Long Term Investment - 1989 Upper Deck Factory Set.

matfanofold · Apr 14, 2010

I've been giving this a lot of thought lately, and I believe at ~$40 this set has massive potential! It is houses the best base RC cards of potential/future Hall of Famers like..

1. Ken Griffey Jr (600+ HR's, ~2800 hits)
2. Randy Johnson (300+ W's, ~4800 K's)
3. Gary Sheffield (500+ HR's, ~2700 hits)
4. Craig Biggio (3000+ hits, ~400 sb's, ~300 hr's)
5. Omar Visquel (2700+ hits, ~400 sb's) (Hi#)

In my opinion, this is the best set to get for investment purpose made in the last 50 years. It has iconic status that will ferment over the years as it's HOF RC count grows. It is one of the nicest looking sets produced in the last 30 years, and, for what it's worth, it's one of the more limited sets of the 80's and 90's(relatively speaking).

Now, I know there is always Tiffany's and such to fill the high end / limited void, but to the masses, these are the cards, and this is the set collectors are going to flock to when the hall doors open, multiple times.

Anyway, I'm thinking of stocking up on factory set cases, because I honestly believe this set has the potential to be a $200+ set in 5-10 years. And heck, if I can turn $10,000 in to $50,000 in 5-10 years, I'm in!

I'm curious of your thoughts...

ThoseBackPages · Apr 14, 2010

I dont like the fact that UD did not factory wrap them that year, leading to a lot of funny business.

Sealed cases should be ok though

200lbhockeyplayer · Apr 14, 2010

My 100 (on the nose) Randy Johnson UD rookies are all that I have left from 1989 UD.

ThoseBackPages · Apr 14, 2010

wow, no cases on eBay

200lbhockeyplayer · Apr 14, 2010

ThoseBackPages said:
wow, no cases on eBay

Who knows, this may be the next product Upper Deck reprints.

matfanofold · Apr 14, 2010

ThoseBackPages said:
I dont like the fact that UD did not factory wrap them that year, leading to a lot of funny business.

Sealed cases should be ok though

Yeah, thats why I'm leaning towards sealed cases. Yet, I cant help but think I remember sealed sets...? Although I cant remember seeing one. :/

All In Cards · Apr 14, 2010

topps factory sealed sets. they just keep going up in price.

matfanofold · Apr 14, 2010

All In Cards said:
topps factory sealed sets. they just keep going up in price.

Agreed, but left of the topic.

All In Cards · Apr 14, 2010

matfanofold said:
ThoseBackPages said:

I dont like the fact that UD did not factory wrap them that year, leading to a lot of funny business.

Sealed cases should be ok though

Click to expand...

Yeah, thats why I'm leaning towards sealed cases. Yet, I cant help but think I remember sealed sets...? Although I cant remember seeing one. :/

It was sealed with a foil sticker in the middle

All In Cards · Apr 14, 2010

matfanofold said:
All In Cards said:

topps factory sealed sets. they just keep going up in price.

Click to expand...

Agreed, but left of the topic.

I am left handed, how did you know?

matfanofold · Apr 14, 2010

All In Cards said:
matfanofold said:

[quote="All In Cards":eg7jxkte]topps factory sealed sets. they just keep going up in price.

Click to expand...

Agreed, but left of the topic.

I am left handed, how did you know?[/quote:eg7jxkte]

Most highly intelligent people are.

matfanofold · Apr 14, 2010

All In Cards said:
matfanofold said:

ThoseBackPages said:

I dont like the fact that UD did not factory wrap them that year, leading to a lot of funny business.

Sealed cases should be ok though

Click to expand...

Yeah, thats why I'm leaning towards sealed cases. Yet, I cant help but think I remember sealed sets...? Although I cant remember seeing one. :/

Click to expand...

It was sealed with a foil sticker in the middle

Ah, yes. Thats it. Thanks.

zach · Apr 14, 2010

I think I have to disagree.

This set has seen better days in terms of high prices. There was a flood of them made available to the public. The people that you list, though all great, will not push this set to $200.00.

Penno · Apr 14, 2010

One of my first times inside a larger card shop involved this set. My pops went in with two of the factory sets and sold them for $100 each in the 90's. I remember the guy at the shop insisting to open them up to make sure the Griffey Jr rookie was inside. I'd be curious to see how much they rise in the coming years.

matfanofold · Apr 14, 2010

Ugh! I forgot Smoltz too.. ::facepalm::

boomo · Apr 14, 2010

there is a 0 % chance this set ever hits 200.
although the 40 does make it attractive, there are much better
potential sets out there.

Topnotchsy · Apr 14, 2010

I just don't see it. The further we get from their careers, the less popular they will be (barring unusual circumstances.) The set might be rare by 80's/90's standards, but it's certainly quite easy to find. I could be wrong, but while I be convinced that it might go up a little, I don't see any major increases going forward.

brouthercard · Apr 14, 2010

I have to disagree with you. I think $40 is a good buy, you will never lose a ton of money on it, but I really can't see why anyone would pay more than $100 EVER AGAIN.

The grading boom is over.
It's not like the prime players can ever do anything in the future to actually increase the interest in any of their cards. Anyone who has ever wanted any of those cards alreday owns one (or a few thousand), and there really is nothing that can drive the prices up again. Nothing. The card collecting boom in the late 80's was as big as the hobby was ever going to get. There will always be diehard collectors, but not in that type of volume.

Simply too much supply, and not enough demand. And I think the demand part will be the part that is lacking.

matfanofold · Apr 14, 2010

Hey, I respect all the opinions being offered, and they are quite valid, but obviously I disagree. This set will have possibly 5 or 6 HOF RC's and 2 or 3 of them will be iconic type players that will not fade any time soon. With each year that passes, and each new addition to the HOF, it's worth will grow and stabilize. Again, in 5 years time I would be willing to bet it will be a $100+ selling set and in 5-10 years potentially $200 or more! I agree there are still tons of singles and graded out there, but thats not what I'm talking about here, I'm talking about factory sets and cases, in which there are not a massive ammount out there left unopened and cherry picked. Open and hand pieced sets will probablly never top the ~$100 mark any time soon, although I believe they will sell well eventually as well. But the real gold here in my opinion is factory sets. Heck, in 20 years, looking back on a ~40 year old sets with 5 or 6 hall of fame rookies, including the likes of Kid Griffey and the Big Unit Johnson, this could be a $500 - $1000 set!

Obviously, we are not talking quick money here, and with the passion for prospecting and the quick flip being the lifeline of FB, I understand not many have the notion of validity for a long, looong term investment. But what I do know is that when the kids that collected the 1989 UD cards turn 50'ish and want to reclaim a part of their youth in sports cards(which in case you dont know is the formula that drives most all collectables), they will have to cough up some good coin for the 'chock full of HOF rookie' set know as the Iconic 1989 Upper Deck BaseBall Card Set.

Topnotchsy · Apr 14, 2010

matfanofold said:
Hey, I respect all the opinions being offered, and they are quite valid, but obviously I disagree. This set will have possibly 5 or 6 HOF RC's and 2 or 3 of them will be iconic type players that will not fade any time soon. With each year that passes, and each new addition to the HOF, it's worth will grow and stabilize. Again, in 5 years time I would be willing to bet it will be a $100+ selling set and in 5-10 years potentially $200 or more! I agree there are still tons of singles and graded out there, but thats not what I'm talking about here, I'm talking about factory sets and cases, in which there are not a massive ammount out there left unopened and cherry picked. Open and hand pieced sets will probablly never top the ~$100 mark any time soon, although I believe they will sell well eventually as well. But the real gold here in my opinion is factory sets. Heck, in 20 years, looking back on a ~40 year old sets with 5 or 6 hall of fame rookies, including the likes of Kid Griffey and the Big Unit Johnson, this could be a $500 - $1000 set!

Obviously, we are not talking quick money here, and with the passion for prospecting and the quick flip being the lifeline of FB, I understand not many have the notion of validity for a long, looong term investment. But what I do know is that when the kids that collected the 1989 UD cards turn 50'ish and want to reclaim a part of their youth in sports cards(which in case you dont know is the formula that drives most all collectables), they will have to cough up some good coin for the 'chock full of HOF rookie' set know as the Iconic 1989 Upper Deck BaseBall Card Set.

The fact that so many disagree (myself included) may be the best thing you have going for you. If everyone thought it was a great investment the current prices would already reflect that. It is clear that (at least around here) not too many people are investing in 1989 sealed sets (or at least are not admitting to) and that is the formula needed for something like this to reach a "tipping point" where things change.

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