Mantle or Others?

[Tomi]

Asking just out of curiosity and nothing else. If you guys had $30,000 and you had to invest in cards long term, do you buy the perfectly centered 52 Topps Mantle in the highest grade you can or do you buy RC's of Mays, Aaron, Clemente, etc. that amount to $30,000? A couple of collector friends of mine said the 52 Mantle and I agreed, but just curious how many here would go with the other RC's over the Mantle. Would you put all your eggs in one basket or no.
I know there are many single cards for $30,000 that would be a good buy but I ask about the 52 Mantle because of it's status in the hobby. Let's just say post-war cards only in this situation.

[Seven]

30K would probably get you (on a good day) a decently nice 52 Mantle in the PSA 3 Range, if we're going by recent sales of course. It's a tough call, I think Mantle will always have some buying power because of the name and the fact that the 52 Topps is so iconic, and as time goes on, I don't see why the prices wouldn't go up.

That being said you could get some very nice Mays and Aaron Rookies for that price, and not to sound morbid, but I'd wager once they both pass on we'll see a brief surge in their RC prices.

[GasHouseGang]

Historically since I've been collecting, it's always been Mantle over nearly anyone else that played during that time frame.

[vintagebaseballcardguy]

I would get a slightly lower grade Mantle, freeing up money to purchase some of the other players mentioned as well.

[investinrookies]

52T Mantle all day long, no question in my mind. However, not just any 52T mantle, it must be centered with good registration, which will be very hard to find especially in the 30k range.

[thecomebacker]

Originally Posted by investinrookies

52T Mantle all day long, no question in my mind. However, not just any 52T mantle, it must be centered with good registration, which will be very hard to find especially in the 30k range.

Agree with him. You won’t be able to find a perfectly centered 52 Topps Mantle for 30k anymore even if it is a PSA 2.5 unless you hit one of those hidden treasures in an estate sale or something. Nice 52 Mantles shot up like mad during Covid. Anything nicely centered (not perfect) with nice eye appeal is probably 40k and up now. The same card was probably 25-30k at the beginning of the year. You’ll still be able to get a nice 52 for 30k, but probably won’t be as nice and centered as you were hoping. Either way 52 Topps Mickey all day and night over the others.

[todeen]

Its always harder to buy the more expensive card. Buy the Mantle. Then pick off the others when you can, or if you're interested.

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