Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Do Cards Really Equal Investments?

The Beckett blog has a great post Wednesday about a guy with 101 ARod Rookie's graded BGS 9.0. Pepper - Thanks for posting the article.

But I don't get it. Maybe I'm old-school (or just old now), but I don't believe there is or should be a such thing as a "graded card investor." You can be an investor and you can be a card collector, but a graded card investor? No.

I like graded cards too (for other reasons that I've discussed on this blog), but your investments should be separate. Has anyone heard of someone retiring thanks to their graded card investments? Has anyone heard of someone buying a home or paying for college thanks to their graded card investments? Help me if I've missed this.

Please correct me where I'm wrong. It's very possible that I am incorrect and I'm just very ignorant about grading card investing - but I don't remember seeing indexes, returns, and other "investment" information in my Wall Street Journal.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Believe me, we've seen plenty (not thousands but at least 100 or more) of people do most of the above that you mentioned by dealing in graded cards. Rock on with the blog, and thanks for the mention.
- Pepper Hastings, Beckett Media

Anonymous said...

I accidently deleted you most recent blog comment on the Beckett Blog concerning Jacobs Field. Please repost and I will get it up. It was funny about the usher.

James said...

Hey Pepper -
First Comment: Does the Beckett Graded Investor Mag have some of those investment stories you mentioned? I need to pick one up and learn more about it. Is that monthly or every-other month?

Second Comment: I checked the Beckett blog - I think my comment is still there.

Thanks for stopping by and posting. You guys have had a lot of good stuff going on over there lately.

Anonymous said...

Well, the guy does control about 10 percent of the market on this particular card. It does not seem like a significant number, but it is. He has enough of them to go a small way toward setting the price of the card. Given that it is one of the best baseball players today, a condition sensitive card, and also a highly collected card, he has the chance to really cash in. I'm sure he will do so when the time comes.

James said...

Anonymous: And that's exactly my point on why cards shouldn't be investments. This guy has 10% of the market and is dictating the market. His actions could directly affect someone's "investment card portfolio."

I don't think this guy is to blame for anything - I don't want to make it sound like he's done nothing wrong. His collection is awesome, but I do think that's a lot of risk to take for the rest of us if we are using this card as some sort of investment.

Mutual Fund managers that truly hold someone's investment are at least held accountable by their shareholders, employer, and goverment regulations.

Lets say this guy hits the lotto and decides to sell his 101 card collection for $10 a piece to kids so he can make a statement... there's nothing to stop him. And what do we think will happen to the value of the ARod card if 10% are sold at that price?