This is one of the least "fun" threads I have ever read.
I am both a collector and a bit of an investor/dealer, as I find it fun to make a bit of money on the side and it allows me to buy more cool stuff without spending "family money" (ie, my day job salary).
To each his own I suppose but I find the thought of investing in high end slabs a bit too sterile and cold, no different than investing in gold or silver (there is nothing wrong with investing in those but not nearly as much fun).
I do find the OP's admission that he is willing and ready to manipulate the market for a card and openly admitting to that a bit troublesome & makes me feel a bit squeamish at the same time. What doesn't make as much sense to me about the premise he puts forth is that if he is aggressively bidding on and winning every copy of a card that comes up for sale and then corners the market he has to be sure someone out there is taking his place in the items he later sells as we have all seen the price of certain cards go down once all the larger collectors have filled their sets out and the bidding isn't quite as spirited. I suppose he could go straight sale (no auction) but I don't see too many 50-100k cards changing hands outside of the auction format, although I'm sure they do.
This thread is a great way to make a fun hobby feel just a little less fun.
All that said, to each his own!
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