“Blue Chip” Cards
What do you consider to be the “blue chip” cards in the hobby? Let’s see some examples.
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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” |
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Here's one...sorry, couldn't resist.
Bill |
Joe Jackson
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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.
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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.
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Some have Blue Chips, I have Blue Cards
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Admittedly, some might argue that some of these are more azzurro (sky blue) than true blue. |
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T206 Wagner, 52T Mantle, 25 Exhibits Gehrig. I know, way out on a limb here.
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Someone suggested early Jackie
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I would probably refer back to this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wB2DEXxZDTU Everything he has is "blue chip". |
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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 |
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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. Quote:
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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.
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A few of my blue chips: :)
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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 |
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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.
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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… |
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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. Quote:
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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.
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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.
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As an aside, the 1.5 Jax in Heritage has better eye appeal than the 5 that sold last night. |
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Naturally, I take the opposite tack and expect that we’re due for a major crash. Aaaaaaaaaany day now! |
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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. |
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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 |
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The difference is substantial. |
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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. |
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Either way, I do think that break should have been done through an auction house. |
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Congrats to 3-2 count for stirring it back up to top of mind for us. |
Did a Net54 member end up winning the CJ Jackson? I am dying to know what bid would have sniped it had I put one in at the last minute. I assumed the card would end up in the $145K+ range, especially when it hit $105K with a few hours left. So, I casually watched it Halloween night and checked back about 3 mins after it closed. If the buyer had a bid up to $140K, glad I saved him $25K. But, if he was bowing out at $108K, really sad I didn't take the auction more seriously. I am not positive I could have hit submit at $121K, but right now I feel remorse I didn't go for it.
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Cards
So, to Tony and Ryan’s points…I agree with both of you that eBay isn’t the best place to maximize sales for high end cards. If you apply this PSA 5 Jjax ebay sale last night to an auction scenario, it would have ended / hammer price at about 87k plus the juice…that would likely have looked pretty appealing to someone during extended bidding. I’m not a fan of auctions myself…but I do like to watch them. I consider the big three (Jackson, Cobb and Matty) 1914 CJs to be blue chip cards. I also feel like it is so tough to actually see the cards via the ebay photos…too much dependence on just going with the assigned grade…
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I am totally in agreement that Ebay was not the best platform to offer these on.
It no doubt came into play and is reflected in their final hammer prices. BP included or not ;) |
A lot of people won’t bid unless they have consignments in play to offset having to write a big check (or PayPal, etc). I know a couple of fairly wealthy collectors that won’t get real aggressive on big ticket items unless they’re “trimming some fat” at the same time.
Also - as I have learned over 25 years of buying/selling - the more you spend on an item the more you can lose. |
I was surprised at the CJ prices last night...but, that PSA 5 Jax was overgraded.
Also, I find that eBay auctions that end on a holiday usually end lower; many people out, not paying attention. I remember years ago winning a card on eBay on New Years Eve...went much lower than market value. So I truly think that also played a factor. |
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But hey, its not like I'd mentioned that previously anywhere ;) |
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Sorry, but I find this whole topic vague and uninteresting. You might as well discuss "what are the best cards?"
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That same card sold from Goldin in 2021 for $116k!!! My guess is the seller was absolutely SHOCKED with the final closing price!
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Lots of excuses. Next thing will be about how the "packaging " at an auction house is better or more trusted than Probstein. I have an incredibly hard time believe buyers, consignors, and their Shillers, miss probstein auctions.
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high grade is not always a criterion. anything that has wide trade value proven to acquire value steadily is blue chip
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Nice looking, top tier HOF'ers, from mainstream sets are generally blue chip.
https://luckeycards.com/cyb.jpg |
Agreed that a card does not need to be high grade to be a blue chip.
That's a nice Cy Leon. Blue chip all the way for sure. https://www.net54baseball.com/pictur...ictureid=10122 |
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Ruth Cards
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BLUE chips
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the 48 Leaf Jackie should be in there as well
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Another couple of examples of what I consider to be blue chip cards. Perhaps this is why my car is a 20+ year old Toyota Corrode-lla.
Brian |
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My personal opinion is this means nothing; the card is a joke of a 5 with round corners and stains all over it. I'd get a 2 or 3 submitting it. |
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The Mathewson is literally missing a piece out of the bottom. That's a 1, not a 2. That's all 3 that appear to have originally been cited. Some overgraded cards going for less 1 time is not a crisis. I don't think the investors need to panic here. I mean, OH NO THE SKY IS FALLING! |
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Oh apparently I had the end date wrong, but I might have bid on a couple of these and completely missed the auction. I don't constantly search ebay for all cards I may be interested in, and would be more likely to have seen them in a heritage or REA auction. I believe there is a good chance others missed these as well.
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