his earliest cards included stars like Reggie Jackson, Frank Robinson, and Tom Seaver. By the late 70s and early 80s, at the height of the baseball card boom, he was attending card shows and trading enthusiastically with other collectors. Even as a child, he was focused on acquiring the scarcest and most prized cards that other collectors coveted.
One of Harmeyer’s first major finds was an unopened 1980 NNOF (No Name On Front) Reggie Jackson pack. These special Jackson cards were given out as promotional items at sporting goods stores, but finding an unopened pack was incredibly rare. He continued scouring local card shops and shows for other oddball issues and star rookies that hardly anyone else had in their collections. By his teenage years, Harmeyer had amassed hundreds of thousands of cards, with a strong focus on rookie cards from the 1950s onwards.
In the late 1980s, when the first baseball card bubble was bursting, many casual collectors lost interest and either sold off or dumped their collections. However, Harmeyer saw this period as an opportunity. He bought massive collections of cards for extremely low prices that people were eager to get rid of. Among the prizes he found in these fire-sale collections were gem mint condition 1954 Bowman color cards of future Hall of Famers like Willie Mays and Hank Aaron. He also acquired pristine 1961 Topps rookie cards of Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris.
As the 1990s rolled around, Harmeyer began to specialize even more. He purged his collection of less valuable duplicate cards and really honed in on the rarest 1910s to 1980s vintage issues. Always voracious for new acquisitions, Harmeyer spent six figures at some of the earliest eBay auctions for historic cards in the site’s early years. Some highlights he added during this time include an unfading 1914 Cracker Jack Joe Jackson card, a near-mint 1915 Cracker Jack Walter Johnson, and a pristine 1914 Eddie Plank card featuring one of baseball’s earliest action photos.
Throughout the baseball card boom and bust cycles of the 1990s, Harmeyer continued acquiring pieces for his collection through smart scouring of the emerging online marketplace as well as the old-fashioned card show circuit. His singular focus and deep pockets allowed him to outbid nearly any competitor for extraordinary vintage and rookie cards. Some seven-figure gems that passed through his hands in the late 90s included a 1909-11 T206 Honus Wagner, a 1968 Topps rookie card of Reggie Jackson with a grade of PSA NM-MT 8, and a 1976 Topps rookie card of Ted Simmons graded PSA MINT 9 that is one of just a handful known to exist in such pristine condition.
By the 2000s, JD Harmeyer had amassed one of the most comprehensive and valuable sports card collections ever assembled by a single individual. Conservative estimates placed the value of his holdings at well over $50 million. He owned the finest known examples of countless scarce and memorable vintage cards from the early 20th century up through the 1970s. Included were perfect condition gems like a 1957 Topps rookie of future Hall of Famer Willie McCovey and a 1969 Topps rookie of Nolan Ryan, which he managed to acquire directly from the Ryan family.
Harmeyer’s passion for the collecting process was matched only by his focus on conservation and preservation. He stored each of his six-figure cards in state-of-the-art protection between inert polypropylene sheets and kept them in climate-controlled safes. Harmeyer also became a leader in the burgeoning world of third-party card grading services like PSA and BGS. He was among the first mega-collectors to submit entire sets from the 1950s and 1960s to be encapsulated and authenticated, helping establish modern standards.
Throughout the 2000s and 2010s, JD Harmeyer became a legend in the sports collecting community. He granted very few interviews but was renowned for his ability to acquire virtually any card offered on the market. Periodically he would surface legendary pieces from his private collection at major auction houses, where they reliably shattered records. Among the record prices realized were $2.8 million for a 1909-11 T206 Honus Wagner and over $3 million for a 1968 Topps Reggie Jackson rookie PSA NM-MT 8.
While Harmeyer does not typically sell pieces from his collection, he does remain active on the vintage and premium card market through select consignments. He also continues judging contests and donating cards to aid various charitable causes. Now in his 50s, Harmeyer recognizes that his collection may become dispersed after his lifetime. But for the present, he takes as much joy in the hunting and collecting process as proudly displaying his masterworks within the climate-controlled “museum” rooms of his home and offices. JD Harmeyer has dedicated his life to amassing what is unquestionably one of the most significant sports collections ever formed by a single individual through passion and perseverance.
