Sports Cards as Investment

in baseballcards •  7 years ago  (edited)

No. Don't do it.

Although, if you were to read through this you might disagree with me. As a sports card collector for most of my life, I have seen how foreign (chinese) money being poured into this mostly American hobby has changed the landscape for good.
You see, back in 2003, a LeBron James rookie card was really going for about $20-$30 dollars. Michael Jordan's rookie cards were going for about a grand. Of course, Honus Wagner's rookie card was still being passed around for hundreds of thousands of dollars.

But in the last ten years or so, the hobby began to change. People started to pour in an amazing amount of money for special "patch autographs" that included a certified autograph and a piece of the game used jersey of superstar players, such as Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, and the like. Because you are able to "pull" these cards straight from hobby boxes, sports card collecting, which used to be children's pasttime, has become a gambler's paradise.

The cost of the hobby boxes range from $50 to $2500. As you might already be able to tell, the most expensive cards come from the most expensive boxes. Check out this cards sold on eBay -

http://www.ebay.com/itm/2014-15-NATIONAL-TREASURES-COLOSSAL-LOGOMAN-PATCH-AUTOGRAPH-AUTO-STEPHEN-CURRY-/302209606070?hash=item465d18a1b6:g:jrwAAOSwt5hYjjbI

$30,000 for a Stephen Curry "Logoman" Auto? Yeap. People are willing to pay.

So you can "pull" a super expensive card right out of the box. But it wouldn't be much of an investment; it's more akin to pulling the arm of a slot machine.

But, what would happen if you were to pull a Mike Trout autograph in the 2009-10 season, stash it away for 8 years, and put it on the market? This:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/2009-Bowman-Chrome-Blue-Refractor-Mike-Trout-ROOKIE-RC-AUTO-150-BGS-10-PWCC-/142318882913?hash=item2122ddd061:g:IAcAAOSw4CFYzrex

The average cost of a Bowman Draft box that Mike Trout was pulled was $80 when it came out.

So how do you get your hands on some of these boxes? I high recommend these two vendors, both of whom I have purchased from before and are not affiliated with me whatsoever.

http://blowoutcards.com/
https://cardsinfinity.com/

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