Posted By:
Judge DredRob (ramram),
You're right, who knows what'll appreciate in the future. Maybe it's political material, maybe it's the DNA (nail clippings, hair, etc) of sports stars or screen stars, maybe it's a rare reprint set of an obscure issue of baseball cards. I stopped speculating on card prices a long time ago.
In 1985 I purchased (8) 1984 Topps football wax cases for about $100 a case. Everyone I knew (that collected cards) thought I was crazy. I don't have any of the wax left but the ROI in three years on the stuff was great (16+:1). I speculated on that stuff and got lucky. I don't buy new material anymore, I haven't for years because I don't enjoy it. Back then it was a vehicle to make some spare change to put back into the hobby.
I don't see anything wrong with trying to speculate on cards but just remember if it all comes crashing down on you it wont be so bad if you like the stuff that you speculated on. Sure it may be painful looking at a card for which you paid $2,000+ (and dropped to $200 in price), but as long as you like it, who cares?
When I buy old stuff it's because I like it, not because I think it's going to be worth a lot of money in the future. Sad but true part is that I'll probably die with this old stuff so there would be no ROI for me. Who ever inherits the stuff will probably have no idea what it's worth - you'll probably see it all on ebay some day.