[Exhibitman]

Trying to time it is fun, especially if it isn't a giant piece of a portfolio and you can indulge yourself. For me, the more important thing is to have an exit strategy and not let the greed overwhelm it. If I want to have a card until I die, that's one thing, but if I don't, I prefer to set a price level I will be happy with, get out when it hits, and put the proceeds into the next deal, preferably something that has not risen lately or that has a proven track record. The odds are that a mainstream card that skyrockets in value for some reason (HOF election, documentary, etc.) will come back down, so I can cash in now and then wait to reacquire it. My favorite basketball player as a kid was Dr. J, Julius Erving. I bought an Erving rookie card before the price run on basketball, watched it soar during the craze for basketball cards, and pulled the trigger on a sale when it was over $5,000. It eventually crested over $9,000 a few months later. I have zero regrets that I didn’t hold on longer and eke out that remaining profit. I made crazy money that I reinvested into vintage cards because they were stagnant at the time. At this point, the card has steadily declined to about $2,000, which is still about 2x its starting price. If I wanted to reacquire it now, given the trends I would wait and see for a few more months. Worst case, I pay about what it costs now, but best case, I buy it for half that.