Originally Posted by ls7plus
+1 there. Plus, if you're interested in obtaining quite valuable cards, there are basically two ways to do so. You can have more money than you know that to do with and be on "the trailing edge" of the market, so to speak, buying such cards as the '52 Topps Mantle for $400,000 in PSA 8, just because you can, and want the best available, or you can try to be on "the cutting edge," going outside the box, pursuing cards that are rare to extremely rare, yet currently very quiet in the marketplace. You just have to think outside the box, focusing primarily upon rarity, significance and the best condition you can find or afford.
I remember when the 1914 Baltimore News Babe Ruth came out of the chute in the Copeland auction, circa 1991 (?), and went for $6,000. The majority of us were thinking along the lines of "what in the world is that, and why would anyone pay six grand for one?" The buyer was on the cutting edge, rather than the trailing edge (can you say $694,000 for one graded poor to fair now?), whether he knew it or not. Go back twenty years via a reputable price guide and you will find T 210 Joe Jackson's valued in the low four figure range, rather than six, and E107 Youngs and Wagners similarily priced.
John J. Pittman adopted this as his philosophy in coins. A chemical engineer with Eastman Kodak, he was never able to afford the mega-priced "trophy" coins of his time, so instead focused upon the rare and significant in the highest grade possible in quiet areas of collecting that were within his price range. After five to six decades, he had amassed a collection which brought about $40 million collectively in several auctions following his death.
Best of luck,
Larry
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