$500 to spend on memorabilia...asking for advice

[Snapolit1]

I wouldn't blow it on a Ruth autograph. Ruth autos are all over the place. The really high end ones may have investment value but they are a lot higher than 5K.

[packs]

Buy Mike Trout now, sit on it, profit later.

[Snapolit1]

Originally Posted by packs

Buy Mike Trout now, sit on it, profit later.

Can't agree. I think Trout will end up by far with the largest number of refractors cards, blue refractor cards, red auto refractor cards, blue and red refractor cards, ad infinitum in the history of the hobby. Clean up someday by collecting something no one is smart enough to collect, not by collecting the thing everyone and his brother is hoarding.

I went to a card story down in south Jersey and half the room was Trout cards.

[packs]

I don't think anyone is talking about cards. I'm talking about memorabilia: game used bats, jerseys, hats, etc. High end HOF materials go for crazy money and Trout will surely be at the highest end of the HOF with the career he is likely to have.

[Forever Young]

Originally Posted by packs

I don't think anyone is talking about cards. I'm talking about memorabilia: game used bats, jerseys, hats, etc. High end HOF materials go for crazy money and Trout will surely be at the highest end of the HOF with the career he is likely to have.

Do you think Trout bats will then appreciate? They are already pretty pricy.

[packs]

Look how much Mantle bats with iron clad provenance sell for. I think Trout will be in the upper of upper echelons when he retires and all of his material can be had with MLB holograms vs. a story you must believe.

[Topnotchsy]

Originally Posted by packs

Look how much Mantle bats with iron clad provenance sell for. I think Trout will be in the upper of upper echelons when he retires and all of his material can be had with MLB holograms vs. a story you must believe.

There are 3 major differences between Trout and Mantle that I can think of:

1) Mantle played at a time when people did not assume that everything connected to him would be worth a lot of money. Because of this, they did not save every single bat, every batting glove, every jersey, every toenail clipping. They do for Trout. The quantity of Trout related items will likely be 1000x more than Mantle by the time he retires.

2) Mantle played in NY on the Yankees at a time when baseball was #1 among sports, and maybe among all forms of entertainment. Today there are so many more forms of entertainment that grab people's attention. Trout has been Mantle-esque to this point (maybe even better season-by-season) but he will never be as big a star.

3) Mantle's career is done. While Trout is absolutely on his way to being an inner-circle Hall of Famer, there is still the chance that something happens to curtail that. It is awful to consider anything really bad happening, but if Trout's career ended now, his memorabilia would drop to a small percentage of their current value, which means for someone who is looking to pick something up as a safe investment, Trout can be pretty risky. Even if he keeps playing another 10-12 seasons but is like Griffey and the second half of his career is much more average, his stuff will drop in value.

[David Atkatz]

Originally Posted by packs

Look how much Mantle bats with iron clad provenance sell for. I think Trout will be in the upper of upper echelons when he retires and all of his material can be had with MLB holograms vs. a story you must believe.

Trout's bats will never be worth what a Mantle gamer goes for now. Mantle didn't hang on to each and every bat he ever used. Broken bat? In the bin. There will be a hundred Trout bats--or more--for every existing Mantle gamer.