ADVICE PLEASE: $300 for long term vintage investment

[PFF100]

Originally Posted by FreddyPancakes

Finally getting around to posting what I got. I think I bought this back in March or April. I didn't care too much about grade (as you can tell, it's a 1), but I loved a few things about this card:
1. the color looks great, vivid, bright, no fading.
2. to my eye, the card looks perfectly centered. in 1956, pack fresh, this could've been a 10!
3. while there's wear on all four corners (anyone remember the "just round the corner" furniture commercials from the 80s/90s?), and blemishes on the surface, nothing really sticks out as a glaring flaw that really takes away from the card
4. the background picture of Jackie stealing home. It's the most exciting play in baseball and, while the card shows him stealing home against the Cardinals with Johnny Podres at bat, something Jackie famously did against the Yankees in the '55 World Series, despite Yogi's protests.


I thought about the '54 and '55 Topps cards, too. The yellow background has grown on me, and some of the old school logos (like the Red Sox logo, a smiling sock swinging a bat) are just so dope, so special.

Ultimately, I put in a bid on this card on eBay, won it for around $270, and ended up having a great conversation with the seller. He's a Dodgers fan, from New York but living in California, who was grading and selling a number of cards his longtime friend had stashed for over 50 years. He had stories about growing up in New York City in the mid-20th century and vividly remembers seeing Jackie at Ebbets Field. I told him how the first place (time?) I'd travel to if I had a time machine would be 1950s NYC to visit those parks and see those three great teams play. He was able to tell me VIVID short stories about all three parks which really blew me away. The card would've been cool on its own, but getting to hear a first-hand account of what it was like growing up in the fifties in NYC, watching some of the best to ever do it, in some of the most historic ballparks ever, was incredible. And they way he told stories was like they took place yesterday, not 60 years ago. It was icing on the cake, for sure. More than a card, it was an experience. Super cool that I bought a Jackie card from someone that was lucky enough to see him play. Super cool to make connections and share stories, man. I'm gonna have to reach out to him again to thank him. I was worried I was pestering him with my questions but his lengthy recounts of his childhood at the old ballparks told me he didn't mind at all

Anyways, I know it's been a minute since I last posted, and a few people asked me to post my pickup, but I hope those that were interested do somehow get notified and get to see the card I picked up, and maybe even enjoy the story about my buying experience. Thanks again for all the help you guys provided!

Congratulations! Card that came with a story. That’s what makes the hobby great and vintage king!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Bunny Hop]

beautiful card.

[ThoseBackPages]

LOVE THAT writeup!

[Cracktoast]

The easy and only answer is Bobby Witt Jr

[Sluggerrr]

Thanks for sharing the card. I had found myself wondering what you ended up with every time a nice, affordable 56 Jackie popped up on ebay.

[FreddyPancakes]

Thanks for all the feedback, guys, glad I got to share it with ya
Cracktoast, you needed to tell me this six months ago, my guy...

[MiamiMarlinsFan]

Originally Posted by FreddyPancakes

Thanks for all the feedback, guys, glad I got to share it with ya
Cracktoast, you needed to tell me this six months ago, my guy...

Someone asked a similar question at the beginning of the season, but only with $1k. Everyone was saying vintage, Ohtani, or Acuna ONLY!

And I said if it were me I would just buy a 2022 Gilded Witt auto PSA 10.

Wish I would have taken my own advice.

[jduds]

The 56 Robinson is one of my favorites and it was my first big vintage buy as well although back when $300 could get you a nice 5 or 6 even. I went for a 5 at the time over several similarly priced 6s due to eye appeal. Congrats on the card. It's a beaut.

[sbfinley]

Originally Posted by ThoseBackPages

i am not in the "save for the grade you want" because it tends to be that by the time that person "saves up" for the grade they want, that grade will then be more than what they saved up.

its a cycle that never ends, and one just ends up chasing their own tail

I do agree somewhat with this sentiment. When I got back into the hobby 15-20 years ago there were dozens of times I passed on a card in the $500-$1000 range because “I can get that later.” Now many of them are in the $10k-$20k range, and they will always just be a want. Two in particular I remember talking myself out of… I’ve always had Ruth’s 1921 Exhibit on my want list because of the image. At a National about 15 years ago I had a PSA 4 in my hand to buy to for around $600. Talked myself out of it because exhibits weren’t popular and I could pick it up later. They go for around $20k now. Second was a Tom Barker Shoeless Joe that Leon Luckey had on his website for something like $400. Talked myself out of it because it was a game card. They are around $10k now.