All Vintage Cards Large Cap Value Baseball Portfolio

1888 Goodwin Champions (N162) Cap Anson

Estimated Cost - Good Condition: $5000

Why We Selected It For The Portfolio:  There might not be a more beautiful vintage baseball set than the 1888 Goodwin Champions set.  Featuring the new commercial printing technologies of the era, the Goodwin set is a marvel of colors. 

Current PSA Population:  The Goodwin Champion cards aren't rare, but they are scarce and for the baseball subjects, it's likely that less than 100 for each are in existence. As for PSA population, only 62 have been graded, making it available, but not plentiful like some other early baseball sets.

1909 Philadelphia Caramel (E95) Ty Cobb

Estimated Cost - VG Condition: $4000

Why We Selected It For The Portfolio: I feel that the E95 set is just generally underappreciated and if we look at the scarcity of the Cobb versus his T206 cards, there is good relative value.  The card features Cobb in a portrait pose featured in his Detroit jersey with a striking red background. 

Current PSA Population: Take a look at the population difference between the T206 and the E95.  The E95 has been graded less than 1/10th as many times as the red portrait yet they have nearly equivalent prices.  That spells VALUE to me. 

1909 T206 White Borders Cy Young (Portrait)

Estimated Cost - VG Condition: $4000 

Why We Selected It For The Portfolio: This is a T206 card that still feels a bit undervalued to me, mostly relative to the Cobb cards in the set. Now, if you don't know, the portrait cards tend to hold a premium over any other player poses, such as the one's that have multiple poses in the set, such as Young. 

Current PSA Population: The Young green portrait card is a high demand card with no shortage of supply--PSA has graded nearly 800 copies of the Young card.  However, it is Young's most sought after card and will likely be a solid investment for the foreseeable future.

1909 American Caramel (E90-1) Honus Wagner (Throwing)

Estimated Cost - Good Condition: $4500

Why We Selected It For The Portfolio: The E90-1 set is often referred to as the 'Caramel Monster' for its larger size (118 cards), star power, and fairly easy availability.  Still, it tends to get lost in the shuffle among the other popular tobacco issues from the era.  Wagner has both a batting and throwing card from the set, but I like this one better as it provides a full look at Wagner.  

Current PSA Population: PSA has graded only 17 copies of the 'throwing' Wagner, so it's a tough find, but if you can target a lesser condition one at around $3000-$4000, it's a great deal on a relatively scarcer card. 

1909 Dockman & Sons (E92) - Christy Mathewson

Estimated Cost - VG - $3500

Why We Selected It For The Portfolio: The Mathewson Dockman and Sons card could be one of the most beautiful vintage cards in the history of the hobby.  The majority of the set has images shown vertically, but the horizontal image of Mathewson makes for one gorgeous card. 

Current PSA Population: As far as PSA goes, there are only 35 copies of the Mathewson card (note his name is misspelled 'Matthewson' on the front') that have been graded.  Compare that to over 700 for Mathewson's T206 portrait card and you can see the relative scarcity.  

1911 T205 Gold Borders Ty Cobb

Estimated Cost - Good Condition: $3800

Why We Selected It For The Portfolio: Overall, I think the T205 set is generally underappreciated.  Vintage collectors typically flock to the T206 set with its beautiful lithography and amazing colors.  The T205 Cobb is one of the better investments from the set.  

Current PSA Population: On average, PSA has graded more than double the amount of T206 cards, making the T205 set about twice as scarce as the T206 set.  

1915 Cracker Jack Ty Cobb

Estimated Cost - Poor to Good Condition: $10K

Why We Selected It For The Portfolio: Cracker Jack cards have such a classic look and it's no surprise that the two sets are among the most popular in the hobby.  The nostalgia of the 'Cracker Jack' name and its association with baseball make this a highly sought after issue for all collectors.  The Cobb pose on the card is just perfect. 

Current PSA Population: PSA has only graded 139 copies of the Cobb Cracker Jack card, making this is a fairly hard to find card.  The high demand for the card has made this one quite expensive and only for those with fairly deep pockets. 

1923 W515-2 Babe Ruth Strip Card #47

Estimated Cost - Good Condition: $3000

Why We Selected It For The Portfolio: A value list wouldn't be complete without a couple of strip cards.  If you don't know by now, I'm a big fan of the strips thus this Ruth is just one example of what I think is a good value in today's market. Note that Ruth has two cards in the W15 set but I prefer #47. 

Current PSA Population: The W515-2 #47 (say 'The Little..." at the top of the card) is tougher to find than Ruth's W515-1 but either way, I think both make a great long term investment.

1949 Leaf Jackie Robinson 

Estimated Cost - Poor Condition: $6000

Why We Selected It For The Portfolio: Jackie's 1948 Leaf card is considered by most collectors to be his true 'rookie' card. Robinson's image is grainy and maybe not the most appealing of all his cards, but it has become a very high demand card for vintage collectors.

Current PSA Population: Condition issues plagued the 1948 Leaf set, notably poor centering and staining. Thus, finding one in nice condition can be a challenge. PSA has graded a total of 40 Excellent-Mint (PSA 8) versions and only 8 Mint (PSA 9) copies.  Lower grade copies of Robinson's Leaf card are easier to come by but still will run you into the thousands--expect to spend close to a minimum of $6,000 on a poor to fair copy of the 1948 Leaf Robinson.

1952 Topps Willie Mays

Estimated Cost - Poor Condition: $3000

Why We Selected It For The Portfolio: Although not his true rookie card, the 1952 Topps Willie Mays card is the first Topps card to feature Mays and is one of the most valuable cards in the hobby.  This might be considered as an odd selection for a 'Value' portfolio, but we think the Mays is mostly undervalued in comparison to the more popular 52 Topps Mickey Mantle card.  

Current PSA Population: 

The card isn’t truly scarce, PSA notes that over it has graded over 1600 cards, yet it is pretty rare to find one in mint condition, as only 13 have garnered a PSA 9 grade, with only one perfect 10.   

High-grade versions of the card have reached monumental sales records in recent years.  Five PSA 9 versions of the Mays card were sold in 2017, with prices ranging from $235,000 to $478,000.