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

[raulus]

How attached are you to the 80% that you would have to sell?

Is it just random stuff accumulated over the years that you mostly ignore anyway?

Personally, I rarely pick up stuff on a whim, so everything has an important and cherished place in my collection. And everything else is already for sale.

Since the pieces in my collection are integral to my collection and near and dear to my heart, I would be loath to part with them.

Add to it the fact that while I appreciate the 311 Mantle (DP) as a nice piece, it just doesn't get me excited like it seems to do for others. Nothing against the card itself, but for the prices they command, both in the absolute, and relative to other collectibles in the hobby, it's just not for me.

So there's really no way on God's green earth that I would consider doing it.

[Section103]

Nope - but its worth noting that everything I collect is with a purpose. I have no superfluous cards that dont fit my collecting goals, so getting rid of any part of my collection is a significant step backwards to my overall goals and no single card is worth the sacrifice.

I can see the mindset of owning a major card knowing that its temporary, I'd eventually flip it and start anew at a later day (with hopefully more money).

There are many amazing cards to own which arent huge dollars. I'd rather spread my limited funds across a number of cards than only ever only own 1 or a few cards that consumed my ability to collect.

[BobbyStrawberry]

I would consider doing something like that for the right card. For me that would not be a '52 Mantle, but if it will make you happy, that's main thing. I would probably also consider the replaceability of the cards you would have to get rid of, if you might ever want to obtain them again.

[Touch'EmAll]

Although you may find a nice eye appeal for the grade 1.5, it is still only a 1.5.

How much do you like looking at nice cards (6-8 grades)? How much do you enjoy looking at 1.5's?

And how much enjoyment would you get from the 1.5 considering there are a lot out there of lower grade. How much enjoyment would you get from a different card knowing it is truly rare.

[Exhibitman]

Originally Posted by Touch'EmAll

Although you may find a nice eye appeal for the grade 1.5, it is still only a 1.5.

How much do you like looking at nice cards (6-8 grades)? How much do you enjoy looking at 1.5's?

And how much enjoyment would you get from the 1.5 considering there are a lot out there of lower grade. How much enjoyment would you get from a different card knowing it is truly rare.

Personally, I don't give a rat's ass about the numbers on slabs; I am just interested in the cards in the slabs.

I want to supplement my answer: i considered the OP's exact scenario several years ago and decided that I get more enjoyment from my Festival of Bric-a-Brac than I would from a Mantle sitting in my safe deposit box. Aa an investor, I would prefer the Mantle.

[Touch'EmAll]

That's the great thing about this hobby - collect what you like. Everybody doesn't have to collect the same things. I suppose some folks don't care about the grade on the slab. A lot of folks do. Not always, but the lower grade stuff tends to not look as nice as the higher grade stuff.

[philliesfan]

Selling every sport card and collectible of mine would not be close enough to buy a 52 Mantle.

[raulus]

But thinking about it from the flip side, if I had a 311 Mantle (any condition), would I sell it right now?

And for me, the answer is definitely yes. And I would use the proceeds to buy lots of other stuff that I really want instead.

[Belfast1933]

So many thoughtful and thought provoking feedback - thx to all!

Just to add some context, if the math works out, I would be keeping my top cards (Ruth, Gehrig, Aaron, Cobb, etc) but would have to sell everything else.

As one collector friend mentioned to me, I could them build the collection back up over the next 10 years.

Still quite undecided but I’ve never seriously even considered - until now… maybe!

Jeff