Investment potential- which cards will do best?

[drc]

A key is buying cards that won't go down. Be wary of cards that are in today, but ignored in the future. I think a lot of Topps (ala 1960s, 1970s) went down simply because they are so dang plentiful-- not that people don't still like them.

One thing that makes me wary of T206s and Goudeys as investment are their abundance. Their prices are propped up by demand not rarity. However, I agree T206s are great cards, my favorite ever set. So there's good reason for their long lasting popularity.

Picking investments by what is popular today (especially when that what is abundant!!!) is not a theory I subscribe to.

Having said that, I doubt market for T206s will collapse. They will be avidly collected for many years. And it's not as if they abundant in the 1985 Topps sense. They're just abundant for Pre-WWI cards.

[Oklahawg]

Originally Posted by drc

A key is buying cards that won't go down. Be wary of cards that are in today, but ignored in the future. I think a lot of Topps (ala 1960s, 1970s) went down simply because they are so dang plentiful-- not that people don't still like them.

One thing that makes me wary of T206s and Goudeys as investment are their abundance. Their prices are propped up by demand not rarity. However, I agree T206s are great cards, my favorite ever set. So there's good reason for their long lasting popularity.

Picking investments by what is popular today (especially when that what is abundant!!!) is not a theory I subscribe to.

Having said that, I doubt market for T206s will collapse. They will be avidly collected for many years. And it's not as if they abundant in the 1985 Topps sense. They're just abundant for Pre-WWI cards.

Scarcity should be the #1 guide, right? Pre-WW2 cards aren't being found still, are they? I haven't "found" cards on the street (garage sale, junk sale, whatever) in 30 years of looking. The "finds" are folks with a Beckett guide from the grocery store hawking 87 Donruss rated rookies and 89 Score boxed sets.

The problem with T206, for example, is the number of buyers - just how many new buyers are hitting the market? At some point there will be relative saturation, and it'll take some time for interest to ramp back up.