“Blue Chip” Cards
 

What do you consider to be the “blue chip” cards in the hobby? Let’s see some examples.

Mantle
Ruth
Jackie
Cobb
Mays

Regular Issue No Oddball Best Centered Highest grade you can afford. That’s my best description of what I consider to be “Blue Chip”

Here's one...sorry, couldn't resist.

Bill

Joe Jackson

Can you define blue chip cards?

The T206 Red Cobb is the Blue Chip card. Fairly easy to obtain and something you will make money owning.

This is mine.:D

I was hoping that this thread would discuss the definition…wondering what people consider to be the hobbies “blue chip” cards.

I define "blue chip" cards as high-grade HOF'ers that are highly coveted by most collectors and are very liquid. Think PSA/SGC 8+ cards of Mantle, Ruth, Cobb, Aaron, Robinson, Clemente, Mays, Rose, etc..

While very desirable to most I personally find most of what falls into my definition of "blue chip" cards to be boring at best. Oh, you have a PSA 8 Mantle?! Great, so do 13,000+ other people. This is why I rarely buy cards anymore.

But this is just my perspective and ultimately people should collect what makes them happy.

"Blue-chip stocks are large companies with strong brands, financially sound businesses and consistent earnings and cash flows. They also often pay sizable dividends. Blue-chip companies are typically leaders within their given market sectors and have successfully navigated economic downturns in the past."

From this definition, I would say the best player in the best grade. Some of those players were mentioned above.

Chipping will have a deleterious effect on grading and it really doesn't matter what color the chip is.

Blue chip - Visually appealing lower grade Cobb or Ruth..

https://luckeycards.com/e220cobb.jpg

Some have Blue Chips, I have Blue Cards

If you're going blue and going Mays, then you might as well go all in.

Admittedly, some might argue that some of these are more azzurro (sky blue) than true blue.

Oh that's good.

T206 Wagner, 52T Mantle, 25 Exhibits Gehrig. I know, way out on a limb here.

Someone suggested early Jackie
 

I would probably refer back to this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wB2DEXxZDTU

Everything he has is "blue chip".

Being the financial wizard that is me, this incredibly cool 1962 Bell Brand of Willie Davis is about as Blue Chip as it gets.

Brian (not my card...mine has potato chip staining)

in the way of blue chip cards
 

I would say:

t206 Wagner
1952 Topps Mantle
1951 Bowman Mantle
33 Goudey Ruths(any 4)
33 Goudey Lajoie
T206 Green Cobb
T206 Red Cobb
1952 Topps Robinson
1952 Topps Mays


comes to mind.....

t206 Wagner, Plank, Doyle, Joe Jax, balty news ruth, and some of the big bombs may need to be counted as blue chip, just out of reach of most collectors..


There are probably another 20 cards to add to this....

like the top "30" blue chips to own, then maybe the 30 most desirable/blue chips- T206 Wagner, Doyle, Plank, Balty Ruth, etc...etc.. or something like that..

would be fun to come up with a list...

Pretty much any card you've ever seen on the front of one of those baseball card encyclopedias: Cobb T206s, Ruth / Gehrig Goudeys, Joe Jackson Crack Jack, Mathewson T205. DiMaggio Playball, etc.

I consider any card there's always a buyer for as a "blue chip". The have to have it cards will always be different for different people, but someone will always be there to buy your 51 Bowman Mantle, for example.

My definition is the most popular card of the most popular player. Obviously this might not be a RC, or even the rarest. Buy Blue chip has a partial meaning of exclusion. So late career cards of most HOF'ers would not be included in the term blue chip.

So here's a question: would a parallel qualify? Or must it be a base card option? For example, I would consider 2011 Update Trout base card the blue chip, and not his parallels.

Sent from my SM-G9900 using Tapatalk

My Blue Chip cards are:

1. Baltimore News Ruth
2. T206 Wagner
3. ‘52 Topps Mantle
4. ‘16 Ruth rookie
5. T210 Jackson
6. E107 Wagner
7. ‘25 Gehrig Exhibit
8. W600 Cobb
9. E107 Young
10. ‘36 WW Gum DiMaggio

One difference I see is that when trouble comes, our government has shown a willingness to bail out blue chip companies; when the value of your 12.5 mil '52 Mantle starts freefalling, you're on your own.

The big players and big cards which have been popular for a very long time.

They can also be identified by looking at the cards the majority of collectors get very upset over when they see anything not serving the purpose of pumping that card up. Those are the ones lots have bought into as their safe picks :D

Jay pretty much nailed it. I think the only change I would make to the list below is putting the E107 Mathewson in place of the E107 Young. With the exception of the Mantle all are pre-war.

A post-war group would include the

1952 Mantle and Jackie Robison as well as the 1951 Bowman Mantle and Mays. 1953 Topps Aaron, 1955 Topps Clemente and Koufax. 1963 Topps Rose and then various others to make up the rest of the post-war.

They are relatively mainstream, but I would think Goudey Ruths, T206 Cobbs, and CJ Cobb and Jackson have to be on any blue chip list. Maybe the T3 Cobb too.

The end of this reminds me of the line from the Mikado -- the task of filling up the blanks I'd rather leave to you.

A few of my blue chips: :)

I think this is a better list of blue chip cards than the prior top ten, which are too eclectic and rare to be blue chip. More like the highest priced rarities. To be a blue chip card, i am more inclined toward an attainable but top vintage cards, the top ones in my mind are the 33 Goudey Ruths and Gehrigs and the T206 Cobbs, Johnson, Young and Matty. And then the CJ wagner and Cobb. 52 Mantle. Not newer cards, need the established brand. Trout, while great, could get injured and never reach the career numbers of the best “brands”.

Definition - Cards that “everybody” knows, “everybody” buys, (everybody obviously does not mean the literal definition) investors as well as collectors, not rare or hard to obtain given the necessary financial resources, players “everybody” knows and buys and sets that “everybody” knows and buys.

Maybe a little long but I think that just about sums up every aspect of a blue chip sports card.

Ruth Ruth and More Ruth

and when in doubt go for a Ruth

I think you're on track with the players you've listed, but regarding "high-grade", I think that just speaks to condition (thus value)...but it's the player and set that qualifies it as blue chip (i.e. A PSA 2 1914 Cracker Jack Ty Cobb is blue chip, even though not high grade).

I'll also add Jackson, Wajo, Matty, Young, Gehrig, Joe D, Ted Williams...etc.

Blue Chip
 

Great conversation all. I guess I would agree with a lot that has been said. I feel like the “blue chip” cards in the hobby are those of well known highly collected players that appear in recognizable issues. While these cards may or may not be the most valuable, they have a trend of holding or increasing in value. I do feel that a “blue chip” card can be a card in lower grade. To me, it is more about the player and issue than the condition.

Speaking of blue chip...
this was a heck of a deal:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/374315716552

1914 CJ Jackson PSA 5 for just a hair over $100k?
The last PSA 5 that went at auction went for $240k in January from Heritage. Seller prob should have looked at auction houses rather than ebay with Probstein.

Heritage has a PSA 1.5 right now that might be close to that $100k number.

Yup, the big time CJs did terrible last night- Jackson, Matty, and Cobb. One would think it was the seller/forum, which may certainly have played a role; ebay is not the ideal place to sell those items at auction. But the super-sharp discount to recent sales is too significant for that to be the only reason. The CJs in Heritage will help inform whether last night’s prices are the result of the economy/state of the hobby, the selling forum, or both. I suspect it’s some of both.

Bright side is you know those items weren’t shilled…

+1 agreed shocked by the eBay prices last night. Someone got really lucky on those cards.
We will know better in 16 days with Heritage
The suspense

The number of heavy hitters that peruse ebay looking for cards like these is negligible.

I would be willing to bet you most of these pop up for auction again on another venue.

I believe with the new US Stock Market Bull Run beginning many of these blue chips are gonna sell higher and higher in this year's fall and next spring's major auctions to come, REA, MH, ML, And Heritage.

I'm going to play devils advocate here on the trio of 1914 CJ's which ended last night on Ebay.

Since Ebay does not charge a buyers premium, if factoring in the 20% juice that would have been added on top of these prices if sold through an AH these actually weren't that far off.

The Psa 5 Jax from last night if a 20% BP were added would have been $126,120.00

The last Psa 5 Jax which sold for $240,000.00 was far superior to this example and was centered which many pay way up for these days. Now we can debate if it was $100K+ nicer, but it was nicer nonetheless. Prior to this $240K spike the last sell for a Psa 5 Jax was $116,400 on 8/8/21.

The Psa 4 Cobb from last night if a 20% BP were added would have been $59,721.60.

The last Psa 4 Cobb which sold (this exact card actually) ended at $58,800.00 on 8/15/21.

The Sgc 2 Matty from last night if a 20% BP were added would have been $61,920.00.

The last Sgc 2 Matty which sold (this exact card actually) ended at $64,156.40 on 8/28/21.

Just my two cents :)

I was watching the PSA 7 1914 CJ Alexander. This copy sold at auction in 2018 for $20,800 at Heritage, the guy turned down an offer of 40K in February 2021 through the Heritage site, and last night it sold for a little over 27K.

That guy should have taken that $40K offer!

Almost all the CJs other than those 3 biggies did pretty well last. I think Scott is right that few people looking to buy a 1914 CJ Jax, Matty, Cobb, look to eBay. Many on this board, including me, in that thread polling where you get your cards, indicate that they rarely use eBay for acquisitions. That said, it may also be the economy. We will know more in a few weeks when heritage closes.

As an aside, the 1.5 Jax in Heritage has better eye appeal than the 5 that sold last night.

Johnny is ever the optimist. Up, up, and away!!!

Naturally, I take the opposite tack and expect that we’re due for a major crash. Aaaaaaaaaany day now!

Are you suggesting bidders ignore the juice??!!

We just got done arguing this very point to death a month or two ago.

While I tend to agree with you, and your analysis here generally supports that theory, not everyone seems to concur with this math.

Don't forget the sales tax that they have to pay. EBay is charging everyone sales tax unless they have a resale certificate. I believe that Heritage is the only AH that does that.

Every AH I bid in charges sales tax in Maryland. So for me, ebay and AHs are apples to apples as far as that goes.

And Tony, I respectfully disagree with your analysis. Nobody bidding on a 1914 CJ Jackson, Matty, or Cobb ignores/forgets the 20% Buyer's Premium.

The bottom line is those 3 cards shit the bed last night. Period, full stop.

Now we will see in a few weeks (when Heritage ends) whether it was Ebay/Probstein or the economy

I wasn't insinuating or stating that bidders ignore the AH juice. I simply implied that the ending price here on these 3 cards last night which did not include a BP since they were sold on Ebay's platform but would have if they'd been sold at auction through an AH, that price is the one that would have been captured on VCP, not the price from Ebay last night.

The difference is substantial.

Yes ! I think things are looking up !

I wasn't stating that bidders ignore or forget the auction house BP.

I was only stating that the last price posted on pricing platforms such as VCP which so many reference as gospel include BP in their final price which is captured if sold through an AH. These cards last night didn't have that 20% buffer added on top of their final price.

That was all. Nothing more, nothing less.

Adding 20% makes no sense. I think those bidding $100-300k can figure out what they want to pay and do the math.