Where to Sell Sports Cards (Large Collection)

[JonDuke]

I had a buddy pass away last week. His family is all out east so I'm taking care of cleaning out his place. I was finally given access today.
He has a very large collection of sports cards. My very rough guess is around 50,000.

He was a huge Steelers/Islanders/Yankees fan, so many boxes of cards are devoted to those teams. There's some binder of cards dedicated to different eras for each team. There's lots of other cards as well. I believe a few full sets. Most are from 1990s or newer, but there's quite a few older cards from the 70s too. Many older rookie cards too. Lots are in softer, semi hard sleeves, and a few are in hard shell cases. It's a very eclectic assortment of cards and I'm guessing there's a significant amount of worth to these. It's very obvious that this was his #1 passion.
Instead of shipping them back east, the family has given me the go ahead to sell them to help cover expenses for the funeral, shipping home the body, etc etc. I'd like to get a few opinions/estimates and get them the most money I can.

Where can I go?
Better yet, who can I call to come to his place and see them all there, so I don't have to lug the numerous boxes around?
Where will I get the best buck for my bang and sell them as a lot?

[calgaryblood]

I would make sure he doesn't have a will before you sell them. Even with his Families blessing to sell them doesn't mean that's what he wanted. He might have wanted all his belongings donated or has someone he wanted to give all his belongings to.

[T@T]

80's-90's cards are mostly worthless, 70's on the other hand can be gold, but as calgaryblood said, be careful of a will and even if there isn't one the family technically owns them.

[JonDuke]

RE: Will - Very good point. Thank you.

The primary reason for me accessing his place was to retrieve his ID and find a will for the family.
As an accountant, the guy was meticulous with his filings. Bankers boxes filled with documents and taxes back to 2001. But no will on the first sweep. He didn't have a lot of stuff (lived in a 1 bedroom apt) but I'll definitely keep looking for the will, if one exists.

Appreciate the advice!

[SportsJunky]

He was a buddy you say? Don't forget to clear his history.

Sorry for the loss.