Card collectors, help me out

[Roy H.]

I have this card in my collection:



It's an on-card (i.e., not stickers), 1-of-10 card signed by Jordan, Magic and Bird. 

I have no real interest in selling it, but my wife doesn't understand collecting and is of the opinion that if somebody is going to pay many thousands of dollars for a piece of cardboard and ink, I should take their offer.

So, I'm a classic unmotivated seller that has to determine what an "offer I can't refuse" looks like.  Any thoughts or guidance?  FYI, I've consistently turned down offers in the $14,000 range.  Am I being crazy?

[Goldstar88]

Any photos of the back. I absolutely would not sell that for $14K. Have you thought about getting it graded? Thats a really cool item and desirable cards are selling for big money. People are paying millions of dollars for certain pieces of cardboard these days. 

https://sports.ha.com/itm/basketball-cards/singles-1980-now-/2010-upper-deck-sp-authentic-larry-bird-magic-johnson-and-michael-jordan-sign-of-the-times-triple-autograph-s3jjb-psa-gem/a/50079-80064.s#

[Roy H.]

Do you have any photos of the back. I absolutely would not sell that for $14K. Have you thought about getting it graded? Thats a really cool item and desirable cards like that are selling for crazy money. People are paying millions of dollars for certain pieces of cardboard these days. 

https://sports.ha.com/itm/basketball-cards/singles-1980-now-/2010-upper-deck-sp-authentic-larry-bird-magic-johnson-and-michael-jordan-sign-of-the-times-triple-autograph-s3jjb-psa-gem/a/50079-80064.s#

Thanks for the validation, haha. 

I've definitely considered getting it graded.  If I ever become truly invested in selling it, I will.

[Goldstar88]

Np. If you aren?t already, I?d definitely recommend putting it in an ultra pro one touch to protect it from damage, including UV. I don?t have any cards as valuable as that one, but my better cards, I put in a one touch and then a one touch resealable bag to keep moisture out.

[jambr380]

How does one even go about acquiring a card like that? It can't have been that you just luckily pulled it from pack, can it?

I have the famous Bird/Magic rookie with Dr. J, but I never had it graded and I heard that many of those don't grade out well. It's been in a protector in a box for years at this point. I don't even have the heart to look at it since I know I'll be disappointed

Anyway, congratulations. That might be the best card I've ever seen

[Roy H.]

How does one even go about acquiring a card like that? It can't have been that you just luckily pulled it from pack, can it?

No, I purchased it, but for a really low dollar amount.  Maybe 10 to 12 years ago, the card market was pretty down.  As I recall, I paid around $900.00 for this.

I have the famous Bird/Magic rookie with Dr. J, but I never had it graded and I heard that many of those don't grade out well. It's been in a protector in a box for years at this point. I don't even have the heart to look at it since I know I'll be disappointed

Yeah, I've got one at PSA 8. 

Anyway, congratulations. That might be the best card I've ever seen

Thanks, man.  In terms of just the visual appeal of the card, it's my absolute favorite.  And then adding in that all of Bird, Magic and MJ actually touched it gives me goosebumps. 

The vibe I'm getting is, "don't sell it unless you absolutely need the money", which is pretty much where I'm at.  But I completely understand my wife seeing that as irrational.

[slamtheking]

How does one even go about acquiring a card like that? It can't have been that you just luckily pulled it from pack, can it?

No, I purchased it, but for a really low dollar amount.  Maybe 10 to 12 years ago, the card market was pretty down.  As I recall, I paid around $900.00 for this.

I have the famous Bird/Magic rookie with Dr. J, but I never had it graded and I heard that many of those don't grade out well. It's been in a protector in a box for years at this point. I don't even have the heart to look at it since I know I'll be disappointed

Yeah, I've got one at PSA 8. 

Anyway, congratulations. That might be the best card I've ever seen

Thanks, man.  In terms of just the visual appeal of the card, it's my absolute favorite.  And then adding in that all of Bird, Magic and MJ actually touched it gives me goosebumps. 

The vibe I'm getting is, "don't sell it unless you absolutely need the money", which is pretty much where I'm at. But I completely understand my wife seeing that as irrational.

hold firm.  I have autographs from Magic, Dr J and a personalized one from Bird on the same piece of paper that while not as valuable as what you have, my wife has questioned why hold it rather than putting it on the market to see what it could get.

[jambr380]

How does one even go about acquiring a card like that? It can't have been that you just luckily pulled it from pack, can it?

No, I purchased it, but for a really low dollar amount.  Maybe 10 to 12 years ago, the card market was pretty down.  As I recall, I paid around $900.00 for this.

I have the famous Bird/Magic rookie with Dr. J, but I never had it graded and I heard that many of those don't grade out well. It's been in a protector in a box for years at this point. I don't even have the heart to look at it since I know I'll be disappointed

Yeah, I've got one at PSA 8. 

Anyway, congratulations. That might be the best card I've ever seen

Thanks, man.  In terms of just the visual appeal of the card, it's my absolute favorite.  And then adding in that all of Bird, Magic and MJ actually touched it gives me goosebumps. 

The vibe I'm getting is, "don't sell it unless you absolutely need the money", which is pretty much where I'm at.  But I completely understand my wife seeing that as irrational.

That was an incredible investment - especially since it's probably the best 3 players/autographs you could possibly have on one card.

I could be convinced to let it go if Bird wasn't on there, but it brings a lot more meaning as a Celtics fan. I'm with you, continue to enjoy it, hope it appreciates more, and only let it go if you need to someday.

Cool that you have come into several amazing cards. I'm still sitting on my early to mid-90s cards hoping they'll bring me great riches one day lol

[ChillyWilly]

I'm taking the $14k but that's because $14k is life altering for me. $14k nor $33k alter your life much I'm willing to bet.

[ChillyWilly]

As a former card dealer I can say with near certainty getting it graded will not add any value over the cost to grade a card of this value. PSA will charge you at least $2k to grade this. The autos are already authenticated by the card itself and the rarity of the card is already set with a limited print run of 10.

Some collectors slab everything because that's how they store their high end cards.

[bdm860]

Flip your position, if you had an extra $14k (or more) lying around, would you buy that card with it?

Not a card collector, but I would sell for a few reasons:

Very limited demand and small market. It's not a card I believe a lot of people were out there chasing. When I was a kid, everybody wanted the Michael Jordan, Jose Canseco, Ken Griffey, Jr, Shaquille O'Neal rookie cards. I don't know what the kids want now, but I'm guessing it's the LeBron, Steph, Luka, Wembanyama rookie cards. Your card is cool because it's rare and valuable, but it's not the card every collector wants (or even knows exists). One's been sitting on eBay (for $33k) for over 2 months without a buyer. And then there's a very small market of people willing to spend 5 figures on a card, and the market is really minuscule when you remove the speculators.

A lot of substitutes are available. This goes back to nobody really chasing this card, if you want a rare card of all time greats, well there's different Jordan/Bird/Magic cards you could get, like this one or this one, or get a Jordan/Magic/Dr. J card instead. Or even better a Jordan/Bird/Magic/Lebron one or a Jordan/Bird/Magic/Dr. J/LeBron one. Or a Bird/Magic/LeBron/Dr. J one. Or a different Bird/Magic/LeBron/Dr. J one. Or a Jordan/Bird one. Or a Magic/Bird one, etc. Or forget autos, what if we go with game worn jersey patch cards, there's Jordan/Bird/Wilt/Kareem, or Jordan/Bird/Magic/Wilt/Shaq/Kobe/LeBron/Dr. J/Duncan, or Jordan/Kobe or Bird/Kobe/Gervin/David Robinson, etc. There's so many combos of these auto and jersey cards out there, and more are coming out all the time, if there's not a Bird/Pierce/Tatum or Bird/Jokic/Luka auto card out yet, there probably will be one some day.

Everyone here is still alive. Upper Deck (or whoever) can pump another round of Jordan/Magic/Bird cards out at any time. Just look how many combos I referenced above, the card makers are not going to stop that gravy train. Though a newer interesting wrinkle is exclusive contracts, as Jordan I believe is still signed with Upper Deck, while guys like LeBron and Wemby are now signed with Fanatics, so some new dream combos may have to wait.

There's a shrinking target demographic. Let's face it, we're all pretty much middle aged men here in our 40s and 50s. We're the guys who grew up idolizing Bird/Magic/Jordan and have disposable income. But the pool of us is getting smaller every day. We're selling our collections, and/or we chased the memories of our youth in some other way (I bought a USS Flagg and Terror Drome lol), or we no longer have disposable income, and we're unfortunately dying. There's not really a new batch of Jordan/Bird/Magic fans coming up. (Though on the plus side, a lot of us are in our peak earning years with maximum disposable incomes). There is a new batch of card collectors coming up, but they'd mostly be interested in your card for speculation purposes, and they'd probably rather go for one of the Jordan/Kobe/LeBron auto cards.

If it was me, I'd sell, and be happy I made a minimum of 15x on an investment ($20k-$30k may even be attainable here).

Of course that leads to what would you do with the money? It doesn't sound like you need the money. So you can invest it or blow it (or do something boring like remodel the guest bathroom, yawn). I'd probably take $1k-$2k buy myself a new toy I don't need. Invest half of the remaining in a low cost index fund, and with the rest take the family on a 5-star vacation.

[Redz]

I?d cash it in and find a piece of Larry memorabilia that you like for a fraction of the cost.  Pocket the rest.

[Roy H.]

Flip your position, if you had an extra $14k (or more) lying around, would you buy that card with it?

Not a card collector, but I would sell for a few reasons:

Very limited demand and small market. It's not a card I believe a lot of people were out there chasing. When I was a kid, everybody wanted the Michael Jordan, Jose Canseco, Ken Griffey, Jr, Shaquille O'Neal rookie cards. I don't know what the kids want now, but I'm guessing it's the LeBron, Steph, Luka, Wembanyama rookie cards. Your card is cool because it's rare and valuable, but it's not the card every collector wants (or even knows exists). One's been sitting on eBay (for $33k) for over 2 months without a buyer. And then there's a very small market of people willing to spend 5 figures on a card, and the market is really minuscule when you remove the speculators.

A lot of substitutes are available. This goes back to nobody really chasing this card, if you want a rare card of all time greats, well there's different Jordan/Bird/Magic cards you could get, like this one or this one, or get a Jordan/Magic/Dr. J card instead. Or even better a Jordan/Bird/Magic/Lebron one or a Jordan/Bird/Magic/Dr. J/LeBron one. Or a Bird/Magic/LeBron/Dr. J one. Or a different Bird/Magic/LeBron/Dr. J one. Or a Jordan/Bird one. Or a Magic/Bird one, etc. Or forget autos, what if we go with game worn jersey patch cards, there's Jordan/Bird/Wilt/Kareem, or Jordan/Bird/Magic/Wilt/Shaq/Kobe/LeBron/Dr. J/Duncan, or Jordan/Kobe or Bird/Kobe/Gervin/David Robinson, etc. There's so many combos of these auto and jersey cards out there, and more are coming out all the time, if there's not a Bird/Pierce/Tatum or Bird/Jokic/Luka auto card out yet, there probably will be one some day.

Everyone here is still alive. Upper Deck (or whoever) can pump another round of Jordan/Magic/Bird cards out at any time. Just look how many combos I referenced above, the card makers are not going to stop that gravy train. Though a newer interesting wrinkle is exclusive contracts, as Jordan I believe is still signed with Upper Deck, while guys like LeBron and Wemby are now signed with Fanatics, so some new dream combos may have to wait.

There's a shrinking target demographic. Let's face it, we're all pretty much middle aged men here in our 40s and 50s. We're the guys who grew up idolizing Bird/Magic/Jordan and have disposable income. But the pool of us is getting smaller every day. We're selling our collections, and/or we chased the memories of our youth in some other way (I bought a USS Flagg and Terror Drome lol), or we no longer have disposable income, and we're unfortunately dying. There's not really a new batch of Jordan/Bird/Magic fans coming up. (Though on the plus side, a lot of us are in our peak earning years with maximum disposable incomes). There is a new batch of card collectors coming up, but they'd mostly be interested in your card for speculation purposes, and they'd probably rather go for one of the Jordan/Kobe/LeBron auto cards.

If it was me, I'd sell, and be happy I made a minimum of 15x on an investment ($20k-$30k may even be attainable here).

Of course that leads to what would you do with the money? It doesn't sound like you need the money. So you can invest it or blow it (or do something boring like remodel the guest bathroom, yawn). I'd probably take $1k-$2k buy myself a new toy I don't need. Invest half of the remaining in a low cost index fund, and with the rest take the family on a 5-star vacation.

All very reasonable points that rationally make sense.

But, I think it really comes down to the first question:  if I saw this on the market at $14k, would I buy it?  If it was just my own money, I would.  And I admit that's completely irrational. 

[Roy H.]

Out of curiosity, if there was a combo of three guys you'd want to get on the same card, who would it be?

The most valuable would be MJ/Kobe/Lebron, I think.  My favorite would be the three I have here.  The one I haven't seen yet is something involving JT and JB on the same card, with anybody (White, KP, Jrue, Horford would all work).  A "dream" card that is an impossibility (other than with cut signatures) would be Russell, Wilt and maybe Kareem.

[chicagoceltic]

Out of curiosity, if there was a combo of three guys you'd want to get on the same card, who would it be?

The most valuable would be MJ/Kobe/Lebron, I think.  My favorite would be the three I have here.  The one I haven't seen yet is something involving JT and JB on the same card, with anybody (White, KP, Jrue, Horford would all work).  A "dream" card that is an impossibility (other than with cut signatures) would be Russell, Wilt and maybe Kareem.

You have the combo I would want.