$500 Suggestions

[MacDice]

I got $500 that I am looking to spend on a PSA card from the 1950's and not sure what to get. Was thinking of a lower grade early Mantle or maybe a mid grade Mantle from the late 1950's. Then again I am debating about a Hank Aarron rookie. Was curious as to what other members of on the board would purchase if they had $500 to spend.

[almostdone]

I know I'm slightly biased because he is one of my favorite (if not my favorite) players from the 50's -60's but I might consider a nice mid grade 1955 Clemente Rookie.
Drew

[Chris Counts]

If I was looking to spend $500 on post-war HOFers, the last two guys I would be looking at are Mantle and Clemente. In my opinion, they're the two most overvalued post-war players, along with Pete Rose, that exist. The two most undervalued players from the same era, in my estimation, are Stan Musial and Yogi Berra, in part, because they're still alive. In particular, I'd be looking at a 1952 Bowman of Berra, which just happens to card #1 in the set, yet somehow sells for less than the equally common 1952 Topps #1 card of Andy Pafko. It's also my belief that someday, the 1950-53 Bowman sets will get the credit ... and the prices ... they deserve ...

[mintacular]

Depends on what your objective is, you can't go wrong with a '54 Aaron with decent eye appeal and for $500 you can probably get a pretty nice looking 4, and graded is a good idea....I don't think low grade/mid grade Mantles in slabs make that much sense, just buy them raw...I don't think spending the $ on Stan Musial is very wise unless you buy a higher grade Leaf

[bbcard1]

I think I would throw Jackie Robinson into the mix. Maybe a midgrade 53 or 54, a nice 55 and a nice 56. You may well be able to get all four for $500 with some shopping. He is not just a sports icon, he is a significant pioneer of humanity and his late career cards are very attractively priced, IMO.

[novakjr]

The '53 Topps Satchel Paige. His '48 Bowman is a stretch at that price, but if you were patient enough, you might be able land a low grade for around or under $500.

[cdn_collector]

Jackie Robinson is a suggestion that I'll second. For $500 you could get a run of his 53-56 Topps Regular issues in SGC40/50 for sure. You could get his '52 Topps in presentable condition for that price with some patience, or could go back a few years and grab a '48 Leaf or '49 Bowman instead.

Of course, a '54 Topps or Johnston Cookies Hank Aaron would be an awfully nice addition to any collection, too.

If you're looking for a single card that defines the 50's, you probably have to at least consider Mantle, Berra, Koufax and Clemente to name a few more.

I've been reading a lot of Brooklyn Dodgers' bios lately, so if I was in your position, I'd probably try to split the money between multiple cards to get some of the boys of summer.

Regards,

Richard.

[cobblove]

$500.00
You could get a Willie Mays rookie. I think that is never mentioned and is an underdog that can only go up.
Those are due to spike I feel.

[hunterdutchess]

2011 Harper auto??

[Neal]

1954 Johnston Cookies Aaron - undervalued and underrated imo.

oh, and I have an extra PSA 6 ;)

[dstraate]

2011 Harper auto??

Strasbergs are a great buy low opportunity.

Seriously, I'd go for the Aaron or Mays Rookies

[scmavl]

There are some good suggestions in here. Rookie cards of living HOFers are good, as they will likely gain value when the player passes. Aaron, Mays, Kaline, etc would be good purchases.

And like dstraate said, now is a good time for some Strasburg speculation. I picked up one of the 299 signed Topps RC that were only available through the million card giveaway for about $250. They were going for many times that before he got injured. I got mine raw and it looks great.