You have $20k to spend and have to buy all rookie cards - what do you buy?
KendallCat
Posts: 3,009 ✭✭✭✭✭
People have been discussing back and forth whether or not there is a bubble or correction coming for some time now, and I was thinking no bubble what would be the best pickups in terms of cards. The deal is this:
* you have $20k to spend on cards
* you can only buy rookie cards in the 4 major sports
* cards can be any grade - they don't have to be high end 8's and 9's.
What do you pickup and why?
* you have $20k to spend on cards
* you can only buy rookie cards in the 4 major sports
* cards can be any grade - they don't have to be high end 8's and 9's.
What do you pickup and why?
0
Comments
I was born in 1970 and really loved growing up watching baseball and football the most...the 70s were amazing and the 80s were still pretty cool. I was fortunate to have seen MJ quite a bit too but never caught the Basketball buzz in card collecting other than some tall ones from the 70s from my brother...with that being said:
I would do this strictly from a collection/display standpoint and not at all worry about investment. I'd get as many PSA 7's or 8's centered from 1967 to 1985 of the main hof dudes I loved watching in baseball. Although Football would be fun to add, I only have 20k.
I would get the best looking '51 Bowman and '52 Topps that I could. Would look at several and find the best combination that I could totaling $20,000.00.
And for those who like Mantle but he's not your favorite player, historically his cards have been very marketable. If you needed to liquidate you should not have much trouble.
Doug
Liquidating my collection for the 3rd and final time. Time for others to enjoy what I have enjoyed over the last several decades. Money could be put to better use.
<< <i>they don't have to be high end 8's and 9's. >>
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1994 Pro Line Live
TheDallasCowboyBackfieldProject
Bill Russell
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Hank Aaron
Jim Brown
Bart Starr
Johnny Unitas
Joe Namath
Reggie Jackson
Willie Mays
Michael Jordan
Jerry West
Oscar Robertson
Pete Maravich
Wilt Chamberlain
Pete Rose
Nolan Ryan
Tom Seaver
Wayne Gretzky (OPC)
Roberto Clemente (his card might eat up most of the budget, so I would focus on the other guys on the list first)
Stick to PSA 7 or better. You should be able to get most, if not all, the cards on the list for $20k.
Plan B:
1960 Venezuelan Topps Yaz RC in PSA 4 or 5
73 OPC Dwight Evans graded 9 by PSA/SGC/BVG
Playoff Contenders Brady RC Auto in PSA or BGS 9
High end autographed 62 Fleer Cappelletti - minty card with bold sig, then pay to sub it to PSA (red flip)
74 Topps J.Hannah in PSA 9
With whatever is left over, buy the best Ted Williams RC I can afford.
(Edited after more thought)
1968 Ryan PSA 8 - $3000
1954 Aaron PSA 7 - $5000
1975 Brett PSA 9 - $2000
Clear as mud? May even have to throw a prize in for the best list overall.
<< <i>Get the best conditioned rookie cards from the following pool:
Bill Russell
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Hank Aaron
Jim Brown
Bart Starr
Johnny Unitas
Joe Namath
Reggie Jackson
Willie Mays
Michael Jordan
Jerry West
Oscar Robertson
Pete Maravich
Wilt Chamberlain
Pete Rose
Nolan Ryan
Tom Seaver
Wayne Gretzky (OPC)
Roberto Clemente (his card might eat up most of the budget, so I would focus on the other guys on the list first)
Stick to PSA 7 or better. You should be able to get most, if not all, the cards on the list for $20k. >>
7 or better? You must be buying these cards in their inception years...20k? Mays included? Man I want your luck...
I'd rather have a 6 SUPER HIGH END UNDERGRADED DEFINITE BUMP card, haha..lawnmowerman.
<< <i>Thank you for the responses and info. One thing that I would add is to list it by card, grade, and value - "math is so hard!" Something like below:
1968 Ryan PSA 8 - $3000
1954 Aaron PSA 7 - $5000
1975 Brett PSA 9 - $2000
Clear as mud? May even have to throw a prize in for the best list overall. >>
You can pick up a PSA 9 Brett RC for $500, if you're lucky.
Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
If we are talking about having fun (and hopefully also retaining value) I would buy a combination of as many higher grade RC's from this list that I could. I know we don't have to pick high grade for this exercise, but I prefer to get the highest grade I can afford because I appreciate both the aesthetics of a high condition card and I feel it also offers the best long term return if considering investment potential. Anyway my list of cards would be:
1957 Bill Russell PSA 5 not sure what this costs $2500?
1961 Baylor PSA 8 or higher $2000
1961 Wilt PSA 8 or higher $3500
1961 Big O PSA 8 or higher $2300
1961 West PSA 8 or higher $2800
1972 Dr. J PSA 9 $2600
1980 Bird Magic PSA 9 $2600
1984 Star #101 MJ BGS 8 not sure what this costs $5k?
1986 Fleer MJ PSA 9 $3500
1976 Walter Payton PSA 9 $1300
1981 Montana PSA 9 $800
1984 Marino and Elway PSA 10 $1500 per
1986 Rice PSA 9 $500
1979 Topps or OPC Gretzky PSA 8 or higher
If I have any money left over, which is doubtful I would buy as many 500 HR Club RCs from the pre PED era as I could.
In my actual collection I have scratched six of these cards from the list so far and hope to be adding more soon. So far I believe I have used up around $9500 of real money out of the theoretical $20k budget on these cards:
1976 Payton PSA 9
1981 Montana PSA 9
1986 Rice PSA 9
1986 Fleer Jordan PSA 9
1961 West PSA 8
1961 Robertson PSA 8
I have a deal brewing to add one more card from the list in the very near future
Cool thread KC, look forward to seeing more responses.
ETA: price estimates. I am definitely over budget so I will look at the list and whittle down to $20k worth of cards later.
<< <i>
<< <i>Thank you for the responses and info. One thing that I would add is to list it by card, grade, and value - "math is so hard!" Something like below:
1968 Ryan PSA 8 - $3000
1954 Aaron PSA 7 - $5000
1975 Brett PSA 9 - $2000
Clear as mud? May even have to throw a prize in for the best list overall. >>
You can pick up a PSA 9 Brett RC for $500, if you're lucky.
Tim is our first winner due to his witty banter. Since I know his address by heart I will be sending him a PSA 3 Biff Pocoroba card autographed by someone else besides Biff - most likely my wife since she has better handwriting than I do.
You're right, the Mays rookie is a budget buster. I would go as low as a PSA 5 for his card, to accommodate the other cards.
My List would look something like this, and the focus would be on eye appeal, not numeric grade:
52T Mick = $9K
52T Mathews = $3K
48L Jackie = $2K
66T Orr = $3K
79OPC Gretzky = $1.5K (have Topps)
86F Jordan = $1.5K (have a 6)
1965 Topps J.Namath (PSA 7) - $4,000
I would donate the extra 1K to someone else who needed it for their card search.
Baseball, it is said, is only a game. True. And the Grand Canyon is only a hole in Arizona.
-George F. Will
'48 Leaf Jackie Robinson PSA 4
'51 Bowman Willie Mays PSA 5
'54 Topps Ernie Banks PSA 6
'54 Topps Al Kaline PSA 6
'55 Topps Roberto Clemente PSA 6
'63 Fleer Lance Alworth PSA 9
'63 Topps Pete Rose PSA 8
'69 Topps Reggie Jackson PSA 8
'74 Topps Dave Winfield PSA 10
Steve
<< <i>If i had to buy a rookie(s) I'd drop the whole $20k on the best looking 1952 Topps Mantle I could find. >>
+1
seems like the rice and payton rookies have stablized in price and even recent sales prices have been dropping.
<< <i>
<< <i>If i had to buy a rookie(s) I'd drop the whole $20k on the best looking 1952 Topps Mantle I could find. >>
+1 >>
Not a rookie.
<< <i>Do you think modern PSA 10 rookies such as Mario Lemieux opeechee PSA 10 rookie, jerry rice psa 10 rookie, john elway psa 10 rookie and semi-modern cards like walter payton psa 10 rookie have maxed out in price?
seems like the rice and payton rookies have stablized in price and even recent sales prices have been dropping. >>
I agree that Rice has leveled off but is still very strong at roughly $11k.
Payton seems to be trending up albeit slightly $14,500 or so.
The Lemieux is very condition specific - the last two "nice" PSA 10's went for roughly $11k PWCC and $12k (I believe Mile High, not in VCP). The PSA 10 currently on ebay in PWCC looks decent, my guess is $11k+ maybe $12k. I personally think there is room to grow in hockey, iconic high in the grade rookies.
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<< <i>
<< <i>If i had to buy a rookie(s) I'd drop the whole $20k on the best looking 1952 Topps Mantle I could find. >>
+1 >>
Not a rookie. >>
Even though technically 51 mantle bowman is his rookie, many people consider his 52 topps as his rookie too cause it's his first topps card. Look at ebay and see that there are many 1952 topps mantle's listed with "rookie".
<< <i>Whatever floats my boat that day with no restrictions on rookies only or 4 major sports. I'd probably grab high grade copies of Bobby Jones from both the 33 Sport Kings (PSA8 for $7500 OBO) and 32 US Caramel (thought there was an 8 or 9 for sale recently around $12.5K, but can't find it now) and just have fun picking up whatever else looked interesting with the rest after negotiating both of those down. >>
Disagree with this. Not enough Bobby jones collectors out there for this to be a good investment.
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<< <i>
<< <i>
<< <i>If i had to buy a rookie(s) I'd drop the whole $20k on the best looking 1952 Topps Mantle I could find. >>
+1 >>
Not a rookie. >>
Even though technically 51 mantle bowman is his rookie, many people consider his 52 topps as his rookie too cause it's his first topps card. Look at ebay and see that there are many 1952 topps mantle's listed with "rookie". >>
Still doesn't change the fact it's not a rookie. There are thousands of eBay listings a week listing cards as rookies that aren't. Iconic, yes, rookie, no.
ETA: Over 500 1994 Jeters listed as 'rookies': Link
<< <i>
<< <i>
<< <i>
<< <i>
<< <i>If i had to buy a rookie(s) I'd drop the whole $20k on the best looking 1952 Topps Mantle I could find. >>
+1 >>
Not a rookie. >>
Even though technically 51 mantle bowman is his rookie, many people consider his 52 topps as his rookie too cause it's his first topps card. Look at ebay and see that there are many 1952 topps mantle's listed with "rookie". >>
Still doesn't change the fact it's not a rookie. There are thousands of eBay listings a week listing cards as rookies that aren't. Iconic, yes, rookie, no. >>
I think everybody knows that 52 mantle would be a better buy than getting the bobby jones cards you recommended lol.
<< <i>
<< <i>Whatever floats my boat that day with no restrictions on rookies only or 4 major sports. I'd probably grab high grade copies of Bobby Jones from both the 33 Sport Kings (PSA8 for $7500 OBO) and 32 US Caramel (thought there was an 8 or 9 for sale recently around $12.5K, but can't find it now) and just have fun picking up whatever else looked interesting with the rest after negotiating both of those down. >>
Disagree with this. Not enough Bobby jones collectors out there for this to be a good investment. >>
I didn't realize this was another investment thread and honestly thought that horse had been beaten to dust. I thought this was a 'What do you pickup and why?' thread. For my collection, I would rather have those two than any other cards mentioned here, though I appreciate many of the responses.
I am absolutely certain most will disagree here, but I'd at least consider picking up the highest grade USA Test Bobby Orr that fit my budget. Sure, not as many collectors as Clemente/Aaron/etc., but the supply of those cards is significantly higher compared to the Test Orr. Then use the balance to pick up a Mantle.
<< <i>
<< <i>
<< <i>Whatever floats my boat that day with no restrictions on rookies only or 4 major sports. I'd probably grab high grade copies of Bobby Jones from both the 33 Sport Kings (PSA8 for $7500 OBO) and 32 US Caramel (thought there was an 8 or 9 for sale recently around $12.5K, but can't find it now) and just have fun picking up whatever else looked interesting with the rest after negotiating both of those down. >>
Disagree with this. Not enough Bobby jones collectors out there for this to be a good investment. >>
I didn't realize this was another investment thread and honestly thought that horse had been beaten to dust. I thought this was a 'What do you pickup and why?' thread. For my collection, I would rather have those two than any other cards mentioned here, though I appreciate many of the responses. >>
The beatings will continue until morale improves!
Successful card BST transactions with cbcnow, brogurt, gstarling, Bravesfan 007, and rajah 424.
Rookies by the dozens and then shortly after that Gregg Jefferies Rc's.
With 20k I would bet I could gather 20k of each now! I still have great memories each time of think
Of that era and buying those up. Back to the question though.... Put it all in bird/magic Rc's
KC
I am absolutely certain most will disagree here, but I'd at least consider picking up the highest grade USA Test Bobby Orr that fit my budget. Sure, not as many collectors as Clemente/Aaron/etc., but the supply of those cards is significantly higher compared to the Test Orr. Then use the balance to pick up a Mantle.
I am not a hockey collector but I think the Orr RC is one of the absolute classics and IMO the one hockey card I would have if I could only have one (and I could afford it). I don't know anything about the Test version other than it appears to be super rare. A graded copy would get no arguments from me as a great choice.