Best $10,000 investment card

[smrtn240]

One card only. What card would all of you invest in for $10,000 for the long run. I recently inherited this money and would like to put it towards one high end card.
Thanks for your opinions and feedback
-Shawn

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by smrtn240

One card only. What card would all of you invest in for $10,000 for the long run. I recently inherited this money and would like to put it towards one high end card.
Thanks for your opinions and feedback
-Shawn

I mean who knows, but in this category, I would say the best 48/49 Leaf Jackie Robinson 10k buys. For 10K you can get a very nice 56T Mantle, which while of course not a rookie is a classic of the genre. A 54T Aaron would be another solid choice. I wouldn't touch anything later than these.

[smrtn240]

Thanks Pete, I've been searching '48 Leaf Jackie's today, also had an interest in a high end '55 Topps Koufax

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by smrtn240

Thanks Pete, I've been searching '48 Leaf Jackie's today, also had an interest in a high end '55 Topps Koufax

I'd get a Clemente before I got a Koufax, but that's just me. But I would much prefer Aaron to either.

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

I'd get a Clemente before I got a Koufax, but that's just me. But I would much prefer Aaron to either.

I am with Peter on Aaron. I would also suggest his teammate Eddie Mathews 1952 Topps Rookie card.

[brad31]

Originally Posted by bnorth

I am with Peter on Aaron. I would also suggest his teammate Eddie Mathews 1952 Topps Rookie card.

That is my pick the Mathews rookie.

[raulus]

Pick an iconic card from an inner circle hall of famer. The more popular, the better. The more durable the fame, the better.

Peter’s ideas are certainly good ones. The only real challenge is most of the really iconic stuff won’t get you much for $10k these days.

I also think it’s probably a good idea to avoid something that has experienced a crazy run up in the last year. If you chase the hot stuff then the odds are better that it will come down after that big runup.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Yeah prices on Mantle and Mays RCs, and of course 52T Mantle, are very high. But I think 10K can still buy a nice Aaron or a decent Jackie.

[Balticfox]

Originally Posted by smrtn240

One card only. What card would all of you invest in for $10,000 for the long run.

Don't. Just don't. Cards fail the test of liquidity. Therefore the spread between the bid and the ask is so great that you'll be behind the eight ball from the get go.

Moreover there's no growth in income/dividends from the card so you're relying entirely on an increase in demand for the card. Meanwhile the demographics for any kind of increase in demand is bad because the baby boomers who fueled the growth in demand for cards over the last few decades are retiring and even dying.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by Balticfox

Don't. Just don't. Cards fail the test of liquidity. Therefore the spread between the bid and the ask is so great that you'll be behind the eight ball from the get go.

Moreover there's no growth in income/dividends from the card so you're relying entirely on an increase in demand for the card. Meanwhile the demographics for any kind of increase in demand is bad because the baby boomers who fueled the growth in demand for cards over the last few decades are retiring and even dying.

I would never recommend going all in on collectibles to the exclusion of other investments, far from it, but I'm sure glad I didn't take advice like this when I was building a collection over the past couple of decades. And I did get such advice, believe me. But everything doesn't need to have the indicia of a traditional investment to be a good investment.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjaAswnnyQI

https://www.barrons.com/articles/spo...tment-0ac44b09

Besides, the OP didn't ask whether we thought it was a good idea, he asked for recommendations on which card to buy.

[maniac_73]

If you are looking for a risky alternative investment just put your money in Bitcoin. Do not invest in cards unless you are interested as a collector

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by maniac_73

If you are looking for a risky alternative investment just put your money in Bitcoin. Do not invest in cards unless you are interested as a collector

Weren't you touting a type of card investment a little while back?
https://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=312702

[bk400]

+1 on the 54T Aaron.

[maniac_73]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Weren't you touting a type of card investment a little while back?
https://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=312702

Yes

[rats60]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

I would never recommend going all in on collectibles to the exclusion of other investments, far from it, but I'm sure glad I didn't take advice like this when I was building a collection over the past couple of decades. And I did get such advice, believe me. But everything doesn't need to have the indicia of a traditional investment to be a good investment.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjaAswnnyQI

https://www.barrons.com/articles/spo...tment-0ac44b09

Besides, the OP didn't ask whether we thought it was a good idea, he asked for recommendations on which card to buy.

Agree. I "invested" a lot of money in baseball cards when I was single, from 1984-1986. It turned out pretty good. You are always better to diversify your investments as much as possible and that includes sportscards.

[gonefishin]

If you're looking for post war, don't limit yourself in your search. By that I mean, look at sports other than baseball. There are great players to consider and here are a few examples (I'm talking about their high-end cards):

Hockey: Bobby Orr
Basketball: Currey/LeBron
Football: Mahomes
Modern Baseball: Pujols

You get the gist - there are a lot of established stars out there other than pre-war and iconic rookies such as Aaron/Mays/Mantle/etc. that would probably net more percentage wise, or ROI.

Just some thoughts.

[Bored5000]

Originally Posted by gonefishin

If you're looking for post war, don't limit yourself in your search. By that I mean, look at sports other than baseball. There are great players to consider and here are a few examples (I'm talking about their high-end cards):

Hockey: Bobby Orr
Basketball: Currey/LeBron
Football: Mahomes
Modern Baseball: Pujols

You get the gist - there are a lot of established stars out there other than pre-war and iconic rookies such as Aaron/Mays/Mantle/etc. that would probably net more percentage wise, or ROI.

Just some thoughts.

For post-war cards outside of baseball, I think Wilt Chamberlain's 1961 Fleer card No. 8 has so much room to grow. For $10K, a buyer can still get a midgrade copy of one of the most iconic basketball cards in the hobby.

[Balticfox]

Originally Posted by rats60

Agree. I "invested" a lot of money in baseball cards when I was single, from 1984-1986.

I bought a lot of cards from 1979-2009 but didn't "invest" in any.

Originally Posted by rats60

It turned out pretty good.

Well since those cards now bring me comfort and delight every single day, I too would say that it's turned out right.

[rats60]

Originally Posted by Balticfox

I bought a lot of cards from 1979-2009 but didn't "invest" in any.



Well since those cards now bring me comfort and delight every single day, I too would say that it's turned out right.

That's too bad. My last investment was December of 1986, 100 cases of 1987 Donruss for $20k. A year later, I more than doubled my money on my investment and I used the profits to buy my new wife a nice house. She has never said a word about me buying a card for my collection since.

[Gorditadogg]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

I would never recommend going all in on collectibles to the exclusion of other investments, far from it, but I'm sure glad I didn't take advice like this when I was building a collection over the past couple of decades. And I did get such advice, believe me. But everything doesn't need to have the indicia of a traditional investment to be a good investment.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjaAswnnyQI

https://www.barrons.com/articles/spo...tment-0ac44b09

Besides, the OP didn't ask whether we thought it was a good idea, he asked for recommendations on which card to buy.

Peter, I know you've done very well with your cards. Many of us on this board have. I bought a bunch of Jordan cards in the 90s that are now worth 20 times what I paid for them. But I did it with my fun money. I didn't think of cards as investments then, and they still aren't now.

Fifty years ago, cards were nerdy and not yet cool. If you were one of the initial market makers that created awareness and interest in cards, good for you. If you were part of the initial wave of new collectors that saw the growth potential of boomers latching onto baseball cards as a later age hobby, good for you too. In those cases, you could say that you foresaw a market need and invested your time and resources into developing it.

Absent that, I would say you, like most of us, were just lucky. And if you were spending significant cash buying cards in the hope of profiting, I would say you were speculating.

I don't know whether OP's $10k number is fun money for him or not. Either way, it bothers me to hear him call it an investment. It is not. It is just a bet.

That being said, if I had an extra $10k to bet on whether a card would go up or down, I would pick a card that is not the common choice. My thinking is that if more people are thinking a Ruth card is most likely to go up, for example, then that card will be overpriced. You've got to zig while everyone else zags.

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[Peter_Spaeth]

Al, I understand, and I'm not saying I had any special insight into the future although I did come to believe in the potential of cards and maybe to some extent that informed how much and what I bought, even with a collector mentality. But any investment other than an extremely conservative one (e.g. a fixed income fund or whatever) is to some extent a bet/speculation and in hindsight any major success is in some part luck. But let me ask you. According to your definition, is gold an investment? Bitcoin? Commodities futures? None of those create value, right, they just go up and down according to what market participants collectively think they're worth.

[Gorditadogg]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Al, I understand, and I'm not saying I had any special insight into the future although I did come to believe in the potential of cards and maybe to some extent that informed how much and what I bought, even with a collector mentality. But any investment other than an extremely conservative one (e.g. a fixed income fund or whatever) is to some extent a bet/speculation and in hindsight any major success is in some part luck. But let me ask you. According to your definition, is gold an investment? Bitcoin? Commodities futures? None of those create value, right, they just go up and down according to what market participants collectively think they're worth.

Gold and futures are not investments in the pure sense, but they are used as hedges to reduce risk, so they are investment tools, I guess. I have no earthly idea what Bitcoin is.

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[Balticfox]

Originally Posted by Gorditadogg

That being said, if I had an extra $10k to bet on whether a card would go up or down, I would pick a card that is not the common choice. My thinking is that if more people are thinking a Ruth card is most likely to go up, for example, then that card will be overpriced. You've got to zig while everyone else zags.

Yes, when it comes to investments, a fellow must zig when others zag!

[Bored5000]

Originally Posted by Gorditadogg

I would pick a card that is not the common choice. My thinking is that if more people are thinking a Ruth card is most likely to go up, for example, then that card will be overpriced. You've got to zig while everyone else zags.

I disagree that you need to zig when everyone zags in terms of long-term price appreciation. When have Babe Ruth cards ever gone down as a "long-term" hold? Ruth is the biggest name in sports history and always will be.

That being said, I agree that there is stuff outside the big four sports that currently sell for very little but will pay off handsomely for the owners of those cards.

David Peck was buying up Wrestling All-Star cards when almost no one wanted them. His Hulk Hogan cards from that set are now worth 20X or even 50X what he paid for them.

I didn't see the skyrocketing price of Richard Petty's 1972 STP card coming when I bought a few of them 7-8 years ago. That card is worth 10X what it was worth back then, and the price increase has come at a time when NASCAR is less popular than it was a generation ago.

Picking the cards and subjects outside the big four sports that will skyrocket like that is easier said than done. Those are thin markets compared to how many people want a playing days Babe Ruth card.

[Balticfox]

Originally Posted by Bored5000

David Peck was buying up Wrestling All-Star cards when almost no one wanted them. His Hulk Hogan cards from that set are now worth 20X or even 50X what he paid for them.

I didn't see the skyrocketing price of Richard Petty's 1972 STP card coming when I bought a few of them 7-8 years ago. That card is worth 10X what it was worth back then, and the price increase has come at a time when NASCAR is less popular than it was a generation ago.

Precisely my point! Only those cards/items currently considered outright junk can eventually explode in price because only those are trashed.

And you've just motivated me to break the Wrestling All-Stars set I bought for $5 over 35 years ago out of its sealed brick and put the cards in Ultra Pro sheets! Plus I uncovered a Traks Richard Petty set that I'd forgotten I had.

[irv]

Originally Posted by smrtn240

One card only. What card would all of you invest in for $10,000 for the long run. I recently inherited this money and would like to put it towards one high end card.
Thanks for your opinions and feedback
-Shawn

No one has a crystal ball so my advice would be buy a card that will bring a smile to your face each and every time you look at it.
If your long run is years and years, which I assume you mean, then do your homework, look at trends then roll the dice.

I'm partial to 52 Topps cards, and despite what some/many have noticed in the hobby, I just haven't seen their values fall like I have with other cards. Of course there are outliers, but overall, I still believe prices are up compared to many others and continue to go up?
https://www.psacard.com/priceguide/b...952-topps/1129

[Balticfox]

Originally Posted by irv

No one has a crystal ball so my advice would be buy a card that will bring a smile to your face each and every time you look at it.

Precisely my thinking!

[Gorditadogg]

He is in the sense that he has long been a proponent of crypto and was something of a market maker for Bitcoin, by encouraging it as a currency to buy his Teslas.

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[gonefishin]

I would like to drift back a little to cards.

Another avenue may be a sealed pack of cards, graded packs have really gone up but haven't gone down proportionate to individual cards.

Unfortunately, I think the only grader in town in PSA.