+1 Well said and I could not agree more.

As a collector, I've always been about more cards of lesser value: why have one really nice Ruth when I can have ten messy ones instead? 10 Ruths are better than one, duh! As a collector, give me a run of Mantle cards instead of a 1952 T. If I am trying to make money, though, I don't see it that way. I would rather put my eggs in one marquee card than in a card I hope might some day become a marquee card. The Mantle is so expensive that a small % movement on price equates to a much larger % movement on a cheaper card. A PSA 1 Robinson can be had for about $3,000-$3,500; a Mantle is $25,000+. A 10% bump on the Mantle is an 80% bump on the Robinson, in $$ terms. Is it more likely that a Mantle will go up 10% or a Robinson will go up 80%? I realize that the investment on Robinson is much smaller, but is it necessarily a better way to make money? If that's the goal. Not that there's anything wrong with that...

Adam-

Not sure I completely agree with your math here, or at least the premise behind your math seems flawed to me. If you were to spend $25k on either one 311 Mantle or spend the same $25k on a fistful of Robinsons, then a 10% change in either one gets you to the same result.

Having said that, there's always room to argue about which of those pieces are more likely to move up (or down). But on percentage terms, if you're investing similar amounts overall in cardboard (whether one piece or multiple pieces), then you should get to the same place.

The only way your math makes sense is if a hypothetical comparison involves pocketing the savings and investing it elsewhere for little or no return, or somehow leveraging up on the Mantle but not on the Robinson. But I'm guessing that for most of us, if we have $25k to invest in cardboard, and if the first card we buy only costs $3k, then we're going to spend the remaining $22k on additional cardboard.

I've sold chunks of cards for 1 bigger card many times. I tend not to go for a HUGE cards though. They tend to be tougher to unload in the future.

Nah - wouldn't do it...prefer the '51 Bowman card anyway - better looking card IMHO....think the '52 is overvalued.....

Now if we are talking a Mantle Game Worn Jersey? Now you are talking....

Nicolo, I agree with your comments on the math, but I am not sure whether it makes better sense in the context of a card investment. The math is not the end of the game. Heck, I wish you were right, because I have lots of lesser cards but none of the super-duper ones; I wish my collection had grown in value like the marquee cards have. It hasn't. There is also the mechanics of realizing my gains. I can sell a $100K card in one auction and I probably can negotiate back a piece of the BP too. That is not realistic if I have 100 $1,000 cards to sell. If I have multiples of the same card, even if they went up a lot, it is even worse. I can't just throw them all into a single REA auction; I'd get killed. I have to sell them over time in different venues.

I don't think there is one good answer to the question. Liquidity is an element that definitely comes into play. I've never been one for having a 25 or 50 card collection, but in considering how to unwind a collection of thousands of items, dumping 80% for one or two items sure does sound appealing conceptually. If I wasn't planning on doing a multiyear-controlled liquidation once I retire, I might consider it.

If you have no mortage, no car payment, no debts, why not?

Otherwise you (may) put your family in peril over a piece of cardboard

Fair enough!

And those are certainly important elements for us to all ponder in our collecting adventures. I'm guessing for a lot of us, we stick to the "more is more" maxim. Because more really is more!

Well, I found my answer: yes, I would trade a big chunk of my collection for this:

https://auction.lelands.com/images_i...8_1_328236.jpg

i've been considering doing this...selling many babe ruth cards for 1 special one...i can't pull the trigger!!

wowsers! now...to get it signed!!!

No frigging way.

I asked this same question to John Spencer, Hey Yoda(about 25? yrs ago?) when I was buying his E102 Cobby for 1k.....more small value or less large value....so, I went with best value for me....
.

Nope. Never wanted one.

Easy no for me too.

Leon, even though I can't remember the names of my grandchildren, I do recall well selling you you my E102 Cobby for about a grand. At the time, we both considered it his RC, that is until Rob Lifson came out in favor of the Dietsch PC and muddied the waters. I still believe the E102 is his first card in the traditional sense. I hold one now, but it is not as nice as the one I sold to you. I also recall that, about the same time, you stole a beautiful '38 Goudey JD for pennies but I don't hold a grudge. Yoda

When I'm gone my "collection" goes to my son. It's almost entirely made up of complete sets.
He's not a collector. If I'm gone, selling it would be difficult for him since he knows nothing about the hobby and breaking up the sets to get maximum value would be out of the question..

I have toyed with the idea of selling off all of my collection and converting it to a few key notable graded cards that would be much easier for him to track and sell when the time comes for him to do that.

PSA 10 1 of 1 ONLY! I'd sell it allllllllll:)

I have just 1200-1300 cards, 1/2 raw and 1/2 graded. Guys I've always "Liked". The 52 Mantle was a must. I do hate selling, but if that was the only way I could afford the purchased or justify it, I probably would just make a 6 month-1 year project out of it and downsize all the crap for cash?

For me, less is more. I only own a few cards after 1975 and I don't need the house cluttered with landfill material. I'm a seasoned hoarder.

That's a Beautiful Card !!

The Gehrig is already at $198,000 plus vig, so 80% of my collection won't do it. More like my collection plus a quart of blood and a kidney.

That is a great card and I would trade a chunk of my collection for it but no where near 80 % of my collection