Investing in trading cards - Wikicollecting page

Wikicollecting

Hello,

A Wikicollector has written an Investing in trading cards page at http://en.wikicollecting.org

What do you make of it? Can you improve on it?

http://en.wikicollecting.org/investing-in-trading-cards

Dan

fkw

take away all of the "investing" references and replace them with "collecting". Otherwise the article will be more of a pipedream to most...

If the article was ONLY based on Modern cards being flipped by the "prospector" crowd, then "investing" might be a good word to use, but you mention the ACC (American Card Catalog), and the T206 Wagner so ........

"Rookie cards of major sporting stars are seen as the holy grail of trading cards"
the 2 most iconic sports cards known are not "rookie" cards, ie the 1909 T206 Wagner and the 1952T Mantle

IMO Most so called "card investors" who think they can jump in and make a killing.... usually get burnt and move back to coins eventually. Ive watched them for nearly 30 years do this....
The guys that do actually make good $$ flipping cards, will make it in the long run (usually buying bulk and selling singles), and will make it in vintage (ie PreWar), and usually did most of the bulk of their buying in the 80's or earlier, or are so knowledgeable they can look at a card and within a few seconds know if its authentic, if its altered, and what it has sold for yearly over the last 25+ years and what demand it has in todays market (is it going up, flat, going down, ........how often seen FS, 1-2 times every week, every year, every 10 years, ever).

IMO, Long term value in modern shinny garbage will be short lived as basically none (maybe 5) will hold the same value as when first issued and hyped. Im sure there are guys who buy modern in bulk then break it down and sell singles that can make some quick $$, but the average collector who is trying to double their $$ with $100 invested will have trouble doing it once, let alone for a living.

Modern intentionally shortprinted hyped 1/1's are not rare! They are limited editions collectibles, issued with a preconceived value, like a Beanie Baby, Collector Plate, or Franklin Mint piece.
For a collectible to hold good long term value it needs to become naturally rare over time... ie many/most lost or destroyed while be played with or used as intended. ie vintage comics, stamps, pez (how eBay started), hotwheels, tootsietoys, steiff bears, vintage halloween stuff, movie posters (1 sold for $1/2 mil), beer cans (1 sold for $20K), and baseball cards, etc., etc. condition and supply/demand influence value drastically as well.

other misinfo...
in reality, collecting trading cards is far more popular in England than Japan, and maybe even the US (per capita). the CSGB (Cartophilic Society of Great Britain) was founded in 1935.

There are roughly 65 T206 Honus Wagner cards known, kill the "200" reference and never use the word rare with the T206 Wagner, it is not a rare card it is a scarce card. ie, there are thousands of baseball tobacco cards from that 1909-1915 Era far scarcer than the Wagner, ie every single T204, T208, T209-1, T209-2, T210, T211, T212-1, T212-2-1, T213-1, T213-3, T214, T215-1, T215-2, T215 Pirate, T216-1, T216-2, T216-3, T217, etc. etc. then you have the "N" cards, "E" cards, "D" cards, "M" cards, etc. etc. ........... you get the picture.