The Economy and Graded Sportscards

PSARich

I always figured there were four types of people active in the graded sportscard market. 1) The collector: who simply loves cards and his/her collections, and buys cards with discretionary money for the joy of it with little consideration given to making money during the process. 2) The Collector - Investor: who puts together his/her collection because of the love for the hobby, but also is more careful with what is spent on which cards because at some point the collection may be sold and it would be nice if he/she could recoup what was spent. Probably a person more "condition sensitive." 3) The Investor - Collector: who also loves sportscards and puts together more high grade sets, knowing that condition and scarsity drive a card's value, and is planning on someday selling the collection and making a profit. 4) The Investor: who is certainly interested in the sportscard market but is investing in cards with the idea that his/her purchases will increase in value and will sell when the price or the market is right.

Now given that premise, I am just confounded that the sales prices of graded cards on ebay seem to be indifferent to the fact that there is a recession going on. I consider myself as a #2. I love baseball cards but I only buy PSA 9's for the most part, 1950-1975, and although I have no plans to sell my collection the near future, I don't plan on leaving it to my kids either. Hence, I would also like to make a profit when I do sell. I would say in the last few months that the percentage of auctions that I have bid on and won is lower than last fall. The prices that some PSA 9 commons have gone for recently amazes me. I still maintain that for most people, the hobby is an outlet for their discretionay money, what they have left after the bills are paid. But yet. there seems to be as much spent on graded cards, at least on ebay, as ever. So what's up? I figured as the economy faltered I would realize some great deals on ebay for PSA 9 commons that are vintage or 1970's stuff. But I'm not seeing it except on the stuff where the population numbers are really high, such as 1974 baseball PSA 9 commons.

On top of that, I see so many graded crads on ebay that have the new PSA label (reflecting the recent period when they switched to the 1/2 point system), that it is obvious that the amount of cards being slabbed is still pretty steady. It appears PSA is still as busy as ever, although I think the recent specials have helped with submissions.

So what do all my card collectinmg friends think about the impact of the economy on graded card collecting? Are we going to see a downturn or is the hobby insultated from the recession....or am I just bidding on the wrong cards?

mmsportscards

For me it its 2 and some 3 or just collection management. Ive found this year to be about the same as last year, I cant keep a modern key card in highgrade in my store no matter what tag I throw on it however must be real nice.

I think what your seeing is many people are fed up with the banking industry and stocks. They would rather own something they enjoy in there investments.

On the flipside Ive seen alot of cherry stuff in auction houses and ebay with many deals to be had especially with the new search on ebay which is horrible in the past month ive missed 10 cards that I would like to put in my set. I search twice a week and never saw them.

JasP24

I would also condier myself the Collector-Investor category..

On the football side I think there has been some softening in certain areas of the market over the past 6 months, particularly 1970s-present. But overall, especially with the tough to find and/or pre-1960s stuff, it is still selling as high as ever.

Using your 4 categories, here's my opinion on how the recession affects each:

1) The collector---Probably has less discretionary money, or at the very least has become more protective of what they are spending on and thus spending less on cards.
2) The Collector - Investor---Overall, I think this category of collectors will remain steady/unaffected. If they've been buying smartly in the past, they can see now that the cards have been better than buying stocks over the past couple of years.
3) The Investor - Collector---Might actually start buying more cards. Particularly from those areas which seem to be currently selling at bargains.
4) The Investor---We may be seeing the biggest influx of this category right now and moving forward. For those who lost a bundle in the market, they might be looking for a new outlet to invest their money in that they were buying stocks with in the past. Especially if they get turned onto a price tracking site like a VCP and see that many card prices (specifically vintage) have held and in some cases even increased in value the last 6 months...Not many investments out there right now that can say that...

The biggest things this hobby has going for it, is that it is a hobby rooted in #1, love of sports, and #2, values due to scarcity. Its a combination that usually pulls on heart strings and not just purse strings when it comes to buying and selling.

Jason

K

I started collecting Graded cards for identification purposes. Simply to get a cert # on my collection. Here's the story:

I had almost completely finished putting to gether a raw 1954 set, I was just filling in holes for commons. All the big important cards had been acquired already. (i.e. both Ted Williams cards, the Banks, Aaron, and Kaline RCs etc.) Then I get sent overseas on a 7 month deployment. Well my gf of 2 1/2 years decided to leave me while I was out to sea and also decided to take all my possesions including my 54 set. Well when I returned home and learned of this I contacted the athorities. What I was told was that an officer would escort me through her house and I could point to anything that I wanted to contest as being mine. They would compose a list and then I could take her to court for everything on the list, however I would have to prove that I had purchased everything on the list with reciepts and serial#s.

Now the whole reason I started collecting the 54 set was because a lot of the 54s had been passed down to me from an uncle so there was no way to prove they were mine. The only cards I ended up getting back, among other things, were 3 cards that had been graded (which was very new at the time) because I showed my purchase history from Ebay, as well as the auction photos where the cert numbers matched the numbers on the slabs in question. So ever since then I have only collected graded cards.

scotgreb

Rich -- You raise an interesting topic and without overcomplicating your "types", I'd like to add another; Collector - Opportunist. That is the person that continually buys and sells cards (theoretically for profit) to fund the building of his own collection. That describes me -- and I believe a number of other board members. I generally have the disposable income to spend on the hobby but have trouble justifying it as I have a wife, kids, and many financial obligations. Not to mention it is just cardboard . Part of the enjoyment for me is finding bargains and reselling for profit. I've been doing this for years and have built a fairly substantial collection with none of "my" money. I've had a lot of success buying raw (often obscure, low pop, etc.), having them graded and selling. Usually I buy at auction and sell via BIN / my ebay store. Maybe the music will stop one day but I generally don't hold onto anything for too long or accumulate too much in value at any given time. I also generally deal with cards that fit with my collection; Clemente and HOF baseball.

Lastly, I agree with your observation that bargains are few and far between. I've done much more selling than buying recently as I've had a hard time finding value with cards I could potentially flip -- this "strategy" only works if you are patient and restrain yourself from overpaying.

RipublicaninMass

2) The Collector - Investor: who puts together his/her collection because of the love for the hobby, but also is more careful with what is spent on which cards because at some point the collection may be sold and it would be nice if he/she could recoup what was spent. Probably a person more "condition sensitive."

Maybe looking for nice eye appeal for the grade, and small qualifiers which dont hurt the presentation of the card. The latter I think will be the best investment over time. If you can get a PSA 5mk Cobb at a PSA 3 price simply because someone circle the # on the back. Why not? I understand the registry is a powerful drug and knocks down the grade by 2, but in my eyes, and I am sure in most other peoples BUY THE CARD not the holder! I have spent more in the last two months than I ever have, one simply because I had about 1000 in grading fees alone, another because I am down to the last 8 cards for my 55 topps set, and just want it done! I am not paying Levi prices, but about 50% over what I used to pick trying to get a score. Guess what I AM STILL LOSING auctions! I dont get, I may have however picked up a recession type deal, which I will post into this thread...if it comes to fruition

I hope the cards stay strong and continue a slow rise in price, I am speaking basically about pre 60's since I really dont follow the others too much

markj111

I have no expectation of a profit, but I am careful. I mostly buy PSA 8s from 59-72. What I do have is easy to sell, but I have no intention of doing so.

Robby

Rich
Put me in Category 2 - The Collector-Investor also ! Like you , I have no intention of leaving my collection to my kids , as they would just sell it as soon as they got there hands on them ! Meanwhile , I get to enjoy owning them and having fun building a collection .

As you pointed out , what recession ? In the set I collect , 1964 Topps baseball , there is a definite increase and interest in pursuing Psa 9's ! A influx of new Registry people , people playing the crack and resubmit game for that elusive 10 , and speculators hoping to resell for a higher price ! And quite possibly , as someone already mentioned , people tired of getting burned in the stock market , looking for a investment they can at least hold in their hand and look at ! Weather cards are a good investment as opposed to the Market , I'm not convinced one way or the other !

There's a thread on the other board about Mets71 buying spree for months now ( and yes , count me as one of the ones being outbid by him ) ! And then there is a certain collector who bids and buys every 1964 Topps #103 - Curt Flood card that comes up graded or raw ( trying to corner the market on a tough card or a savy collector needing the card to sell complete sets ??? ) , and wins the majority of them ! Sold him a Psa 7 about two years ago ! Regardless of ones motives for buying Graded cards , I think there is a new wave of speculators trying to cash in on Collectibles ! People that don't want to buy gold ( by the way it passed a $1,000/ounce today ) because they can't see it or hold it , like holding collectibles in there hand !

Anyway , enough rambling from me ! It's a fun hobby and keeps me occupied ( been retired for two years now ) and I'm not wasting my time in a bar somewhere pissing away money !

Robbie

celesterussell

agreed you cant go wrong with high quality cards from that era, I would stay away from the modern stuff.

Look at auction sales, psa 8's not to mention 9's still are at a relative premium. especially high numbers low pops.

thaey are easier to sell than many stars, as their are fewer around.

look at he usual suspects 1967 highs, 1969 bill robinson, kekich, 1966 snyder and on and on.......

you cant go wrong

NickM

Some stuff is dropping noticeably - lower grade and modern cards have been hit far worse than high-grade vintage.
Also, the more thinly collected a particular set is, the greater the chance that the recession will knock out a substantial part of its collector base. If you're talking vintage Topps sets, it would take a lot of people curtailing buying habits for most PSA 8s to show a large drop, but if you're talking about some oddball issue or regional, one collector no longer bidding could lead to a serious price drop.

Nick

nike24801

People are figuring "Hey, if Obama is going to pay my mortgage, I can use that money for high-grade vintage sportscards instead!" Thus, the recession is actually causing MORE money to be poured into this market. That tends to make it tougher for those of us who actually do pay our bills to compete; hence, your lack of success with the recent auctions.

Jasen

otwcards

In times of recession, tangible collectibles (sportscards, coins, art and the like) with a broad collecting base have fared much better than real estate and stocks.

I've heard, over the past two years, more than just a few financial experts suggest that stock investors diversify their portfolios and move 20-30% of their monies into "museum quality" sportscards and other "collectibles." I chuckle at the term "museum quality," but I'm assuming they mean high grade material.

I used to be pretty active in building sportscard portfolios for several clients (and still add to a few now and then) and over the years, I don't think any of them have been anything but amazed at the escalation of their portfolio's value. I was just looking at some spreadsheets and the average portfolio has increased over 400% in the past 8 years.

Given the current market, I'm pretty sure that smart discetionary income has been and is being invested in higher grade and vintage material.

Personally, I know that it is getting increasingly more difficult for me to win auctions on mid to high grade vintage football. And that's even bidding OVER recent transactions (per VCP).

It's not really that amazing, but it also suggests that some of these sports card investments will be put back into the market when the investors become more comfortable with an eventual upturn in the economy and regain faith in the traditional investment vehicles like the stock market and commodities.

cougar701

Well, I think I have gotten some good deals lately, but I welcome your comments and thoughts about these transactions...

1933 Goudey #160 Gehrig PSA 3.5 won for just under $700 shipped(SMR for a 3 is $800)
1933 Goudey Klein PSA 4 won for $81 shipped(SMR $125)

These two aren't the highest grades out there, but can you go wrong with HOF Goudey's under SMR?? I am watching for a deal on a Ruth, but the bidding is going way over SMR for even PSA 1's

1968 and 1969 Wilhelm PSA 9's(won seperately) for a total of $65 Shipped
1968 Bunning PSA 9 for under $30 Shipped

at the same time, I have also overpaid for a 67 Carlton PSA 9 (pop 17) and paid over $1k...but when do you ever see it for sale?
65 Carlton PSA 9 I also paid over $800, but since then the SMR value has at least caught up to it a bit...larger pop for this, but don't see it that often and you won't get it for a bargain if for no other reason then someone else will buy it to sell it for more then current market.

Here's something I don't get... Cards like the 89 Upper Deck Griffey PSA 10 regularly sells for about $200 and the pop is something over 1,000 of them with plenty of more to come as people bust open the cases. I like Griffey(until he is caught cheating), but how does the market support that kind of money for that high of population??

HOWARDROTHENBERG1

PSARich is right. I too thought that as the economy faltered vintage card prices would begin to drop and the astute buyer would find some fantastic buys out there. Well I was also wrong. I fall in to catagory number 1, I am a true collector who builds sets and uses this hobby as an outlet from my stressful job as an attorney. I can tell you that I probably spend at least two hours a day reviewing ebay for cards in high grade, PSA 8 in 1960's and PSA 7 or higher in 1950's. I can tell you without hesitation that these cards have not only held their value but many of them have increased in value. I would suggest that the reason for this is simple. As people get away from the stock and bond market, for the reasons that have been suggested in this thread, these people are looking to buy high quality. While they are the people that PSARich would seek to qualify as "pure investors" they are not the typical "pure investor" that this hobby has historically seen. These investors are very sophisticated, have invested in the bond or stock market before and only want top quality. Thus the increase in prices in this material. Add to that the PSA set registry process, where competition breeds over-spending ,and you have your answer.
So what do I think is the best way to deal with this economy. First grade anything vintage that you have in your collection which you think can grade 8 or higher. Even though PSA continues to raise their prices each year, their prices are still low enough to justify the significant increase in value if you can hit the 8,especialy if you are a member and can take advantage of their monthly specials. With respect to buying, this is tougher as at some point when the market begins to come back, and it will come back because it always does, prices on the cards you are overpaying for today are going to drop as these "pure investors " leave the card market and get back in to the stock market. Thus, I would only "dabble" at this point in the vintage market buying only what you really need or want for your collection but I would not buy everything in sight as prices will come back down at some point.

jay0791

I consider myself a collector-investor. Love cards. I have turned down offers for cards that would give me a decent profit.
Also have lost quite a bit on some.....
I see the hobby across the board dropping in prices realized. In each category it will be different based on who the top dogs are. If something is truely rare and in high grade....they will spend top dollar. As they aquire the card...gradually the price drops as they stop looking and not in the market/or the pop grows a little. The rarer the card and/or higher the grade determines how this recession/hobby affects card prices. That is why the nice graded psa 8's of vintage (especially FB) seems to be dropping. I have seen nice and still relatively scarce psa 8 vintage FB RC'S not sell for $500 less that they did 2 years ago...and at that the card wouldn't have lasted long.

I have stopped spending without consideration of how much I spent vs. future possible value and chances of seeing the card appear again on ebay.

It's a sad world when a sailor is off serving his country and his possesions are taken. Sorry for the GF...but I'm sure a solid citizen like him deserves better anyways...and can easily get another whom appreciates his sacrifice. My question..is why didn't the authorities check HER story out and ask for HER receipts of the 54 set cards? If it were me I would organize a commando operation and go get them back...maybe you can get OJ Simpson to head it....

calaban7

I am a #1 type buyer. My wife and I have 5 sons. I'm in the process of collecting different sets for each and I'm always looking for nice pickups . The 2 tops sets currently are the 83 and 84 Topps baseball set. Both are in the top spot for now . Lately the deals are getting better and better. I never name my price , but get 3-4 offers a week , to pick from , from different sellers . For some of the buyers , if I know them , I have uped their offers to previous market values to help them out and to keep the offers flowing. Others have been ridiculous in their offers , as if I'm some type of idiot. Once I'm insulted by one of these azz-clowns , I'll wait until someone else makes me an offer or if I find it somewhere else.

The secret I have is the way I've been able to structure my bills. We have a nice home and our bills normally add up to about 40 % of our net income. I have a job , almost no one likes , but is mandated by most state laws. I'm a commercial pest specialist , that takes the jobs NO BODY in our company wants, I.E.---State Prisons -- Military bases --- Airports --- Housing projects. The economy has not hit me very much at all, SO FAR.

I thank GOD everyday for my wife, our sons , my job and the opportunities he has given us. If my son's sets increase in value someday that will be great. If not , its been a wonderful time , putting them together. I'm really in it for the fun.

TheCARDKid

The price of modern wax boxes is what has amazed me the most.

You have the worst financial crisis in 70 years....bank stocks are turning into confetti....oh, no big deal. Boxes like 87 Fleer basketball are still selling for $1,000. That's just amazing to me.

-Generally, I think pre war goes higher long term. Other sets will catch up to t206, cracker jack and goudey. A lot of sleeper potential there.

-50's to 70's. Don't follow it that closely. Mid grade or high grade? Dont know.

-70's to 90's. Could continue to drop. The graded common game will eventually crash. Buying low pop psa 9 commons from the 70's and expecting them to maintain their value....it can't last.

-70's and 80's rare boxes. If they haven't crashed so far, I think they're basically recession proof. It's hard to see them collapsing.

RonBurgundy

It's not recession proof, but it is recession resistant. Long explanation, but just know that.




RB

longtimemetsfan

<< <i> 2) The Collector - Investor: who puts together his/her collection because of the love for the hobby, but also is more careful with what is spent on which cards because at some point the collection may be sold and it would be nice if he/she could recoup what was spent. Probably a person more "condition sensitive." >>



I buy mostly 70's baseball 8's and 9's. I noticed the end of last year I seemed to be getting some good deals, but since the first of the year I'm amazed at how high some of the prices for cards I was watching have gone for. Several of early to mid 70's PSA 9's I bought last year I've watched sell for 2 and 3 times what I paid.

4SC's has also stopped selling there cards as low in auctions. They are just listing them with BIN prices much higher than in the past.

cougar701

Someone help me understand how the 1975 Mike Schmidt PSA 9 that just ended about 2 hours ago went for $919.99 on eBay?? SMR was a little lowball at $225 but seriously...

What recession again??

longtimemetsfan

1973 Topps #348 PSA 9

I watched this one end last night. A common from 1973. It's not even a low pop card. I bought one the same grade a few months ago for under $7.00.

vladguerrero

<< <i>1973 Topps #348 PSA 9

I watched this one end last night. A common from 1973. It's not even a low pop card. I bought one the same grade a few months ago for under $7.00. >>



Since when is Ronnie a common?

I've seen some large sales on eBay but there is a lot of stuff down... 1993 Jeter SP graded 10/9.5, Jordan 1986 Fleer graded 9, I guess I shouldn't include A-Rod for economic reason!

scotgreb

Since when is Rennie a common?

First (and only?) player to go 7 for 7 in a 9-inning game . . . anything but common -- Go BUCS!

jrmazzeo

I've focused on collecting PSA 6 and 7 of all sports from the late 40's to mid-60's. IMO the difference between a 7 and 8 can be so hard to see that the premium you pay for the 8 is hard to justify. My experience biddding for these items on Ebay is that this category has increased steadily in the last several years and has shown no signs of slowing down with the exception of baseball cards from the 50's. Accordingly I have been loading up on 50's baseball at prices that seem very reasonable to me.

I'd a category 2 collector-investor and can't imagine life without my morning Ebay fix.

ken61

I probably fall into Category 1. I'm a relatively small-fry collector, with most of my collection being PSA7/8 cards from 1948-75. I treat any card purchase as disposable income on something I like, kind of like a few beers on the weekend.

weinhold

New to the hobby, I've only been buying graded sportscards for one year. Most of my buys are higher-end vintage graded football cards, secondly are some baseball tobacco cards and the occasional vintage basketball. Overall, it's been remarkable how resilient that sales prices have remained in the face of a strong national recession.

One reason for my football card focus is that their population is lower than baseball cards, and it seems intuitive that football values would have an upward trajectory that parallels the great national interest in the sport.

However, both checking Vintage Card Prices and anecdotally, it appears that baseball tobacco cards have held their values better while many vintage football card values have fallen. One theory - perhaps this is due to the timelessness and appeal of the vintage tobaccos, coupled with the fact that the tobacco buyer demographic may be more suited to weather a recession than football card investor / collectors.

In summary, it's just amazing that something with zero intrinsic value like vintage sports cards has a strong, vibrant market when banks are failing and "bailout" and "foreclosure" are everyday words in the American lexicon. I love it, love sports cards, and am buying more all the time.

calaban7

<< <i>New to the hobby, I've only been buying graded sportscards for one year. Most of my buys are higher-end vintage graded football cards, secondly are some baseball tobacco cards and the occasional vintage basketball. Overall, it's been remarkable how resilient that sales prices have remained in the face of a strong national recession.

One reason for my football card focus is that their population is lower than baseball cards, and it seems intuitive that football values would have an upward trajectory that parallels the great national interest in the sport.

However, both checking Vintage Card Prices and anecdotally, it appears that baseball tobacco cards have held their values better while many vintage football card values have fallen. One theory - perhaps this is due to the timelessness and appeal of the vintage tobaccos, coupled with the fact that the tobacco buyer demographic may be more suited to weather a recession than football card investor / collectors.

In summary, it's just amazing that something with zero intrinsic value like vintage sports cards has a strong, vibrant market when banks are failing and "bailout" and "foreclosure" are everyday words in the American lexicon. I love it, love sports cards, and am buying more all the time. >>



Welcome to the forum !!!!

dodgersin9

Topps Baseball 1971 PSA 9 cards are selling for higher prices than ever. '71s in 9 are rare and command steep premiums. No sign of recession in this particular market.

minnesotahusker

<< <i>Topps Baseball 1971 PSA 9 cards are selling for higher prices than ever. '71s in 9 are rare and command steep premiums. No sign of recession in this particular market. >>



Two words, Don Spence.

weinhold

Well, here we are mired even deeper in a strong recession, and I'm still waiting to get good sports card deals "on a price dip". There is still no such dip! It's remarkable how the resilient demand remains high, and closing prices of vintage sports cards remains strong. I don't know about the new stuff, but as a buyer / collector / investor of vintage cards, and using VintageCardPrices.com, I can see that prices are holding up astonishingly well.

Baseball remains strong, yet no substantial appreciation lately. Some price erosion in high-grade football from the '60s, '70s, and '80s is evident, but even that is minimal, and I don't see this elsewhere in the vintage market. Surprisingly, I've seen vintage high-end basketball cards over the last few weeks sell for appreciably more than they did 1 to 3 years ago. However, that may be due to a smaller sample size of just a few buyers scooping up those desirable '57 and '69 basketball for a few weeks - or not?

All in all, it's remarkable that in the throes of the strongest economic recession since the 1930s, bidders seem to be able to summon the financial wherewithal to buy a tangible representation of a favorite player or card design. In a point-and-click world, it becomes increasingly rare and even magical to hold something like a T206 Piedmont Ty Cobb Portrait card in your hand. As long as people like sports and the players that play them, people will buy, and drive continually demand for, vintage sports cards and memorabilia.

PSARich

Having started this thread, I have to fess up that I did finally get what I would call a couple great ebay purchases last Sunday. I won two 1959 Fleer Ted Williams cards (#'s 55 and 56), graded PSA 9, for $84 and $82 respectively. The SMR is $225 but they typically sell between $100+ to $175 when they don't have buy-it-now options only. These two have near perfect centering and appear to have nice light cream borders. Other than that, I still believe that high grade vintage cards appear to still holding their value regardless of the economy. The collectors-investors and investors-collectors must still have the means to buy and pay top prices for the material that they want or need.

RipublicaninMass

I picked up a card last week from a friend in need. He paid 4500 for it in August, I bought it for 2350 dlvd. Some people are hurtin' others not so much.

cyots82

I have a view on where I think collecting of cards from the 80’s & 90’s will go. Right now there are a large percentage of collectors from generations prior to mine driving collecting (I was born in 1981). A lot of this is because my generation does not have the disposable wealth built up to go after some of the high dollar older cards like older gens do. Because of this, the older cards are far more popular and costly than newer cardboard, along with the fact that there is much less high grade stuff from the 50’s, 60’s and early 70’s. The cards from before the 80’s will always be popular because of scarcity and the fact that those players are legends of the game. However, I think as current generations get older, they will look back to the items from our childhood and want to regain those memories. What better way to do this than thru collecting sports cards and memorabilia! I think many others will see this too. If this happens you will see a rise in the demand for cards of the 80’s and 90’s. Also, factor in how the industry has changed in recent years, with tons and tons of new companies and spin off sets. Everything seems to be driven right now by the “insert card.” The days are long gone of knowing that you find the first Topps card of any player and that is his ONLY rookie card and the most desired card of the player! This has turned away a lot of collectors from newer cardboard. This will only create desire of the cards from the 80’s and early 90’s. They still have the simplicity that will someday again be desired more than the “bells and whistles” of the new stuff. Also couple in the fact that players from that time period are just now getting into the Hall of Fame or soon will be and this is wetting the appetite of the investor – collector with high grade cards at low prices that will go up instantly when the hall calls these players. Right now there is a lot of high grade stuff out there from the 80’s. I also know it was the steroids era and there will be some questions about these guys getting in, but this will increase the demand of the cards of the few who DO get in. With so much unopened stuff out there for so cheap, people will start buying it up and breaking it looking for the few worthwhile cards that some of these sets contain. However, people seem to discard the commons of this period and there isn’t a whole lot out there in good shape and the bit that is, is not being graded because of lack of interest or current value. All this paired together I think is setting these cards up in the future for an increase in interest and value. Now, you’ll still have to have the newer stuff in the highest grade to make it worthwhile, but considering you can pick up rookies of future legends of the game for under $500 easily, it makes it worthwhile to take a chance and pick some of this stuff up today. I don’t know if all these scenarios will play out, but from what I’ve seen so far it seems like this could happen. Obviously there are a lot of different factors that I did not discuss to make all this come into play, but it’s a rough projection of it. What do you all think? Is it a sound enough theory or have I lost it? Regardless I consider myself a Collector-Investor who is passionate about the cards and hobby. Still, I want to make smart decisions with the money I spend on these cards so I try and go for the high grade stuff that will increase in value as the years pass if I ever decide or forced to sell because of unseen circumstances. Let’s all hope for the best in these times for both the economy and our hobby. Best of luck in whatever and however you collect!

thedutymon

Good day,
I consider myself in the Collector-Opportunist category. I collect Non Sport and a Little bit of some Sports, and Buy all of it when I can, to Flip, or sub and flip. I do this only to make my collecting affordable, because as has been mentioned, with wife, kids, mort, ect. don't have oodles and oodles of discretionary income.

So while most of my endeavors are in Non Sports and I can speak fairly well of that arena I still see a little bit of all of it. And I can tell you the money and realized prices for some of the Non Sport stuff has just been through the roof. And I am not talking about say losing a lot at $75 bucks when my max bid is $70, but the same lot going for $500. There is just some crazy money coming in and it has really increased in the last 6 months.

And then of couse there is other stuff that was high 6 months ago that with the proliferation of 4SC, Uncommons, Justcollect, ect, Subbing, you can't give the stuff away.

But still there is more of the stuff selling for way more than it should than way less.

Neil

MULLINS5

I love this thread! I consider myself as a Collector-Opportunist. At the moment I am only building my favorite hockey player’s basic and master sets (Mike Bossy). Now I do not mind the amount of money that I spend on a particular card because my goal is to have the highest grade of each of his cards, so for me I simply justify my spending as such: if I purchase a PSA 10 card, then I do not ever have to worry about adding that card to my sets, it is done. For instance, most collectors will say that I recently overpaid on a PSA 10 1984 OPC #209 for 227.00 POP1 …for me I justify this by saying to myself that 1) I don’t have to worry about getting another card, or another one being graded above mine and 2) I was about to send in 10 of these at the 7.00 grading special, and I paid 2.50-3.50 for each raw…considering that, to me, it is better to just go ahead and buy the graded PSA 10. I never intend on selling these sets, they are currently willed to my father, and one day to my children. I know these cards will be back on the market then

At times I see cards that are good deals, I grab them, then flip them, and use the money to fund my Bossy sets. I try to do this with cards that I am not partial to, for instance, modern and sports other than hockey…

As far as the Bossy sets, I don’t look to make any money off of the extra cards I get through upgrading, I simply would like for more people to participate in his sets, so when I have extras of those cards I generally sell them without profit.

Patrick

cyots82

That is exactly how I treat my player sets. since I'm collecting those sets out of love for the player/game, I don't really care about money spent there, I just want to get the highest grade possible (10) and have one of the best sets of all time. Now my 500 goal scorers and 3000 k's sets, those sets involve much older cards and higher dollar cards. Since those cards could really stand to make a profit at some point, I want to make sure I spend wisely on those and really get good cards for the money. I have passed on cards for those sets before that I tought went way to high and so far have been rewarded by finding them later on for a better price or in better condition. Still, I think most in this hobby are dedicated players/teams they collect and most of the time in that case money isn't the driving factor. I'm just glad to be able to do what I do and have the opportunity to collect at all!