1952 Topps Mantle; Worth It In Any Condition?

[egri]

I'd give the Mantle market another couple of years to run, then I think we'll see the prices start to stabilize and even decrease. The average American income is $50,000, and I can't see this trend of shelling out 1/10th of that for a beat up Mantle continuing on much longer. If anything, it will hasten the bursting of the bubble, as old collectors and their kids decide they'd rather have the money than the cardboard.

[GregC]

Originally Posted by egri

I'd give the Mantle market another couple of years to run, then I think we'll see the prices start to stabilize and even decrease. The average American income is $50,000, and I can't see this trend of shelling out 1/10th of that for a beat up Mantle continuing on much longer. If anything, it will hasten the bursting of the bubble, as old collectors and their kids decide they'd rather have the money than the cardboard.

I agree that the hot run the card is on cannot be sustained long term and prices will level off but I don't think it will decrease. I also don't think the potential buyer is someone making the $50k avg salary.

[MattyC]

Yeah, I think the average salary stat-- while true as a stat on its own-- is not a factor in the Mantle discussion. For over 30 years now, the pool of people who have decided to spend a nice sum for any baseball card have likely not been in that average income pool. In other words, just because the average income person can't afford a Ferrari (or any expensive luxury item), doesn't mean Ferraris are gonna start selling for less. That said, if somebody is a true collector and wants to own their grail, who the heck wants to wait years-- five, ten, twenty-- to see IF the price stabilizes or drops a bit?

[1952boyntoncollector]

Originally Posted by MattyC

Yeah, I think the average salary stat-- while true as a stat on its own-- is not a factor in the Mantle discussion. For over 30 years now, the pool of people who have decided to spend a nice sum for any baseball card have likely not been in that average income pool. In other words, just because the average income person can't afford a Ferrari (or any expensive luxury item), doesn't mean Ferraris are gonna start selling for less. That said, if somebody is a true collector and wants to own their grail, who the heck wants to wait years-- five, ten, twenty-- to see IF the price stabilizes or drops a bit?

eh I don't thing the Ferrari ownership and old card ownership are the same thing..people wont dump 50% of their salary in a car as much as guys in this hobby ..im not going by empirical data..but I do see card buyers making 30k in purchases..then 5 months later having to sell their cards to pay bills...that doesn't seem to happen much on the Ferrari market as a reason so sell the car...

add another 10-20k on the mantle like it has over the years the buying pool is reducing.......

again just off the cuff thinking..but that's my thoughts..

[MattyC]

We can all check in in several years and see how Mantles and the hobby as a whole are doing. Until then, passionate collectors who love their cards will enjoy them.

[Econteachert205]

We're talking about ferraris that don't run, rusted out with broken windows being psa 1s. If I'm rich I'm buying a decent one, if I'm buying a terrible one it's to fix it up. You can't fix up a psa 1 mantle and keep it in the case so I argue your talking about sentimentality, and that almost always loses money.

[1952boyntoncollector]

Originally Posted by Econteachert205

We're talking about ferraris that don't run, rusted out with broken windows being psa 1s. If I'm rich I'm buying a decent one, if I'm buying a terrible one it's to fix it up. You can't fix up a psa 1 mantle and keep it in the case so I argue your talking about sentimentality, and that almost always loses money.

my argument is against buying the mantles as less people that buy them now wont be able to afford the bigger price..and the people buying them are more in the 50k range than people think because they are prepared to dump their salary in them...but there is a breaking point as they are not 'Ferrari owner' type people...again not all the buyers..but there are enough of them to be out of the market if the price point goes up...

I not into buying old Ferraris..but we all like to buy houses that are fixer uppers....not only can they be fixed and sold good as new which you cant do with the mantles psa 1s unless you buy a fake holder etc.....but you don't have to pay the higher property taxes on a house you fix up versus buying a shiny brand new one for more money..