Thoughts on $100 to $200 cards

DanS832

I think we are a low price so I want start buying baseball cards in that $100 - $200 when i have extra cash. Any thoughts on which direction I should go in? Buy hall of famers? Buy better player at lower PSA grade or not as good player with higher PSA grade.
Thanks

1948_Swell_Robinson

1972 Roger Staubach 7's and 8's have dropped a lot, but seem to be recovering a little. I was looking to get one but went another direction. I did get tired of trying to find a centered one. You won't get them for $200 but might be better off with a nice Staubach 7, or really save up for an 8, instead of several lower $150 cards.

1972 Julius Erving same thing.

They will spike again and they will get another round of the spotlight for how good they were.

1969 Lew Alcindor's are in the buy zone IMO now too.

Sorry just noticed you said baseball cards. Maybe a nice centered PSA 9 1984 Donruss Don Mattingly and hope he makes the HOF on the Veterans committee. Those are in your range you said.

1948_Swell_Robinson

Or a 1984 Fleer Update Clemens. He still has a shot at the HOF as those have dropped too after his last miss.

swish54

Best advice I've read on here is to buy the oldest, highest grade vintage HOF'er you can afford, rookies of HOF'ers would be good too.

jordangretzkyfan

I would focus on iconic athletes in a condition rarity for the card. For example, if you are a fan of the rookies in the 1970s, buy PSA 8 or better. Very few PSA 9 exist, but as soon as you drop to a PSA 7, the populations explode. If you love the 1980s, then look for dead centered PSA 9 examples of iconic RCs. Quality will always hold value, while mass quantity is dependent on the number of buyers in the hobby to expand demand.

Estil

Bottom line be sure you do get them PSA graded so you don't accidentally end up with trimmed or tiny crease or recolored or whatnot cards. I mean can you imagine how much that'd really suck to get a card you think is totally flawless, send it to grading and it comes back as a PSA 5 because they found an itty bitty little wrinkle?

coolstanley

70's football have dropped quite a bit.

thedutymon11

@coolstanley said:
70's football have dropped quite a bit.

As has just about everything in the Collectible Arena except Grade A A1 Top of the line collectibles. Certain things I won't comment about, but I can tell you that Most Mid Range Graded Sports Cards and Non Sports Cards are Crap. If it isn't 30-40 years old or newer than 10 years, its worth 1/2 to 2/3rds less that it was a year ago!

I am buying Silver Age and Golden Age Comics for my kids futures, I'm getting as an example, a Seller was offering 2 each Major Silver Age Issues at $400 and $375 for each. They just accepted a Stupid Offer of $200 each from me...WOW!

So the buying is NOW!

Thanks

YeeHaw!!

Neil

Estil

@coolstanley said:
70's football have dropped quite a bit.

So those sets can be had more affordably now?

johfr

I'd stay away from ultra modern.

With your budget in the $100-200 range per card I like some of the undervalued 1980-2000 rookie cards in the best grade you can afford.

I think Jeter cards are particularly undervalued right now, Iconic player, New York, Multiple Rings. I know he wasn't the absolute best player of his era but he was still extremely good and checks all the boxes for iconic.

I like Adrian Beltre rookies. Not an icon but definitely a great player. A 93.5 WAR means his name will always come up in conversations in the future.

This one will catch me some controversy but I think Alex Rodriguez rookies are way undervalued. I get that there is a lot of bad image stuff that went down but he was still the best player in the game for a decent amount of time. I know people have very strong feelings about players that used or potentially used steroids. Not looking for that conversation here. Just feel his cards are way undervalued based on how great his level of play was.

I do think both Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds rookie cards are undervalued as well. Again not looking to have a conversation on steroids, more just an overall observation of the kind of players that will still elicit collectors interest in the future.

That's my two cents.... Hope everyone has a lovely day!

ndleo

I would check out other forums like blowout to get a wider view. I like SCV on YouTube as well. He focuses on ultra modern but if your goal is to play the bounce, the deader the cat the bigger the bounce.

craig44

buy what you like. then if they go down in value, you still have cards you enjoy. If you are in it to make money and have to ask us what to buy, I would suggest a different type of investment.

JolleyWrencher

I'd go with the ripken FF card. Seems iconic and within the price range.

coolstanley

Late 70's and early 80's baseball graded OPC's are way undervalued.

johfr

@coolstanley said:
Late 70's and early 80's baseball graded OPC's are way undervalued.

I agree with you and I'd go further saying all 60's and 70's OPC is extremely undervalued. In the 60's and 70's you don't have a lot of sets to choose from. I think player and team collectors will eventually catch on to this and want OPC in addition to Topps. The OPC stuff is just really tough to find. 1974 OPC is almost non existent.

sayheywyo

$100-$200 is pretty much a sweet spot for many folks. Define your goals. Are you collecting or trying to invest? Possibly buy cards that are regularly traded..... like UD Griffey, Pujols, Cabrera, Gwynn, Ripken, Jeter, etc..
Be patient.... BIN's are not very good deals right now. Look at auctions from regular sellers ( not 4SC, Greg Morris, Probstein) prices are usually lower. If investing.... time and compound interest is better than cardboard.

DeutscherGeist

I respect the diversity of thoughts here. I think the OP just wants some feedback from folks knowledgeable about the hobby. The OP does not have to explain the investment vs. hobby intentions. The discussion this post started is an interesting read for a great many people.

I feel more comfortable commenting on the 1980s cards. Someone already brought up a centered 1984 Donruss Don Mattingly PSA 9 as a potential investment. I would have to agree. There is potential there. I was hoping he would lead a team to a WS victory, but for a long time, he did not have much to work with in the Marlins. They kept trading away some great players. He was a bench coach this past season. If he can have another chance to manage a team serious about contending and wins the WS, I think that would cement his enshrinement as a player and manager.

Here are some others:

1987 Donruss Kevin Brown PSA 10
1987 Topps Traded Tiffany David Cone PSA 10
1989 Donruss Curt Schilling PSA 10

These can be had for about $50 - $100 each. Too many have been printed, so I would not bother much with PSA 9 for these cards. These are three excellent pitchers that have had their share of the spotlight and WS victories. They have a realistic shot at the HOF. Their metrics compare very well with current HOFers. That card of Curt Schilling is his only true rookie card, which is rare for a 1980s player. The same with Kevin Brown regarding his 1987 Donruss. David Cone has multiple rookie cards such as the regular issue 1987 Topps Traded and 1987 Donruss, but the 1987 TTT is a special breed.

There are probably other players I would take a closer look at such as Gary Sheffield and Andy Pettitte.

That was my two cents.

UlyssesExtravaganza

I think the goals of the OP are the only thing that matters. Are you looking to build your personal collection and want cards you can appreciate looking at and feel good owning? Or is it just about flipping cards and making money? What is the risk appetite? Are you ready to walk into the casino and maybe leave with empty pockets taking a shot at leaving with more money than you can fit in your pockets? Just as if you went to a financial advisor they would want to know what you want and ask questions and then would guide you. They dont say hello nice to meet you we're buying you 10 year bonds call us back in 10 years.

DanS832

These are great comments. I have lots of raw cards that I am now getting graded. I love cards so I want to start buying some but also as an investment. I love risk its a hobby I put fun monies into this. I like the thought of O Pee Chee baseball as I have lots of raw one's being Canadian. I like late 70s and 80s cards as that was when i was younger and enjoyed watching baseball. Of course at the end i want to build a collection thats worth some money. No flipping. Later maybe start spending more. But I feel now is the time also to buy market is lower.

DanS832

Should have also said I have maybe have about 250,000 raw cards I have accumulated over the years I have been organizing and slowly getting some graded.

coinkat

buy what you like. then if they go down in value, you still have cards you enjoy. If you are in it to make money and have to ask us what to buy, I would suggest a different type of investment.

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UlyssesExtravaganza

DanS, appreciate the feedback and think after hearing that, you sort of know the path but still its fun to talk about it. Buy what you love. Buy what puts a smile on your face. Unless what you love may not have much future value and you want something that increases in value. But if you are a fan of the game its probably hard not to have liked popular players that other fans valued and have great potential as investments. Personally in that 100 to 200 in the 70s to 80s space, I dont think you can go wrong with George Brett and Rickey Henderson rookies, two of my favorites. And just feels like their legend will grow. Brett just had the MLB special which was incredible and made me want to go out and load up on his stuff. Think you can throw Cal and Gwynn RCs in there as well. Schmidt too.

I think you cant go wrong with Aaron/Mays/Clemente. For 72 73 you may be able to live in that 200 price range for some with a PSA 7. Or go older and dial back the grade. I have been wanting to go this route and just add as many as I can.

If you want to roll the dice, move out of the 70s and 80s I would say speculate on who the next big things may be, potential ROYs or just great players. Maybe scour the Top 100 prospect lists. You could get a more limited non-base Holliday or a Chourio but their success is going to be priced in to a degree. To really increase the chance of huge returns you may find someone further down the list and find a /199 /99 /25 variation which seems to be what is valued in modern cards. I think the upside on Dominguez could be enormous. He could be an all-star and face of the Yankees which could make his cards go to the moon. Or he could never fully materialize. So baseball analogy, could be a whiff or a 575 foot HR.

I know you dont want to flip but just throwing it out for sport, I think the best way to make money in cards the next several months would be to guess on which QBs you think will be in the Super Bowl. A Purdy a Lamar Jackson a Tua, a Joe Flacco 🤣. If you time it right and unload it while the speculation is at a fever pitch you might make 100 to 200% of your original investment. Or since you dont want to flip if you guess right on the guy who wins it, its a nice hold.

DanS832

Great stuff. I did buy a Rickey Henderson rookie a couple months ago as it seemed the value as been going down. Speculating is the other great fun of the hobby.