Selling 80% of your collection for ‘52 Mantle - would you?

[Exhibitman]

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.