Pics added of first 2 PSA cards ... Which would be better investment?
 

I've got some money saved up (around $1k-$1,200) from selling modern stuff, and I'm looking to spend it on some vintage stuff. The amount I have should rise as I plan on selling more of my modern in the next few days/week to move toward vintage.

I prefer raw vintage, but I'm thinking about buying some graded cards just looking ahead at the future and the fact they'd be easier to move should I need to move them quickly or should I pass and the person left to move them would have an easier time.

So here's my question.

For investment purposes, would it be better to buy graded RCs of some of the HOFers (I'd be looking for mid-grade RCs so 5-7) or graded stars (Mantle, Mays, Aaron, Williams, etc). I've had some vintage here and there by putting sets together, but I've never focused on vintage from an investment standpoint.


Edit: Now have 2 PSA cards in my collection (bought 3 others earlier this week on Facebook that should be here tomorrow).

The new cornerstone of my entire PC. My most expensive card.
https://i.imgur.com/CQdAERX.jpg?1


Also a nice RC of a non-HOFer, although this guy has a good case to be in there.
https://i.imgur.com/4ZbnCV3.jpg?1

Not exciting but investing in some nice graded SP from the 1960s high number series are always a good investment in my mind.

I thought about that. But when I put my 1962 Topps set together, I was buying raw Ex to NM high numbers for $5-$7 apiece. So that doesn't seem like a solid investment unless there's something I'm missing, which is absolutely possible.

Absolutely nothing right now. Prices are silly. Keep saving and when the prices come back to normal or even cheaper, then buy. There is no way all the new buyers are going to stay in the hobby when they can get out and actually do stuff.

So many ways to go. For $1500 you can buy 30 mid-grade mid-tier HOFers from 1950's Bowman and Topps sets. Or you can buy one PSA 1.5 1949 Leaf Ruth.
There are countless choices.
One thing is sure however, it takes a concerted effort and a well thought-out plan to lose money on cards of Hall of Famers.

I'm currently investing in NM 7 centered 60's topps Hofers. I'm also starting to invest in early 70's tops at higher grades. Not sexy but still fun and probably the best ROI right now.

I've noticed that Hank Aaron cards have started to climb, especially 1954 thru 1956 ...

Haha, been told that before. No really I have.

I was told around 1-1/2 to 2 years ago to hold off on buying gold that it couldn't withstand the prices it was getting. At the time it was $1k-$1,100 per ounce. Now it's almost $2k per ounce.

I'm hoping cards start to come back down a smidge, but I really don't see that happened. I think that's especially true for vintage and even moreso for HOFers and superstars (i.e. Mantle, Mays Aaron, Clemente, etc.).

Go with junk wax if you really want to invest. Today's Mantle is tomorrow's Griffey and Jeter. Their prices will continue to climb. I'm thinking of 1993 Topps Finest, too.

If our two local artists keep cutting up cards for their artwork, they are doing all of us a favor.

I hear you, I have said it before and been wrong. This run up is way different than the others. In my opinion it has been caused by all the new people in the hobby stuck at home. Once we can get back out most of that new cash will go back to what they spent it on before. I am sure the dealers will try their hardest to keep the prices high. After no sales they should go down though.

I have been watching the housing market and it has been like the card market, crazy. Can't wait for a good crash so I can buy that house/condo on the beach much cheaper.:D

I would focus on Mays and Aaron cards. I still think their cards are way undervalued. You’ve missed the boat on owning their rookie cards for a fair price, but their other 1950s cards are still relatively cheap. They are also still alive. All their cards will receive a bump when they are gone.

Ever since hearing about all the Grading Company issues, I decided to stock up on high-grade (EM or better) raw Mantles...with the idea of eventually getting them graded...when I feel it's safER to do so.


.

I was thinking 1950s mid-grade Aaron and Mays would be good starts. I am not a fan of the big cards, i.e. mid-1950s Bowman and 1954-56 Topps. I also don't like smaller cards, i.e. early 1950s Bowman. But being in slabs could change my mind.

I've always been a set builder, and those bigger and smaller cards are hard to fit into 9-pocket pages correctly without having to turn them sideways (8-pocket) or having 15 cards per page.

But being that I'm wanting to get some slabs, it might change my mind. I'd assume the slabs are the same size (height wise) whether a normal card, an oversized card, like mid-50s Bowman and Topps, or a smaller card. If I'm wrong on that, can someone please correct me?

I can't wait to buy a house.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

Best of luck getting something you like for a decent price. We are more looking for a place to retire to. Really like the central Oregon coast. Been vacationing there since the mid 80s. We are frugal(cheap) so been waiting for another housing market crash to get something cheaper. Still kicking ourselves for not buying something on the coast during the last market crash.

Lol! I tell my wife the same thing! "Let's wait until the next crash." (We are frugal too). My wife dreams of paying off debt while I am dreaming of baseball cards.

Love the Oregon Coast. Have you stayed in Lincoln City at the Sandcastle? That's our go to location, on the beach, but cheap. My parents go there every year. It's where they honeymooned.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

It's an interesting debate in terms of where the vintage market is going. I can see both sides. I definitely think you're going to continue to see things go up until at least winter is over. From what I'm seeing, key vintage cards are generally more expensive now than they were 2 months ago and well they say trend is your friend.

Agree about Aaron and Mays as well. Those cards have gone up quite a bit already in 2020 and there's more room to grow if you benchmark them against Mantle. I can't ever see them on par with Mantle in terms of prices, but they certainly could close the gap some.

Prices are silly right now, yes, but it's hard to imagine nice midgrade 50's and 60's star cards of folks like Mantle, Mays, Aaron, Clemente, Robinson, Koufax, et al. ever going down significantly or being "bad" investments. They've been rock solid for nearly 4 decades now in most cases. Prices might level off for a bit, sure - but it's hard to see Mantle cards en masse "going down." With him, even low grade stuff and it's hard to go wrong. 10-15 years ago, and a lower grade slabbed '53 Topps Mantle? Even like a 1 or a 2 could be had for $500 or less. What's that card worth today? Even a 1 is well north of $1,000.

It's all relative, but short of thermonuclear war or the asteroid from Armageddon materializing - it's just hard for me to see those cards turning out bad in the long run.

I just bought 3 cards last night. Haven't gotten them in yet, but it's 2 PSA and 1 SGC. Looking at the SGC, I think they look really nice. But I'm not sure once I get it in hand. However, I know they sell for like half of what PSA does. Can anyone explain this to me?

But I also got word today that the card my LCS subbed in its 10-day PSA sub back in early July finally popped today (four months later BTW on a 10-day sub). Should be in later this week, so could have 4 graded cards in my possession by the end of the weekend.

I don't know that the average (for vintage, anyway) would be "half" of what PSA goes for, but yes - SGC on the whole does not have the same resale value.

It's a number of things. PSA was the first recognized major third party grader, and they set up their "registry" system which was basically allowed collectors of graded cards to compete with each other early on as to who had the best and baddest slabs. Genius marketing idea. That and just the pervasiveness today, the widespread availability of cards graded by PSA I think does it.

On the flipside - I'm an SGC fan, I think for vintage and especially lately they are a more consistent and slightly tougher grader than PSA. Their slabs to me look better and are a more impressive product. So it doesn't bother me so much that SGC slabs are not at a premium compared to PSA, because I prefer them - but I think there are several reasons for this. One, no registry. One has been promised in one form or another now for decades, but it has yet to happen. Two, just a different culture of customer service. SGC is more laid back, and I've seen analogies comparing the two companies which say PSA is the corporate suits, while SGC's staff are the college potheads. Who knows. From my perspective, PSA / Collectors Universe (their parent company) have several things going against them right now, the largest of which is their alleged participation in the PWCC alteration scandal, and giving larger customers preferential treatment. Oddly enough, this has yet to even put a noticeable ding in their reputation since that scandal broke in 2019. To me, PSA's public persona is just a bit shady, with former president Joe "Never Get Cheated" Orlando failing to really even address the issue. If you've been collecting vintage for any length of time, you know full well that there are altered cards in many numbered PSA slabs. The first card they ever graded back in the 90's is now known to have been altered, and well - yeah on a macro level - nobody really cares. There are just some things that don't add up to me. But I digress...

Go SGC and save some $$ if you like. They are A-level graders with a rock solid reputation and just because they are not PSA doesn't mean they aren't legit.

Time.

I thought about time this morning. Time is what so many collectors have had on their hands for months now. I think that is part of the puzzle of why prices on some cards are rising and some are not. Collectors have the time to think, really think, about their collecting right now. I've found myself contemplating what cards I want and how I want to collect them to a greater degree than normal, and have been selling off good chunks of material and acquiring other stuff in turn. My collecting is more purposeful than it was a year ago because I have nothing else to do than pay attention. No more rushed purchases on my phone while heading out for the evening. To be fair, I'd been going that way for a while--instead of coming home from the National with a carry-on full of random crap, the last few years I'd come home with much more directed purchases--but the virus mess has made me more aware of what I am buying and how it fits. I've even started (gasp) a few small vintage boxing sets, something I haven't done for years as a boxing type card and HOFer collector.

I now own 2 PSA cards (both scanned in OP), with one being the new cornerstone of my collection. Love them both and glad I've decided to take the plunge into graded vintage.