Looking to Build a Solid Collection of "Investment Grade" Cards

[cyseymour]

Originally Posted by octane1749

I collected baseball cards as a kid (late 80's/early 90's). However, I am looking to get back into it with a focus on pre-1960's cards that have investment grade focus. Even though my focus is acquire "works of art", I would prefer to have the ability to sell them at some point in the future.

1) Am I better off getting 1-3 high profile cards in great condition or 10+ average cards in decent condition?

2) Where is the best place to find a reputable cards/sellers (local dealer, online dealer, ebay, etc)?

3) Is the PSA guide a good indication of value or are there other pricing guides that are more useful?

4) Is PSA the most recognized/high quality rating system out there?

5) Any other tips you can throw at me would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

For 50's cards, try to buy PSA 10's, preferably "1 of 1". 52 and 55 Topps are the most solid.

The PSA guide is woefully inaccurate. Most subscribe to Vintagecardprices.com to learn prices. Or use google searches.

SGC is good for 19th century material and pre-war cards, but not set registry type stuff.

I like the 3 cards idea. 3 is a good number. Really, I think five is too many. 99% of the posters here will disagree.

Best to use an auction house like REA, Goodwin, Heritage. Ebay is sketchier, so make sure the seller is reliable. But the best cards all go to auction houses these days. The dealers are almost all overpriced.

Take some time to follow the auctions this winter to get accustomed - wait to buy until springtime. Study past auction results - you can go to the Robert Edward Auctions website and see the kinds of stuff they sell, then decide what you like.

Just an opinion - most people here like pre-war cards and they are ultimately more rare and interesting. Portrait cards are great art-like collectibles, whether they be T206, N172, etc.

[octane1749]

Thanks a lot for the info. You gave me a lot to research/think about.

Is there a minimum price that is considered "investment grade" or is based more on the rarity of the card?

What do you mean by "1 of 1". I've seen "1 of 3", "1 of 6", etc.

I understand its a tradeoff but would you rather have a "common" card PSA10 or "star" player in lesser condition?

[cyseymour]

I would not buy any 50's cards because they are not rare and the buyers for those cards are baby boomers who are dying out and/or selling their collections.

[egbeachley]

Most people here will say to pick a few of the very best. I disagree for 2 reasons. First, there isn't a difference in total profit if 1 card valued at $10,000 increases to $12,000 compared to 100 cards at $100 each increasing to $120 each. Although I realize it's quicker and easier to sell just 1 card than 100 cards. But the logic is the same when considering 1-3 cards vs 10-30 cards.

But the biggest reason for not buying a card that is 1 of 1 or even 1 of 3 for investment purposes is that it may suddenly become 1 of 10 which will kill the value. Think of the Black Swamp find, Hard for that to happen to mid-grade cards.

[terjung]

Go for true scarcity, NOT grade scarcity.

A PSA 10 with a population of 1 in the grade (1 of 1) could be a 1 of 10 tomorrow. So, the value could drop dramatically.

Pick a scarce card of a big named HOFer.

[smtjoy]

Agree go for scarcity but I think it also needs to be popular/(in demand).

I think a fun way is to post and ask everyone if you could afford 1-5 cards with a budget up to 50k what would you purchase. If you can get around 20+ responses then take the cards that get the most votes.

Im guessing the list would have cards like-

1933 Goudey Lajoie
T206 Plank
T206 Magie
1916 Ruth Rookie
E98 Wagner (Black Swamp find)
E98 Cobb (Black Swamp find)
1952 Topps Mantle
Etc

Good luck.

[sdkammeyer]

Originally Posted by smtjoy

I think a fun way is to post and ask everyone if you could afford 1-5 cards with a budget up to 50k what would you purchase. If you can get around 20+ responses then take the cards that get the most votes.

ask and you shall receive
we were doing this just couple weeks ago.

http://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=159234

here were a couple from my list:
E90-1 Joe Jackson
An E98 Cy Young from the "Black Swamp Find"
T206 Cobb-bat off
T200 Detroit Team card

[Bridwell]

The investment question comes up quite often. I'm sure a few collectors will chime in and say that you can't count on an old piece of cardboard to be a growth investment. It's pretty speculative to think that a $5000 card will be worth $6000 in a couple of years. Another problem is that when you go to sell you will have some fees or the buyer will have some fees if they are buying your card in one of the big auctions. The card might sell for $6000, but your proceeds from the sale might be $5000.

I don't like investing in NMT-MT cards because I'm skeptical that an antique card could have survived in that condition without being trimmed or doctored. If the technology to detect trimming gets a little better, it could become obvious that they should not be in the plastic slabs graded as 8's and 9's.

Vintagecardpricing is a great way to track prior sales of a particular card in the same condition. You can also see trends over the last 5 years. I look for cards that are EX to NMT and have low populations. Sooner of later, collectors will be working on quality sets and will drive the prices up.

[ctownboy]

First off, I have no clue what you should or should not invest in because:

1) I don't know how much you have to spend.
2) What your time horizon is for liquidation.
3) If you are going to buy and hold or flip and then reinvest the proceeds.
4) What your acceptable profit margin is.

So, my advice is to buy cards that you actually like just in case, you know, the economy slips into another recession (or worse) or the card market tanks for some other reason. That way, after sinking X amount of dollars into some pieces of cardboard, if things go wrong then at least you have the pleasure of looking at cards you actually like.

Nothing worse than to buy something you don't like because you think it is a good investment idea only to have the investment part not work out. So then you have to sit and look at something you lost money on AND you don't like.

David

[octane1749]

Originally Posted by cyseymour

Best to use an auction house like REA, Goodwin, Heritage.....Robert Edward Auctions website and see the kinds of stuff they sell, then decide what you like.

Any other online sites I should be watching for pricing and/or auctions?