Ruth sporting news rookie PSA 4 REA
 

Ruth sporting news rookie PSA 4 currently at $156,000 in REA.
SMR for PSA 4 is $47,500 so the Ruth PSA 4 rookie is more than triple SMR!

Sales on high end cards are through the roof. There is no record sale of this card sold since Goodwin auction in 2010 and that went for $26K

That card makes me sad. Back around 2011, that same card was on ebay starting at 99 cents with a $15K reserve and a $25K BIN. I never hit the BIN. I thought I could perhaps win it for around $20K. Tony eTrade actually ended up winning that card for around $28K, and I remember knocking him on the PSA board saying if he were willing to bid up to $28K, he should have just hit the BIN button. (The BIN disappears once the reserve price is met.) Link. I think he (or someone who bought the card from him) ended up selling the card on Goodwin for a little under 50K later. Link. I was always wishy washy on that card because of the staining on the back, and thought it didn't deserve the 4 grade. Of course, now I wish I knew better then.

I know the Gimbel's back is more rare than a blank back or a Sporting News back or a Famous and Barr back. But it is still amazing how that card has gone through the roof over the past decade.

A Gimbels Ruth in PSA 5 sold for $12,600 in 2004.

http://www.lelands.com/auction/Aucti...-Gimbles-PSA-5

A different Gimbels Ruth in PSA 5 sold for $29,000 in 2006.

http://catalog.scpauctions.com/lot-6599.aspx

How about 200k for the centered SGC 4? Or 80k for the tilted psa 5.5 52 Mantle. Looks like some records will be set tonight.

The Ruths are bonkers and so are those Micks...

1952 Topps Mantle PSA 6 - 108,000 and counting
1952 Topps Mantle PSA 5.5 - 78,000 and counting
1952 Topps Mantle PSA 1 - 9000 and counting (heavy stains)
1956 Topps Mantle PSA 9 - 57,000 and counting


And as was noted by Pokerplyr80, not one of the 1952 Mantle has premium centering.

Although this is good for the auction houses and those who purchased their Ruth's, Mantles...3-5 years ago. It isn't so good for those of us who are true collectors and not investors. The recent trend on these crazy prices also puts lots of collectors out of reach to own key cards of these HOFers in any decent condition. There is big $$$ now in the hobby more then ever.
Look at the E253 Ruth in PSA 2. Last i checked @ $3600 with the juice.
It certainly is the wild,wild west :D

These prices cant be sustained. IMHO it's getting ridiculous.

If it's investors who are driving this, it's going to end in tears. If what we have is investors buying from investors for record prices, eventually some people are going to start saying "that's enough risk for me, time to cash out". Which reduces demand, and then others notice that records aren't being set weekly and decide to cash out themselves. And then it all unravels.

It's a bubble. Once Economy stabilizes and the Fed quits screwing up the dollar and interest rates normalize. A lot of folks will be holding dream cards that will cost them money. At least for a little while until inflation puts it back up to about the price they paid for it.

Can one of you guys post a link to this auction please, I'd like to follow along.

Thanks. :)

I've heard this reasoning that card values will drop for the past 3 years. However high end card prices keep getting ridiculously higher.

"end in tears?" For who? For anyone paying $100,000 for a baseball card, if that same card drops by half to $50,000, that buyer/investor/collector sheds no more tears than you if you buy a $10 common and it drops to $5. Its all relative. $100k is pocket change for someone paying that for a Ruth or Mantle. Just like $10 is pocket change for someone else buying a $10 beater t206. Call them investors/collectors/flippers, it doesnt matter, the folks paying these prices have net worths in the tens of millions (if not hundreds of millions or billions) so if the bottom falls out on their high end cards, it doesnt matter. Who knows how many Mark Zuckerbergs are hitting their 30s and 40s and have made so much money in tech stocks that they couldnt even possibly spend it all if they tried. Maybe they like sports and baseball cards and can afford to pay obscene prices. Why not buy a $500k Ruth rookie to go with their $50 million yacht.

If I ever dropped $200,000 on a Mantle card the bottom of the market would fall out tomorrow. Years from now people would be talking about the market peak of April 2016. I'm not kidding. I have a track record.

Please explain your track record.

A lot of these so called investors
 

are actually just well heeled collectors with tons and tons of money. Some are athletes, some are actually team owners, and yes some came from wall street and silicon valley. I would be careful assuming they have no love for the game or hobby simply because they are extremely wealthy. I think its pretty cool that cards are being looked at more on the level with other high end collectibles. Like others stated lots of people my age grew up with baseball cards as a key part of our lives and many of these people have made boatloads of coin and are in a great position.

13 and 16 are supposing that the people buying these things are very very wealthy collectors, not investors. If so, there might not be a problem. (At least in the short-to-medium term.) If you are worth hundreds of millions you don't buy baseball cards for investments, because, as said above, even high end cards are pocket change. But if what's driving it is the kind of investor who considers buying a rental property or a baseball card, and chooses the card because of the huge increase in high-end card prices in the past few years, that's where you've got a problem. Note, however, that whether that's what's happening, I have no idea.

Much appreciated!

Thank you. :)

When the levee breaks...:eek:

Glyn,
I'm not so sure the big players in REA are team owners, athletes, wall street, and silicon valley types. Rather, I think they are just wealthy lawyers, doctors, executives, business owners, etc,... who have a lot of disposable income to buy baseball cards. I'm sure they can afford up to a few hundred thousands, but I don't know if they can afford spending into the millions of dollars within one auction.

Republicaninmass,

Crying wont help you and praying wont do you no good???

I'm tracking approx 50 lots in REA and all except 1 or 2 are at or above historical highs. Congrats to the boys at REA who are gonna smash records tonight

I'll confess to having mistakenly predicted a tapering off of vintage card values over the last several years. Obviously, I didn't know what I was talking about. But, let me ask this of board members who follow values much more closely than myself: has there been any discernible trend with regard to vintage commons?

The only people who buy vintage commons are set builders. The big money is going after high grade big name cards. To compare to classic cars look at the value of rare Ferraris and Porsches and how much they have increased over the last few years. One shouldn't expect the same from a 58 Chevy or Buick.

Maybe some of that QE1, 2 , and 3 money is trickling down and needs to find a home?

Yes. Lately I've been selling stuff without trying and breaking even. I am literally the worst seller of cards in the world. It has to be a bubble if I even come close to a profit.

Ruth sporting news rookie PSA 4 REA
 

I'm pretty sure you're only the second worst, which is why I stopped selling anything!

Yes but who knows for sure who are the big players in the REA auction? We know for a fact that there are team owners and athletes who are big collectors though.

Next time you decide to make a well informed purchase let a brother know! Lol