Putting together an almost raw monster...

[dougscats]

I'm on the same quest as you, kllrbee, but for the graded h-o-fer's.
I'm at roughly the same point, too, with 226 out of 520.
I bought my first in the mid-90's and have been actively collecting the set for the last few years--first only on Ebay, now Net 54, too [so we compete for the same cards].

I'm no expert on the matter, but I'd guess that the price of cards has doubled, maybe a little more than that [I'd guess T206's have risen 125-150%], in the past 15 years. They've surely held their value very well during the recent economic downturn, some better than others.

I look at the T206's as blue chips in baseball card collecting. My expectations are that they are a solid investment, but I wouldn't expect spectacular returns, unless vintage baseball card collecting explodes. The law of supply and demand always prevails, and in our case the supply is pretty much a constant; only the demand may change.

Simply from a financial point of view, I'd say cards not the best investment.
But from this collector's point of view, who oftens spends his money on cards instead of other modes of entertainment, they're a great investment--money saved that I otherwise wouldn't have.

Anyway, my personal agenda for writing this is to open trade talks with you.
I, too, have about 20 doubles in the same condition. And I'd hope we could serve each other's needs, trading a few.

Send me a pm if you're interested, and I'll send you a list.

Thanks.

Doug

[kllrbee]

Thanks for the responses guys.

Sorry to try to turn a baseball card forum into Economics 101. LOL.

Doug, let me get my dupes in order and Ill PM you. I was going to post them for trade soon anyways, but I cant get my scanner to work.

[FrankWakefield]

For me, putting together an ungraded low condition set would not be done for the monetary value, but for the affinity to the cards and baseball. I'd think there are better ways to put money to cards if you're wanting monetary gain. And if you're wanting to make an investment, do that with stocks, bonds, real estate, an education... not in a hobby. A really good investment is to buy 5 to 10 acres of land, plant hardwood saplings, tend to them for a couple of years so they get started, then wait 30 to 40 years. That is a really good investment.