Looking for cardboard investment

[pokerplyr80]

Originally Posted by Mick

I've decided to do the T205. As Blair said, they have been extremely flat for a number of years, are fairly available for less than knee bucking prices and are freakin sweet to look at.

I scored my first one today. A Chance PSA 6.

Nice choice, a great looking set. Should I decide to try to build a set again this would be near the top of my pre-war list.

[Mick]

Well it turns out I DIDNT buy a 6. The seller had mixed in photos of a graded 6 with close ups of his raw, terrible card.

I've bought hundreds of cards, and missed the subtleties of his scam.

At least I didn't pay!

[bbcard1]

The first vintage set I did was a really rough T205 set…it has several skins and a lot of really bad looking cards…I did a blog on it and I really enjoyed it.

I did settle for only doing distinct fronts…the funky backs get really pricey. That said, a higher grade set and distinct backs will lead to better payout eventually. Some things you do as a hobby, others as an investment.

[4815162342]

Originally Posted by Mick

Well it turns out I DIDNT buy a 6. The seller had mixed in photos of a graded 6 with close ups of his raw, terrible card.



I've bought hundreds of cards, and missed the subtleties of his scam.



At least I didn't pay!

Link?

[Eric72]

Originally Posted by Mick

Well it turns out I DIDNT buy a 6. The seller had mixed in photos of a graded 6 with close ups of his raw, terrible card.

I've bought hundreds of cards, and missed the subtleties of his scam.

At least I didn't pay!

Please tell us more about this.

As for the original post, I offer the following:

Card collecting is, and ought to be, a hobby. Investing is typically done for the primary purpose of making money.

Rarely can one person find a way to truly converge the two. I was able to do this for a brief time when I was in my early 20's. As a dealer who mainly set up at card shows, I used the power of trading from the advantageous side of the show table. Many cards cycled through my inventory and I enjoyed having them...for a brief time.

Aaron rookie? Check. '56 Mantle PSA 7? Check. Gretzky rookie? Check. T206 Frank Chance Batting PSA 5? Check.

And so on, and so on.

I have tried to get back into this; however, am finding a reluctance from people to trade, relatively speaking. Perhaps I will recapture what I did as a younger man. Maybe not.

Either way, I truly enjoyed being a temporary custodian (realistically speaking, aren't we all) of certain cardboard treasures. And, along the way, I was able to make a modest living.

It is a part of my life that I treasure more and more, the deeper I delve into the collecting side of this.

Hope this helps a little. Happy collecting...or investing...or both.

Best regards,

Eric

[Mick]

Here's the link. He was totally non communicative and then once I asked him if I had just bought a raw card, he finally said I did and then invoiced me for a USPS shipping box. I live in Canada and so do they!

I asked him to cancel it, and now he's getting aggressive. I asked him to cancel or open a case. I can't believe I didn't figure this was a raw card

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1911-T205-Go...vip=true&rt=nc

[Touch'EmAll]

You don't have to get locked into one particular set. Big name HOF'ers are tough to beat - maybe a Matty from this set, a W. Johnson from that set. A cool Cobb from the other set. A T206 Cy Young perhaps. Drop some coin on a sweet Ruth. Top it off with a Goudey Gehrig and a Playball Teddy. Now you're talking.

[Mick]

I'm going to pick up some other HOF cards, and I'm going to do the Matty first. Mathewson is pretty much my favourite player from dead ball, along with Cobb. Those are my priorities. 5s on them. I'll pick away at it, and will be looking around for some deals on groupings, regardless of the set. I like the t205s, but I like a lot. I'm looking at a t206 Matty right now. Dark cap. It's a beauty.

[mechanicalman]

Originally Posted by 100backstroke

You don't have to get locked into one particular set. Big name HOF'ers are tough to beat - maybe a Matty from this set, a W. Johnson from that set. A cool Cobb from the other set. A T206 Cy Young perhaps. Drop some coin on a sweet Ruth. Top it off with a Goudey Gehrig and a Playball Teddy. Now you're talking.

I love this approach. I know it runs counter to many of the folks on the board, but buying HoF'ers is more personally rewarding than commons. I generally know their story (try finding a biography on Virgil Davis), and that's part of the fun in collecting for me. Plus, I would guess that the pool of possible buyers for big names will always be larger for that of commons, so it feels like the safer long term play.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by mechanicalman

I love this approach. I know it runs counter to many of the folks on the board, but buying HoF'ers is more personally rewarding than commons. I generally know their story (try finding a biography on Virgil Davis), and that's part of the fun in collecting for me. Plus, I would guess that the pool of possible buyers for big names will always be larger for that of commons, so it feels like the safer long term play.

I agree. I could not care less about mediocre players and minor leaguers.

[glchen]

Originally Posted by Mick

Here's the link. He was totally non communicative and then once I asked him if I had just bought a raw card, he finally said I did and then invoiced me for a USPS shipping box. I live in Canada and so do they!

I asked him to cancel it, and now he's getting aggressive. I asked him to cancel or open a case. I can't believe I didn't figure this was a raw card

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1911-T205-Go...vip=true&rt=nc

I would not pay for that card either. The listing is misleading.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by Mick

Here's the link. He was totally non communicative and then once I asked him if I had just bought a raw card, he finally said I did and then invoiced me for a USPS shipping box. I live in Canada and so do they!

I asked him to cancel it, and now he's getting aggressive. I asked him to cancel or open a case. I can't believe I didn't figure this was a raw card

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1911-T205-Go...vip=true&rt=nc

Lame listing, intentionally deceptive. Yes, in hindsight you missed it, but so too would many people.

[Beastmode]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Lame listing, intentionally deceptive. Yes, in hindsight you missed it, but so too would many people.

What exactly did he miss. This is blatant fraud. How do you get a raw card out of this auction. What a prick the seller is.

[pcoz]

I'd go with the 1911 E94 set. The most colorful set imo with 6 back colors(7 if you include orange). It's tough but certainly attainable to put together, and when the caramels come back into favor, will appreciate for sure. Also, caramels are rarer than their tobacco counterparts, and you'd only need 30 cards for the set. It was fun for me.

[pokerplyr80]

Originally Posted by Mick

Well it turns out I DIDNT buy a 6. The seller had mixed in photos of a graded 6 with close ups of his raw, terrible card.

I've bought hundreds of cards, and missed the subtleties of his scam.

At least I didn't pay!

Those pictures are very misleading but I don't think I would buy a card like that in the first place from a seller who has only received feedback from 2 people.