2002 Joe Mauer 206 Autograph

[AstroJake09]

Hi all,

I’m thinking about moving my raw 2002 Joe Mauer Bowman Chrome Auto to the “will eventually sell” category. I’m a big Joe Mauer fan and love the guy but there are a few reasons for wanting to sell the card. In its place I’m thinking of buying a raw 2002 Topps 206 framed Joe Mauer auto card. Eventually I think Joe gets into the hall of fame, it may take some time but I think he crosses that threshold. His cards would most likely garner the most value around that time, so I’d hold on to the Chrome till then. However, I have an opportunity to buy the 206 auto for $50 right now and would like to know if that is a good price? I see some graded ones with asking prices from mid $300 to high $600 and other raw examples asking $150-$200. How realistic are these prices and can I expect them to hold? Would that $50 on a raw example be a good investment? Any and all feedback welcome!

Thanks so much and stay safe!

[swarmee]

Last one on COMC sold for $53 two years ago. So I think the price is reasonable for something you want.

[Mike D.]

I agree that Mauer eventually makes the hall.

[mrmopar]

I wanted that card myself and think I probably paid somewhere in the $30-40 range for it several years back (and that could even be 5+ years or more, I don't recall when). It took some time and patience to find one in that range and I suspect that $50 now is probably a good buy.

Completely unrelated, but seems like a good time to sell this sob story. I wanted a PSA8 Steve Garvey. They seemed to be selling in the $60-70 range pretty consistently, but I wanted one for $50 delivered and believed my patience would result in me getting one for that price. I tried and tried and tried and even bumped my bids up a little to the point of $60 delivered, but by then, they were still always a little higher than that every time. I just couldn't win one for my price, but so many times I was under bidder. I see them selling in the $300 range now, with 7s (which I have) in the mid $100s. 6 and below are into that $50-60 range and even nice raw ones are selling anywhere from $30-40 to beyond $100! That is the trend right now, but it pains me to think that a few more bucks early on might have gotten me my 8.

Buy the Joe now if you are happy with the price. Seems likely it won't soften much, if at all, especially if he eventually makes the Hall.