An Amazing Investment Story: Identifying An Undervalued Card and Taking Full Advantage

[@jopseudo9363]

My favorite part is how he never solicits his channel, there’s no “like, comment, share, subscribe, tattoo my channel name on your body, and turn on notifications!!”, just good content and no filler.

[@davidthompson62]

He also seems to give sellers a fairly fair shake on their cards compared to the majority of scumbags who try to get your collection for nothing…Using Christopher’s phrases, “I’d put Mr. Mint into this category “!

[@gosixers2004]

This really is the best sports card channel in the hobby today.

[@cmikesmith664]

I agree.

[@christophertimmermans7788]

By FAR

[@blessembreaks]

yes, its not only educational, honest and fun, there’s no b.s. card pumping, no artificial fillers or gimmicks, just 100% organic good for the hobby soul

[@longlostsonicsfan]

Humility goes a long way in my book.

[@longlostsonicsfan]

@@axgreenious9400 he’s got an option to donate to the channel!

[@blessembreaks]

Ive said it b4 and i’ll say it again, Chris would make the best high school history teacher if there were a history class for sports cards

[@TheRmm1976]

This is unbelievable!! My jaw dropped when you went through the photos of the various cards!

[@ryanmueller6847]

last couple base PSA 10s sold for about 400 bucks. wouldnt be surprised if they kept going down.

[@justrun7]

He bought one of the blue PSA 10's from me on eBay in 2019 for $399. I paid $20 for it raw a year before and got it graded in the old bulk levels for $7. I had the same thoughts as him on 2012 Trout cards, but just didn't hold as long.

[@rowluxillusion5235]

The stories are fantastic. Great additional content to the card value videos, best on the tube!

[@robertfrench6719]

You should do an update video showing the current market numbers. I hope he sold these 2 years ago!!!!

[@SammyThunder]

House of Cards is my favorite shop to go to when I'm in Maryland. Bryan has always been helpful in giving good advice in preserving a vintage collection. He has amazing deals in his shop for really good cards. Glad he's getting acknowledged!

[@Joey_Espresso]

I love Chris's passion for the hobby and the old school pics when he was collecting as a kid

[@ZiggyNo]

I missed you in Chantilly! Bummer. Hope you and the family are well where ever you are. Thank you for another awesome story! Cheers for the AMAZING growth! I started watching you May of 2020 when you had a few 100. You are my KZbin Hero and deserving of more! We need everyone in the hobby to learn.

[@collectorinvestordealer]

Thank you ziggy! Would have loved to meet you in chantilly. Next time!

[@gridironstars]

Chris, would be interesting to get updated values in 2024 and if he actually cashed out when he should have (when we all should have!)

[@JoseGonzalez-pv5ox]

Did this with Degrom this off-season, thought to myself “why are his flagship RC’s only $12?”

[@JusNoBS420]

Nice long term hold

[@cbonilla10027]

That must be paying off nicely considering the amazing start to this season

[@JoseGonzalez-pv5ox]

@@cbonilla10027 yes, but I’m so stubborn I don’t want to liquidate yet haha

[@JusNoBS420]

@@JoseGonzalez-pv5ox I would honestly wait. You obviously know pitchers don’t command the same prices as position players. But HOF pitchers do pretty good. IDK just my thoughts

[@JoseGonzalez-pv5ox]

@@JusNoBS420 honestly you’re right, I heard from someone that Kershaw is the best 21st century comparison we have of values with HOF pitchers

[@pedrocirino5695]

awesome story! its collectors like Brian that i truly admire. saw an opportunity, trusted in his knowledge of the hobby, stuck to his game plan and now has the rewards to show for it. thank you Chris for sharing!

[@chillydigits48]

I'm already a subscriber and stumbled across this video this morning. It's a great story and made me think about the 1st Chrome card for a guy I PC, Paul Goldschmidt. He's not as talented as Trout but is a great player and has a chance at the HOF, also has a first chrome card in the 2012 set which is also an image of him greeting teammates with a big smile (one of those being his manager, Kurt Gibson). The value will never reach of those of Trout's but it will be fun to chase all of the parallels for significantly less than his rookie cards. Thanks Chris!

[@jesseb5042]

Wow, what a great story!! Good for him!! I like how you included the part where he almost gave up but then knocks it out of the park in the end!

[@JunkWaxInvestor]

"Opportunities come infrequently. When it's raining gold, reach for a bucket, not a thimble" -Warren Buffett. Bryan definitely saw an opportunity and grabbed that bucket! Great insight to recognize the opportunity and for him to have the patience to wait for everyone else to catch up!

[@hartsmotorcompany]

That's crazy. We seem to all go all in on one player or card at some point. Back in the 90's it was Felipe Lopez, and last year was Robert Williams and Jaylen Brown. I love story time

[@chrisc4264]

Holy Trout refractor collection Batman! Impressive but yeah I don't have the $ for that. Thanks for showing us Chris. Love the channel and keep the stories and journeys coming.

[@mofomoco]

Cool but seems like a difficult problem to sell that many of the same thing very fast and still get top money.

[@kennyrakes1297]

Been in the hobby since 1988 and still learning. Very informative channel.

[@138NastyNate]

This literally made me laugh out loud when you showed the pics of his case then the values....Well played sir well played!!

[@BBKessler]

When I was a teenager I worked at House of Cards - that was almost 20 years ago. Glad to see them still doing well.

[@bulbamon3567]

Awesome vid as always, me brudda! This story was fantastic! Congrats to your friend who put his faith in those cards! I have 1,007 cards in Beckett's possession since right before the prices went up, so late January-1st week of Feb. I also have like 35 cards with PSA since that same time. All Pokemon cards! I cannot wait to see what the grades are, my brotha! Hopefully I get them back in time to sell the majority in PWCC's December auction! Fantastic vid, bro! Watching it makes me so excited to get my cards back! I'll be driving from Florida to Dallas to get'em in person! Cannot wait. Keep up the great work!

[@marciamolumby8935]

This video clearly illustrates that we are and have been in a junk wax era for many years, where card companies produce multiple varieties of the same card to increase sales. As for Trout while he is a great player he has never played in a world series and has only played in 1 divisional series in his entire career and his team lost all 3 games played. Also the last winning Angel team he played on was in 2015.

[@toddrichardson8595]

Great Story Chris. I remember when this card started really climbing in Price..

[@KeyKiller74]

I added all this up when you showed all his cards & guessed 300K lol, Good luck to the buyer amazing collection =)

[@therandomj-ones2812]

Great story! I am resorting my commons to include GOAT's, as I just sought RC's. Thanks for the heads up 🏆⚾🔥

[@ThisTheBreaks]

Best Trout Fisher in the world, no fly needed.

[@SpecialistGuava]

I plan to overtake that title in the near future. Im selling just about everything except Trout. So that I can buy more Trout. 🤪

[@chadtellevik5479]

Excellent story, and that’s why he’s a dealer. Great intuition. Awesome information as usual.

[@justinbrooks5526]

great vid. i had collected a crap ton of Brady cards in 2001-2002 ( from boston ).... boy i sold those 2000 too early ( still mad 10x...) but i cry today. with that said, i probably have 40 "2002" brady cards , that i paid $5.00 TOTAL...yes TOTAL back in 2002

[@Robsay01]

I’m older and collected baseball cards( 1975-85). Did buy some of the newer cards and realize how many different selections of a player there are in a given year. Many types of prospect and rookie card. Times changed alright.

[@davecj10]

Such a cool story. Guy had a plan and stuck to it and is reaping the rewards now. This hobby is a marathon not a sprint!

[@davidrevak6814]

Very informative khris I've been collecting since I'm 6 yrs old w my older brother im now 56.took that big break like most.but started hitting it hard again in 2016 I foreseen the market growing again,but didn't expect a pandemic to give the hobbie a lift.im from a small coal region area in Pa.And wanted to comment along but the phone I had wouldn't allow me.So I want to say this to you.4 entities made the hobbie wat it is today.1 the pandemic 2 Matt from psa 3 Geoff from card investor and 4 you my friend great work great additive great info and even great storys.Gods speed my buddy.Tragen

[@ReggieWilhelmson]

I did this with Terrell Davis. I bought up as many rookie cards as I could after he had to retire early in hopes of his overall career being reevaluated later on down the line. However, on the other end, I also bought a bunch of Rafael Palmeiro rookies after he hit his 3,000th hit and then he tested positive for PED's.

[@mattf.4727]

Nicely done. I guess when you have that much of the market cornered on a card, you have to be careful not to flood the market. Would be interested to know his strategy. Sell 10% a year or something? Good stuff.

[@chuckplayford3994]

Hey Chris, awesome story about seeing the value in a card and then making it happen. Love these videos, always great content buddy. Appreciate your time and effort, giving back to the hobby we all love. Cheers.

[@mikehoward1663]

Love your video's Chris. I just looked up some recent Ebay sales on these cards. You should do a video on the dramatic change in prices... Example: A BGS 10 purple just sold for $205. PSA 10's are going for around $100-$150. A black PSA 10 sold for $1250... yikes!

[@collectorinvestordealer]

Great point. The values from this video are WAY outdated

[@fasteddiep43]

Really is a great story and love that it worked. I thought about doing this same thing with trouts rookie cup Cardinals after hearing this makes me so upset 😡 so many mistakes I made in not pulling the trigger back in 2018 with certain cards. I bought a few massive collections in that year and wish I would have focused on certain cards another card being Albert pujols. I really really screwed up there. Between pujols and kobe I really feel like I walked away from hundreds of thousands of dollars. I still made very good money but if I had pulled the trigger back then , I would be on a different level now. Love your work my brother. Best in the game. Thank you for your content and knowledge you pass down through telling us your past experiences good and bad. Enjoy your weekend and good luck at the Philly card show.

[@christopherbellamy4117]

Hey Chris I deal with primarily non sports cards such as pokemon, magic gathering. Early Topps sticker cards 1970's which have some value but your channel has gotten me more interested in baseball ⚾⚾⚾ cards. Thanks for your updates.

[@collectorinvestordealer]

Very cool to hear that!

[@ballsdeepbg]

I think Pete Alonso is VERY underrated. He's been top 3 in HR each year and I don't think that will change. His RBI will be around 90+ each year and he is improving his hitting avg. He won't be .300+ every year, but close. My son and I PC him and I am going to try and get more of his RC now when they are low. Glad I started watching your channel and saw this video. Thanks for the content.

[@johnwaller5309]

Awesome video professor! Love the content, if anymore of your good friends in the hobby have anymore investment stories we’d love to hear them. fantastic content once again!

[@brittsbit770]

Great content Chris. Your my favorite hobby channel. There are a few Class channels,and you my sir are one of those. Great information and hope your channel grows in favor.

[@costaricacardcollector3524]

Great video.. I think there are many under the radar cards out there.. Lower print run is overlooked

[@Bobbychristopher]

not a True return until those cars are SOLD. the market can change back to ice-cold at any time. kind of like stocks, no cap gain until shares are sold.

[@rejeannowlan71]

100%

[@jaydee5241]

It’s not a market it’s a hobby..

[@davidnuzzi1608]

I would sell these now. The market has already dipped since March

[@rynowaxx]

In case you guys aren't aware....this hobby and cards like this will sustain any "band wagon" run like this post year. The REAL hobbyists and true collectors will STILL be here as they were before this. So please, don't compare this too the stock market. Thank you to all who have contributed and acted as if the thousands of dollars spent this past year makes you a hobby expert, but as nice as the attention is to this hobby, some of us are ready for the short timers to go back to....well....whatever it is that's trending next.

[@Bobbychristopher]

@@jaydee5241 its BOTH

[@dominatedrebin]

Should of sold them a few months ago but great investment regardless

[@jaytay1995]

I bought some of this card when I first got back into the hobby about six months ago for this exact reason

[@jasontaylor2700]

Great vid. The marketer in me wants the dealer to only display one or two of each copy at a time to present a greater deal of scarcity and availability of the card to the potential buyers at the show. Then again, Chris likely would not have done this vid if that were the case.

[@rynowaxx]

Hey now...Appreciate you and the new video my friend.

[@waltercopus1485]

Don't know if you remember me telling you about the 1921 Ty Cobb card the guy had at a antique shop. Went to take picture and make a offer. Told me a man came in a week earlier and told him it was the most perfect 1921 Cobb he'd ever seen and could bring over 100k. He sent it to Becketts the next day to have it graded. Asked him if he would have taken 4500 (listed 5k). Told me that when I came in the botton line was 47. He still has Joe Jackson, Cy Young and some date back to 1911, 1913 and tons from the 1920s. Guess you win some and lose some in the card game.

[@ObsessedCollector]

Dang thats alotta fish! Nice forecasting on his end. He did what the Dukes in Trading Places couldn't do!

[@supmofo123]

Love your videos, thanks for sharing your stories. Even though I'm a hockey collection, I greatly enjoy your baseball and football stories

[@michaelgolden4938]

Just revisited this video. Whatta lesson in faith and patience.

[@jesseshen5845]

Great story. Hope to hear more like this one in the future.

[@bwoods43]

I would say that technically he hasn't taken "full advantage" of his investiment until he sells more of the cards. I also think it's odd that this strategy goes completely against Chris' strategy of hedging your bets and not sticking to just a single player. Sure, Trout is a G.O.A.T., and the dealer definitely made good deals, but let's face it, the dealer got extremely lucky that Trout never got injured and that the pandemic happened.

[@silverwhale7474]

Extremely lucky is to extreme and I'm not even sure I'd say lucky. Injury is a low % risk and highly likely he has serious return on this play regardless of pandemic (no doubt that helped). Success is when luck meets hard work 85% of the time anyway

[@fredericknault4882]

So now is the time to go for the 3rd-4th year cards? 🤣

[@TheRealWarez]

You may be joking but hey, as we see, most people thought "2nd year card prices are going to increase 1,500%" was a big ol "🤣" back then! :)

[@sulmona55]

thats already been happening with the 1988 Fleer Jordan

[@marcbeutler7204]

I started buying 3rd year Trouts. I think the 2013 card looks a lot better than the 2012, and it has the Rookie Cup. I think they're a good investment, as they can still be had fairly cheap.

[@mookie7688]

The question I have is when you control that much of the supply, how do you sell it without flooding the market? Do the values you're using in your calculation assume that his supply is available to the market or not? Would love to see an update on how he did, given the video is three years old.

[@damonarvid3548]

To my mind, all the parallel versions of a fairly highly printed card draws an even greater contrast to cards that are distinctly designed and low numbered. And look unique. From Honus Wagner to certain inserts, take your pick. These should ultimately hold better value than one of infinite parallels (PMG, black, gold, and color match excepted).

[@jude999]

Fascinating. I love your background, and the whole anti-flash presentation in general. Keep it up.

[@jakestoe]

In 2012 I sold a couple of game issued john stokton jerseys on ebay. Right away I had numerous bids and I looked at the highest bidders feedback and what he was purchasing as he had 1000's of recent good feedback ratings. At that time, he was buying up tons of Bryce Harper rookie cards and they weren't real cheap for those days. Unless he dumped them early, his ROI isn't gonna be real good for what they sell for these days..

[@BigEd_R]

Not only did I spill my coffee listening to this, I went on to spill my coffee about 3 more times before it was over! Great story, thanks Chris for yet another, I’m jealous moment! 😂

[@coreydubz8871]

Your stories are insane! I love the content.

[@playmaker88x51]

Wow, awesome video and breakdown, that’s quite an impressive Trout Chrome assortment! Great Video, thanks for posting

[@hillwood24]

More stories! These are incredible

[@paint1016]

I was wondering about cards since they were flat for awhile. Still have my collection from 70's-90's all Major sports.

[@voyer44]

Great vision and the ability to stay the course. Great post!!! Thank you :)

[@tampahomeinvestorsllc7559]

That's a borderline obsession vs just going after an undervalued card, but it paid off. I love stories like this, he definitely went all in. I would be curious to know why he didn't sell some of these when things got crazy?

[@mikewodnicki5855]

If someone "dislikes" one of this dudes videos then they probably shouldn't be watching it in the first place. Keep the stories and honesty coming!

[@yeahsure8323]

Dude it’s like 4 out of 5 dentist surveyed the fifth dentist was right the whole time

[@theboringchannel2027]

One year later the PSA 10 Base went from $700 to $35-40 Value of this collection is now down about 85-90% from when this was posted.

[@GodofDisco]

I calculated about 50% on most of the refractors where most the money is so 60% down overall.

[@ericlindenmuth7517]

Great story!! I would say he got pretty lucky that Trout became such a phenomenal player, but it was a great investment to pick those up!!

[@andyr359]

so my understanding is he made a great buy, but still hasnt sold 99percent of them? seems like he missed the boat

[@thesummerhummer]

and as soon as he starts selling he floods the market and prices will plummet…these big paper gains only

[@andyr359]

@@thesummerhummer i agree. i understand waiting to sell if he only has like 10 of them but the fact he didnt seem or even try to sell on the way up or at all the past three years seems really absent-minded.

[@andyr359]

plus, making this information public was not a good business idea. its like a hedge fund revealing they are super short a stock and will have liquidity issues if the market presses them.

[@cristianserafinoff]

I know Brian from house of card he is a good person helping ppl when u go to his store nice. Guy

[@shakascloset1700]

550 copies 🤯 when you do the breakdown that's insane. 🤘👍

[@johnsykes3330]

Pet peeves. Stuff about the hobby that really gets under your skin. My current pet peeve is purchased cards arriving with the holder sealed with transparent tape. It's difficult to peel away and leaves a sticky residue that is almost impossible to get off...

[@Beck-Stein]

I have the atomic version i got dirt cheap raw. I was fortunate to see it at a show and decided last minute to purchase. It wasnt even on my mind it just looked cool.

[@lowshay]

I did that with rookie debut cards that I was able to buy pennies on the dollar in bulk lots. Have several hundred of the big rookies of the last few years.

[@ernestosuarez9807]

Currently doin this with Ohtani cards! With the season he is having, if he can keep it up, I think his 2nd year cards will explode! Just my opinion!

[@joeday17821]

One of my favorites to have on in the background as I'm sorting! Are you back in the states?

[@collectorinvestordealer]

I will be in the States for most of this summer.

[@MarcSpectorComics]

This is typical in the comic book market. When the first appearance of a comic book is out of reach for most they look for the 2nd and 3rd appearance of the comic book character. The difference in the hobby is that there can be dozens of different rookie cards for the individual by different companies whereas its typical to be only one or so of the comic appearance nice information

[@collectorinvestordealer]

Appreciate the comment, makes sense about comics. Thanks for the info

[@nickbk4418]

I correctly identified this card, but missed the key component of chrome. I bought a graded copy of the paper a while back. I’ve seen nice gains but nothing like the chrome :( oh well, I’ve since learned my lesson several times over lol

[@montrealsports29]

The main thing I got out of this story is that Topps issues way too many different parallel versions of the same card. Actually, it's an interesting story. When I worked at a card store in the early '90s, my boss was buying up all the Brett Hull rookies he could find, but waited a few months before selling them because he knew that the price for that card was going to skyrocket, and he was right (and he didn't have to worry about any parallel versions).

[@edz5799]

I love the stories followed up by the financial breakdowns. Thank you for awesome content!

[@metalchaus940]

Suggested vintage card topic for you...why are regular Topps cards worth more than In Action cards? It made sense for stats before the internet, but not now. 2 perfect examples: 1982 Walter Payton 302 & 303. Pop on 303 is way lower, and it's the coolest picture EVER, but prices way lower. Also, Magic Johnson 1981 #21 & 109. Both are more or less the same picture. Pop way less on 109, but prices double for 21. Why?!??!

[@theshowandme]

There were some monster cases at the Chantilly show, and this was one of them! Hope to see it again in July

[@DumpsterDivin_Ty]

Hey Chris! Random question but I just saw a video that is making me wonder something. The picture in your opening that shows you at work in an actual shop, was that at Meelypops? I swear that store they showed had the exact same set up, I mean identical looking to your photo! That guy's been in business around 25yrs! Good for him! Thanks Chris! Keep up the good work!

[@collectorinvestordealer]

No the store I am at in that photo is hall of fame cards in maryland. That particular location is no longer there.

[@andyjohnson8131]

You mentioned for many of the refractor versions he had 20 to 30% of all the cards that exist. I’m wondering if this would give him market power in pricing? The card was previously under value, but now he owns so many of the existing copies he might actually be able to price higher and demand a premium.

[@collectorinvestordealer]

Good point, I think he probably has some influence over the cards value owning so many of them

[@LeastSlutty]

GREAT VIDEO. I've been priced out of some rookie cards lately, so I like CHAMPIONSHIP YEARS....

[@lizoron2003]

Bout time this card gets some respect. I sleep with my purple psa 10 under my pillow at night.

[@joefran619]

Would he take a personal check for all of them? Wow pretty impressive. My investment is, I bought some high grade Jim Kaat cards years ago. Now worth considerably more.

[@cdub5072]

Best card guy on KZbin in my opinion

[@chrisd997]

Thanks for educating us . Excellent as always

[@powerhourlsu]

Fantastic work. I am curious with the way the hobby is now (far more educated), do you still believe there are opportunities like this out there?

[@silverwhale7474]

Catalyst is the HOF votes being made official Jan 25th or 26th. Bonds has been moving up more than others, Clemens starting to get some traction and Sheffield is still .20 on the dollar (his vote tally to keep moving up not get in this go around). I don't know about the others card values, those 3 I have zeroed in on.

[@SpecialistGuava]

Question Chris....do you think we are entering Junk Wax 2? Or maybe Junk Base Wax? Modern Base cards (aside from the goats) are just kindling at this point. BUT with all of the autos, colors and numbered cards....maybe we have a chance to not fall into 1991 again? Thanks for the upload. Love the stories you share with us. I always look forward to new videos. Hope you're well sir!

[@ACD1994]

There are more variations of cards, and companies now than they were in 1991. When you think about it, there didn't really have to be a ''junk wax era.'' Topps, Upper Deck, and Bowman made the decision to over produce cards to the moon, but to answer your question, I kind of do see some similarities, from that era, and pretty much just, a small percentage of cards now will be worth a lot of value in the future. The same rule of thumb applies though. The hall of famers and future hall of famers imo are worth grabbing hold of, the rest will probably fall to the waste side.

[@lizoron2003]

Junk slab era

[@SpecialistGuava]

@@lizoron2003 yup. Graded base cards of non-goats will be as valuable as ungraded 1987 Dan Quisenberry. Well. Hopefully not that bad

[@collectorinvestordealer]

I’m not sure. Kind of what Andrew talked about. There are some similarities but also significant differences. It will depend on how strong the hobby remains in the coming years.

[@bobo44donemilking51]

Awesome job as usual 🤠

[@0ptimal]

I wonder how this will look in 10, 20 years. I really think that cards will cycle like other volitile speculative markets. They always have to some extent but recently cards have gained a lot of attention, although I believe there is much more attention to be had. For example, I was really into cards a few years ago, but over the past couple of years I've been pretty non interested in cards but still online all the time and exposed to many similar markets, but I really did not know what was happening, I had almost no idea of the massive surge in attention and prices, so if someone like me was unaware of what was happening then surely the majority of the world was too, so you would think there is plenty of room for growth still. If so, perhaps there will be many more full cycles with more and more attention. Maybe what happened over the past couple years is just a glimpse of what's to come, or at least one of many more repeating patterns. I think putting yourself in position for another manic card run in the future will likely pay off.

[@silverwhale7474]

Wait till you see the National show in AC this summer, July I believe!

[@mattstah9319]

Remarkable foresight and initiative

[@richhouser9489]

I am wondering how well the baseball cards do from the mid 70’s, 80’s, & 90’s???

[@paulmartin7892]

Just watched this video again. I wonder what the value is doing now with Trouts injury and how many of the cards he has sold through?

[@dustinstringer7558]

cards are worth about half the value that they was when this video was 1st made

[@geebsctown4427]

Now that’s called thinking outside the box, awesome!

[@thecenterfielder7]

I love this trout card!! Great investment!!! Great content Chris! 👍👍👍🔥🔥🔥