📈Is the correction over? What cards look attractive with an upside potential?📈

[ninjacookies]

I'm more Sexton on the sidelines narrating the symbolic investor/Hellmuth drawn out meltdown off a strongarm UTG preflop reraise.




Kardz ain't in my cards, blud.

[Nomad]

I've been there. Believe it or not my forum threads as a cub WSOP poker reporter used to get half a million views in a week. Helmuth is a great tournament player and kind of a douche at the table. Even in 2014, he rants were just an act.

[ninjacookies]

Persson stepdaddy'ing Phillip is forever my soul food.

[Torro]

Originally Posted by KhalDrogo

The good thing is that FBTC has been my biggest winner since I started purchasing in March 2024. I only started buying FETH the first week of July 2025. I sadly missed that it went live well before that.

Wow you really started buying crypto in 2024 and you are talking about it in a card forum? Why not in 2014 or at least the 2017 mega bull cycle? Let me guess you were skeptical before, just like you are skeptical about the card market growth and everything else?

"The good thing" would have been if you started buying 10 years ago lol

[drobfan8]

Originally Posted by Torro

Wow you really started buying crypto in 2024 and you are talking about it in a card forum? Why not in 2014 or at least the 2017 mega bull cycle? Let me guess you were skeptical before, just like you are skeptical about the card market growth and everything else?

"The good thing" would have been if you started buying 10 years ago lol

Hey! Khal was busy buying platform shoes so that he could be taller than 5 foot.

They paid off handsomely.

So pipe down mate

[Blazed]

Originally Posted by Torro

Wow you really started buying crypto in 2024 and you are talking about it in a card forum? Why not in 2014 or at least the 2017 mega bull cycle? Let me guess you were skeptical before, just like you are skeptical about the card market growth and everything else?

"The good thing" would have been if you started buying 10 years ago lol

Hindsight traders are always 100% accurate

[BlueXtreme]

Originally Posted by Blazed

On thing most people are forgetting is those are businesses that are buying at those high prices > showing them off and pumping them up > then dumping them to average Joe who just got funded so he/she can run to IG and show it off

For the LLC's they're write off's

For Joe down the street they're a value trap

This.. exactly this.

[Asian62150]

Originally Posted by threepointplay

Maybe; maybe not.

Jordan could end up being the Mickey Mantle of basketball cards. You have to at least be in your 70s or 80s to have seen him play in his prime and most people of that age and older are in wealth protection not spending mode.

Yet his cards are still hugely in demand and his legacy has been passed on to the generations who have barely seen any footage of him swinging a bat.

I think as more time passes, Mickey Mantle will be seen as the Michael Jordan of baseball cards.

MJ hasn't played in over 20 years but he is still relevant, even though he mainly stays out of the spotlight. Jordan Brand is everywhere. Pro leagues and colleges are sponsored by Jordan. MJ's reach is global and he's borderline worshipped as an athlete. When MJ passes, the Jumpman will live on.

I don't know the Mantle market at all. Has it just kept growing and growing? The '52 Mantle is truly iconic but that's mainly in the US. I can see MJ's market being pumped and dumped (as it has been before). Does that happen with Mantles at all or not as much bc there isn't as much stuff?

[Nomad]

The market will only have corrected when I can no longer buy a Knee Rookies Recon /5 for $30. A lot of salty Celtics fans out there still undervaluing a "scrub" and we daily eBay searchers benefit.

That RR for example didn't come into any of my searches until their were like 3 hours remaining. I think a lot of auction watchers simply didn't see the maybe half-day sale . Those two investors who came in during Finals and always set high upper bids have also been absent.

Bottom line, sportsclctrinvestors still have a reasonable 5-6x outlook for the next 6 months, with outside potential of 50x (another Finals run).

A healthy basketball market is always a flux looking for an equilibrium.

[fabiani12333]

Originally Posted by Asian62150

I think as more time passes, Mickey Mantle will be seen as the Michael Jordan of baseball cards.

MJ hasn't played in over 20 years but he is still relevant, even though he mainly stays out of the spotlight. Jordan Brand is everywhere. Pro leagues and colleges are sponsored by Jordan. MJ's reach is global and he's borderline worshipped as an athlete. When MJ passes, the Jumpman will live on.

I don't know the Mantle market at all. Has it just kept growing and growing? The '52 Mantle is truly iconic but that's mainly in the US. I can see MJ's market being pumped and dumped (as it has been before). Does that happen with Mantles at all or not as much bc there isn't as much stuff?

Jordan became a star during the peak of broadcast TV and the rise of the internet. He was key to the NBA's growth in popularity internationally. Anyone can go on YouTube and see video highlights of his career or entire games he played. His career also coincided with the peak of trading cards in the 90s. He was an icon to multiple generations of basketball fans -- boomers, gen-xers and older millennials.

Mantle's career pre-dated color TV. The US was a fraction of the size it is now in terms of population. Trading cards, while very popular with kids, were limited to only a few releases a year. He was an icon to boomer kids -- especially those on the east coast.

Mantle's popularity in the modern sports card hobby is primarily centered around his iconic '52 Topps card, which grew in significance during the first sports card bubble of the 80s. The card is one of the most invested in sports cards and has grown in value substantially over the decades.

Michael Jordan's popularity in the hobby is primarily based around his GOAT status and the myriad of desirable and valuable cards that he's featured on, as well as the demographics of those participating in the hobby -- gen-xers and older millennials with disposable income.

[Nomad]

I get Jordan, but I really don't get it. His cards leave me cold. While a nice McGrady or Duncan is really cool.

[fabiani12333]

Originally Posted by Nomad

I get Jordan, but I really don't get it. His cards leave me cold. While a nice McGrady or Duncan is really cool.

Cold? His cards from the 90s generally look great -- he was very telegenic; had a very graceful and athletic style of play. UD made sure to present him in the best possible light -- a lot of iconic imagery was used to produce his cards.

Duncan was also very graceful early on his career, but it doesn't seem like it translated as well to his trading cards. Maybe big men are too clunky for trading cards, unless your Shaq hanging on a rim after a dunk.

[fabiani12333]

Originally Posted by Nomad

I think to me Jordan cards scream "me." I've already got enough ego going around in my own head.

Jordan doesn't come across as someone who constantly needs or craves admiration or attention. He's egotistical and very competitive, but that didn't mean he needed to be center of attention all the time -- he let his play on the court speak for itself.

Sure, he was in the spotlight constantly, but that's because he was a capitalist who marketed himself very heavily -- he was very bankable in the 90s, and the biggest companies wanted to be associated with him. Companies like UD were going to present him in the best possible light.

[KhalDrogo]

Originally Posted by Torro

Wow you really started buying crypto in 2024 and you are talking about it in a card forum? Why not in 2014 or at least the 2017 mega bull cycle? Let me guess you were skeptical before, just like you are skeptical about the card market growth and everything else?

"The good thing" would have been if you started buying 10 years ago lol

Follow me on IG for my latest thoughts.

Good traders adapt. Bad traders don’t. I’m certainly not disappointed in the performance of my equities the last 10 years.

[2010GBPackers]

Originally Posted by fabiani12333

Jordan became a star during the peak of broadcast TV and the rise of the internet. He was key to the NBA's growth in popularity internationally. Anyone can go on YouTube and see video highlights of his career or entire games he played. His career also coincided with the peak of trading cards in the 90s. He was an icon to multiple generations of basketball fans -- boomers, gen-xers and older millennials.

Mantle's career pre-dated color TV. The US was a fraction of the size it is now in terms of population. Trading cards, while very popular with kids, were limited to only a few releases a year. He was an icon to boomer kids -- especially those on the east coast.

Mantle's popularity in the modern sports card hobby is primarily centered around his iconic '52 Topps card, which grew in significance during the first sports card bubble of the 80s. The card is one of the most invested in sports cards and has grown in value substantially over the decades.

Michael Jordan's popularity in the hobby is primarily based around his GOAT status and the myriad of desirable and valuable cards that he's featured on, as well as the demographics of those participating in the hobby -- gen-xers and older millennials with disposable income.

100% spot on. The difference between Jordan and Mantle is two-fold. 1) Jordan is a sports icon worldwide; Mantle's icon status is not even close to that level of reach. 2) Jordan was clearly the best player both of his generation and of all-time; whereas Mantle was not. Not only is Mantle not the best of all-time, most folks can agree that Mays was in fact the best player of that generation.

On another note, I'd be very wary of assuming basketball will continue to dominate in the manner it has in the hobby. That's not saying it won't be the #1 collected sport, however, to the degree to which basketball cards outperform football, soccer, (and to a lesser degree baseball and hockey), I believe is already beginning to end. Like many posters have mentioned, basketball (driven by Michael Jordan) was the #1 sport to collect in the '90's for youth. Sure, baseball still drew more eyeballs to the TV screen and baseball cards were more popular than basketball, but young kids were being driven towards basketball and its fast-paced and athletic style and away from "boring" baseball. This is currently happening with basketball vs. football. LeBron is 40 years old and no one has really come forth as the next superstar. Add in to the fact that nobody (not literally, though almost) watches basketball anymore. The first preseason NFL game just outdrew all the NBA Playoff games except the Finals. Let that sink in.

[tjforce]

Originally Posted by 2010GBPackers

100% spot on. The difference between Jordan and Mantle is two-fold. 1) Jordan is a sports icon worldwide; Mantle's icon status is not even close to that level of reach. 2) Jordan was clearly the best player both of his generation and of all-time; whereas Mantle was not. Not only is Mantle not the best of all-time, most folks can agree that Mays was in fact the best player of that generation.

On another note, I'd be very wary of assuming basketball will continue to dominate in the manner it has in the hobby. That's not saying it won't be the #1 collected sport, however, to the degree to which basketball cards outperform football, soccer, (and to a lesser degree baseball and hockey), I believe is already beginning to end. Like many posters have mentioned, basketball (driven by Michael Jordan) was the #1 sport to collect in the '90's for youth. Sure, baseball still drew more eyeballs to the TV screen and baseball cards were more popular than basketball, but young kids were being driven towards basketball and its fast-paced and athletic style and away from "boring" baseball. This is currently happening with basketball vs. football. LeBron is 40 years old and no one has really come forth as the next superstar. Add in to the fact that nobody (not literally, though almost) watches basketball anymore. The first preseason NFL game just outdrew all the NBA Playoff games except the Finals. Let that sink in.

I've been saying it anyone who listens:

-Baseball peaked in the 1950s. Hence Mantle's dominance in sports cards.

-Basketball peaked in the 1990s. Hence Jordan's dominance in sports cards.

-Football is peaking now. More room to grow as Brady and Mahomes become the guys that people grow up to remember and dominate sports cards.

[imbluestreak23]

where is OP? Doesn't he know the pump is back on?

[eastbayak]

Originally Posted by KhalDrogo

Follow me on IG for my latest thoughts.

Good traders adapt. Bad traders don’t. I’m certainly not disappointed in the performance of my equities the last 10 years.

I'll follow you, I like your perspective on matters (even if I don't always agree with you). What's your IG?

[tjforce]

Just reading the first few pages here is quickly becoming cathartic.


So many doomers here telling you point blank: Cards are bad investments.

In hindsight, this was probably a strong buy signal.

[yiguiri2002]

It seems like everything limited from the Panini era is going up. Kabooms and Downtowns are crazy right now.

[threepointplay]

Originally Posted by yiguiri2002

It seems like everything limited from the Panini era is going up. Kabooms and Downtowns are crazy right now.

They are prime targets for re-pack products. So are cycling from breakers to dealers/flippers to re-packers before landing with collectors.

[jcardstore]

prices are always going up until you have something to sell and then there's no liquidity and turns out prices aren't as high as the pumpers want you to believe

[jcardstore]

Originally Posted by tjforce

Just reading the first few pages here is quickly becoming cathartic.


So many doomers here telling you point blank: Cards are bad investments.

In hindsight, this was probably a strong buy signal.

This is still 100% true.

Just because you can claim paper gains on some ultra rare 90s card doesn't mean cards as a whole aren't bad investments

[Ericc5Bears]

Originally Posted by jcardstore

prices are always going up until you have something to sell and then there's no liquidity and turns out prices aren't as high as the pumpers want you to believe

Don't get me wrong, I think this is mostly just a short term pump but this is also 100% wrong. I sell full time on ebay and consistently send higher end stuff to fanatics/goldin/alt auctions, this is without a doubt the easiest it's been to sell since at least early spring of 2021. I usually list around 50 items at a time on ebay, typically in the past around 25% would sell within 48 hours. That number has been much closer to 50% recently. It also feels like every item I send to auction outperforms my estimates, some absolutely smashing them. Even as someone who isn't the biggest fan of repacks in general, it's impossible to ignore the liquidity that repackers have brought to the market over the last 6 months or so.

[jcardstore]

Originally Posted by Ericc5Bears

Don't get me wrong, I think this is mostly just a short term pump but this is also 100% wrong. I sell full time on ebay and consistently send higher end stuff to fanatics/goldin/alt auctions, this is without a doubt the easiest it's been to sell since at least early spring of 2021. I usually list around 50 items at a time on ebay, typically in the past around 25% would sell within 48 hours. That number has been much closer to 50% recently. It also feels like every item I send to auction outperforms my estimates, some absolutely smashing them. Even as someone who isn't the biggest fan of repacks in general, it's impossible to ignore the liquidity that repackers have brought to the market over the last 6 months or so.

Well there's no way to measure this other than anecdote, and the auction house stuff is such a tiny percentage of the overall market anyways.

and, the stuff at auction is in a very different category. Ultra high value stuff is just it's own category like art or classic cars... etc.

and liquidity is still relative to other investments. It's significantly less liquid than most other asset classes

Whether something is a good investment or not isn't measured against itself, it's measured relative to other assets.