Best investments by player and decade

[thatkidfromjerrymaguire]

If I HAD to invest money in baseball cards (as opposed to just collect them for fun like I do now) I would go with Babe Ruth and Jackie Robinson.

They will be taught about in American History class to kids from now until the end of time, and therefore I think there will always be new generations of collectors who will value their cards.

I’m not sure that will be true for ANYONE else (including Cobb).

[Snowman]

Since you said 50s through 60s, I'll ignore guys like Ruth and Cobb. But obvsiously, you're missing Mantle. Not sure if that was intentional or not, but he should be on your list.

Of the names you listed, I would predict Jackie Robinson and Willie Mays to be the best investments, followed by Hank Aaron. Koufax might yield you a decent return, but probably not in comparison to these guys. Everyone else on your list, as great as they all were, are not worth considering as investments IMO.

I would add in Satchel Paige though, and pretty much any other Negro League players that were good to great.

[skelly423]

Originally Posted by Snowman

Since you said 50s through 60s, I'll ignore guys like Ruth and Cobb. But obvsiously, you're missing Mantle. Not sure if that was intentional or not, but he should be on your list.

Of the names you listed, I would predict Jackie Robinson and Willie Mays to be the best investments, followed by Hank Aaron. Koufax might yield you a decent return, but probably not in comparison to these guys. Everyone else on your list, as great as they all were, are not worth considering as investments IMO.

I would add in Satchel Paige though, and pretty much any other Negro League players that were good to great.

Great call on Satchel Paige. You want the guys who are going to show up in the history books in 100 years. No question Jackie will be there. As long as the Negro Leagues are discussed, Satchel will be the first name that comes to mind. There may not be a lot of footage of the man, but he was a colorful character, and the number of stories about him more than make up for it.

Mickey Mantle's career numbers don't quite measure up to the best of the best, but he'll be a fixture forever. He's the boyhood hero of a generation, the face of 50s nostalgia (not to mention the 50s/60s Yankees dynasty). He's on the 2nd most iconic card in existence (and we know how that has worked out for Honus' hobby value).

[Rhotchkiss]

50’s:
Tier 1- Mantle, Robinson, Mays, Aaron
Tier 2 - Clemente, Paige, Musial, Williams, Koufax

60’s - Rose and Ryan, maybe Reggie Jax. Forget the rest

There are some unique 50’s cards worthwhile like 1952 Topps Pafko and Mathews, 1953 Bowman Reese, and 1958 Maris (plus I always thought the 1957 Dodgers Sluggers was special)

[Peter_Spaeth]

Maybe with the exception of Mantle, I think you can't just stop at naming a player. IMO rookie cards, early cards, or relatively low pop cards have more relative upside than later, common issues. Assuming you're buying at today's market price -- a big assumption because lots of people including myself haha tend to overpay -- I think well centered cards and mid to high grade cards have more relative upside than not so centered and lower grade cards. So if one is really buying to "invest" I don't think it's as simple as saying Mays is a good investment and Spahn isn't.

[Peter_Spaeth]

As an aside, ran a keyword search for "Invest" in the ebay sports card section.

27,000+ results for invest

[RCMcKenzie]

I agree on 50's and 60's cards. The condition matters more than the player, if you are "investing". If you want to put together a 1960 Topps set in raw vg/e, looking for the best deals on groups of cards, and slowly building a set, it can be a fun hobby, without concern for making a big profit.
Safe places to park money would be Goudey Babe Ruth T206 Cobb and Cy Young, stuff people outside the hobby have heard about.

If I were treating cards like a stock play, I would look to modern players' cards that are "distressed", like Ben Simmons, or Carlos Correa.

On 70's cards, even as I opened the packs in the 70's, I knew that they made too many of them to be worth money.

[Fuddjcal]

Originally Posted by skelly423

Mickey Mantle's career numbers don't quite measure up to the best of the best, but he'll be a fixture forever. He's the boyhood hero of a generation, the face of 50s nostalgia (not to mention the 50s/60s Yankees dynasty). He's on the 2nd most iconic card in existence (and we know how that has worked out for Honus' hobby value).

Yeah, a guy like trout should be able to catch his 7 WS Championships, his 20 times an all star, triple crown etc etc. Especially since Dave Kingman has more Homers in his Prime than Trout. Not to mention Trout is now officially a china doll. Mantle tore his ankle in 51 and drank everyday, lol. Maybe he was good? They measure up pretty well? No? why are trout's cards worth more than Mantle you think? Is it because they have funny names and pop?

[skelly423]

Originally Posted by Fuddjcal

Yeah, a guy like trout should be able to catch his 7 WS Championships, his 20 times an all star, triple crown etc etc. Especially since Dave Kingman has more Homers in his Prime than Trout. Not to mention Trout is now officially a china doll. Mantle tore his ankle in 51 and drank everyday, lol. Maybe he was good? They measure up pretty well? No? why are trout's cards worth more than Mantle you think? Is it because they have funny names and pop?

Did you read past the first sentence?