Put all your eggs in one basket. 52 Mantle or ..........
 

Just curious about what vintage "investors" on this board would do. I know some do invest and some just collect, but this is just a question for the investors. Lets just say you have $50,000 to spend. Do you buy the 1952 Topps Mantle in the highest grade for the $50K or do you focus on the nicest centered rookies of the biggest names in baseball in the highest grade you can get. Mantle, Mays,Aaron,Clemente etc. Would you go after the "big one" or go after many different choices? I'm not in this situation (would love to be) but I'm just curious as to what people here would choose. I think long term you can't go wrong either way but I think I would choose multiple perfectly centered rookies over the 52 Mantle. Would love to have the Mantle even in a PSA 1 but the card is just getting out of reach for most even in that grade. How about you guys.

Diversify, diversify, diversify.

If I ever buy a 52 Mantle it would be for a personal set.

Butch…

If Mantle I would go with the best 51 Bowman you could get for that amount as an investment.

Insanely undervalued compared to the 52 Topps.

I agree, but on the other hand we've said the same thing for decades. It's kind of like Spahn and Musial being undervalued.

Agree. In a Spahn man and it won’t change. I’m not even a Mantle fan but I see 52 Topps Mantle as about as sure fire as it gets.

I believe the Mantle would increase more than other rookies. Mantle for me.

52 Topps Mantle

I would definitely diversity. I've been collecting for 30 years and that has always been the best method. I wouldn't bother with the 52 Topps Mantle, get the 51 Bowman instead and use the extra cash to snag a 33 Goudey Ruth 144, a 51 Bowman Mays, a 54 Topps Aaron, and a 39 Play Ball Ted Williams. You may even have some cash left over at that point.

This

If you have $50,000 to Invest and you want to do it on cards. Instead of spending on one 52 Topps Mantle in a PSA 1.5 or 2 Suggest buying 5-10 of following cards, All In this 5,000 to 10,00 ballpark value. Reason I say this is due to a wider audience of people who will have the ability to pay in person at a major card show for one of these cards vs having to use an auction house for liquidity. Nothing wrong with that but if you’re investing you want to limit your fees just like using a etf over mutual fund or major brokerage house with adviser vers low cost Etrade type account.

Stick with a Regular Issue Of the nicest eye Appealing highest grade to stay $8,000 and under cards, pre war prefer killer Centered 2-3’s. Prefer 7’s in 50’s 8’s in 60’s. No oddball no scarce rarities, not as many collect these. Stick with the ones everyone knows and loves. I prefer grade and eye appearance vs low grade and rookie...don’t get caught up in say a 49 Bowman Jackie in a 3 or 4 plenty out there get yourself a nice Centered killer eye appeal 53 Topps in a 7.

T206 Cobb any version
144 Ruth Centered
53 Topps Satchel Paige
53 Topps Jackie Robinson
56 Topps Roberto Clemente
56 Topps Willie Mays
57 Topps Mickey Mantle
57 Topps Sandy Koufax
59 Topps Bob Gibson
63 Topps Pete Rose
65 Topps Mickey Mantle
67 Topps Tom Seaver
68 Topps Nolan Ryan

Do this tactfully preferably buying from private collectors vs chasing in auction unless the card is killer.

Just my take, either way have fun a enjoy the chase.

52 Mantle

People with money always seem to have money to spend.
And a 52 Mantle is the top of the mountain of those type of cards and always have a market and always seem to just go up

People said the same thing about Willie Mays and Jackie Robinson and look what has happened to their RCs over the past few years. Mantle is the top name in post war vintage His RC will always be a great investment. Diversifying with multiple RCs of the biggest names is better than betting on one card.

I'd diversify. Pre-war rookies (with the exception of the ones unavailable for $50,000) seem to have more growth potential.

I'd go after more of the big fella.

https://photos.imageevent.com/exhibi...Ruth%201_1.jpg

We are passing through history but Babe Ruth is history.

If postwar, I would go with the Mantle. Most iconic card of the postwar period in any sport.

I would think every other card is riskier than the Mantle. I don't know why one would diversify into riskier cards.

I'm not an investor, so this is just an answer for the collectors:

Buy what you like and like what you buy.

You have $2mm. For investment, would you rather own a t206 Wagner or a bunch of different cards. Hands down the Wagner. The same is true with the 52 mantle. It is the 2nd most iconic card. It’s safe and durable, and always in demand. Plus, it’s so much cooler to own and show friends. Buy the Mantle.

I'm not an investor and don't particularly like the card but I would say the Mantle. As a collector with 50K I would be buying Cobb's, 14CJ, 07 rookies, etc., which is not a bad investment imo.

A bunch of different cards. For 2 million you are getting half a Wagner. I would rather have multiple Ruths starting with all 4 Goudeys and a M101-4/5 in nice condition. If I had 3.5 million and I could get a whole Wagner in PSA 1, that would be different.

Likewise, I am not paying 50k for any beat up 1.5 postwar with a pop in the thousands. I am buying nice grade RCs of Mantle and what I can afford of Clemente, Mays, Jackie Robinson or Aaron. If it was 200k for a PSA 6-7 Mantle, then the answer is different. I don't see low grade Mantles as good long term investments.

I agree

This has several levels.
1.The biggest being are you an investor or collector. Or a Combo. I am a collector but long long term my collection will turn into an investment(as my kids are not into collecting)

1. 1952 Mantle Iconic and sought after by both collectors and investors.
2. many great cards in that era of players that have spiked in value over last few years like Mays, Aaron, Jackie, etc. Is the market going to give them more long term upside than the 52 Mantle.
3. Who are the investors/collectors of the future. Will they buy vintage or be more focused on the Modern Market.
4. As some mentioned what are you able to get for the $50K in a 52 Mantle vs other cards for the same money
5. Is your comfort level is to diversify (to minimum risk or to have more) or not.

But in the end it is more a matter of preference and no choice is a bad choice

And that's why as much as the card doesn't impress me, I'd probably go with the 52 Mantle.
The upper grades are pricy enough to get lots of PR when they sell, and their high prices bring all the lower grades up.

If only I'd considered this back in the late 70's/early 80's when I might have been able to afford one or maybe even a few.

FWIW (which ain't much) I know several non-collectors or newbie collectors who are 'meh' as to a Mays or Aaron RC but absolutely freak out when they see a 1952 T Mantle in person. As Ryan says, it is the 2nd most iconic card.

I think you could argue it's the first. Not everyone is into prewar and Mantle played for the Yankees in their greatest era, and was a folk hero in a way Wagner never was.

The 52 Mantle is the last card most collectors will ever sell. They’re hard to let go.

If you diversify in several key top-line players instead of just getting the one Mantle, you can, when/if needed, sell off one or two to raise $10k or $20k, while keeping the rest. If you tie it all up in just one card, you have just 2 choices going forward: hold or sell.

So, for financial flexibility, and possibly tax ramifications (spreading out a realized gain over more than one year to stay under certain thresholds,) holding several quality cards provides more options.

AND it takes up less room. Almost like having a 20-shaker container of 1 oz gold coins vs. silver.

Great Point Mark !

You know, I can remember a time when we collected what we wanted because we liked the stuff and enjoyed the hobby. The valuation of the cardboard wasn't part of the equation to decide on whether or not to make an addition to the collection. But then again, that's when it was a hobby and in most cases collectors weren't breaking the bank to get a piece of cardboard.

To answer the poll question - I'd take several different rookies because I'd rather look at several cards that include Aaron, Clemente, Mays, Musial, Koufax, Robinson (Jackie, Frank and Brooks) and many more. than only being able to see a Mantle.

Don't get me wrong - Mantle was great, but I'd like to have a variety of cardboard.

The thing is at these prices you really need to consider both. It's too much money to buy things overpriced now because you want to collect a player or set. There is just too many other options to do with some of these sums of money to not consider it. The cards I collect, like comics and coins, are because I think they will hold or increase their value cause otherwise I would just put that money into an index fund. There really isn't a moral high ground to this beyond being better than ripping people off blatantly. Everyone has their purpose to their collections and the right to treat it as such. Tbh I think most of the problems are with modern with breakers and razzers who mark up their items significantly more than they are worth and mislead people on to what the value is (thats no slight to either that are fair on valuations, just those tend to be harder to find). Cause a lot of those people are addicted to gambling and when it comes time they need to cash out they can only get a fraction of what it was sold for.

From an investment perspective, always go higher ticket and higher quality versus value. Higher risk but you will get higher slugging and lower transaction costs.

52 Mantle
Iconic card Holy Grail of any collection

It's a really interesting love-hate dynamic with the Mantle. As many people think it's ugly, overvalued, etc., as those who say it is the last card they'd ever part with. I wonder what the Venn Diagram of that would look like. Are there 1952 T Mantle owners who are also 1952 T Mantle haters?

Not sure if this qualifies, but I don't love the card aesthetically, it's a rather poor rendition of the photo it's copying, to the point it doesn't really look like Mantle very much. And the high number mantra for scarcity is somewhat offset by it being a double print. I do like the colors. The iconic status is beyond attack though.

Definitely the Mantle. But I wouldn't just get the highest grade you can buy. That strategy would probably result in you getting one that is severely off-centered. I would go after the nicest looking Mantle you can afford, regardless of the grade. Eye appeal is everything. It is the ocean front property of this hobby. The gap in pricing between centered and off-centered cards is diverging faster and faster seemingly every month. I'd much rather have a 3 with strong eye appeal than a 4, 5 or even a 6 that is off-centered.

Signed 52 mantle, nothing comes even close!

This is spot on. The premium for exceptional and rare eye appeal for many popular cards has been growing and growing. Bottom line: there are everyday examples of certain cards, and then there are the pretty ones, ones that are centered, boldly colored, focused, etc. We've all seen PSA 3s outsell 6s, 4s outsell 5s, the list goes on. Buying the prettiest card, not the highest sticker grade, is the move now and forever.

Buy the card not the grade, like this one.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=Ef_1ZyPVvG8&feature=share

if given one choice
 

52 Topps Mantle....