The Fundamentals of Winning Vs the Conventions of Money

In a general sense the value of sports cards reflects the way the sport is played (in the NBA). Consistency is fundamentals and winning, at least in the latest trend, winning with “Bigs,” seems rudimentary – a classic adage of NBA Folklore. With the Boston Celtics down and out for yet another season and the Denver Nuggets, who play with the principality of raw basketball savvy and stars to their helm, the perfect combination of fundamentals and

star players brought home an NBA Championship this time round.

With certain short-term investments such as Jayson Tatum Rookie Cards, having dipped as a

result of his fatigue late in the playoffs, the average PSA 10 RC dipped by roughly 40% in

value, where Jokic and Jamal Murray cards were hailed in value by roughly the same

percentage. This is the volatility of NBA Sports cards investments – instability is the core

principle behind loosing money. So how about the fundamentals of winning becoming a new guise behind investing in the “GAME,” pardon the pun.

For the Love of the Game

When it comes to sports cards investing, we need to know our sports, where player

performance indexes are crucial in the player’s marketability. The other thing we need to

know is where the item comes from – which product.

When measuring player efficiency, keeping it simple is tenement! Try statistics for both the

offensive and the defensive end, if it is to be basketball, specifically. A player like Lebron

James would be a great offensive statistical threat in the marketplace, even as the market is

down… rely on good offense to see you through the next couple of years. On a side note,

think to invest in the long term by either buying low or holding while the capacity for profit is

insignificant.

While defensive statistics reign supreme in certain regard, think to invest in old school

players like Kevin Garnet and Gary Payton. These classic era talents tend not to shift in

market value because of their reliability and appeal to the market left untouched – their cards do not really shift in value. The offensive and defensives stat line acts as the perfect metaphor for investing in a “play not to lose,” rather than a “play to win,” situation.

Player efficiency is often measured by the PIE and PER routines of the NBA. Other sports

remain the same in its market consistency.

Cash Flow and the Whole Shabogan

Oftentimes when “investing,” or better well put, “Gambling,” on Wax is not the best way to

get rich investing in the Sports Cards Hobby. From re-selling a box hit for RM20 – RM50,

when the mark up in Kuala Lumpur us roughly 4.5 to 6.7 in US Dollar to Malaysian Ringgit,

the chances on making a profit from your margins becomes extremely shallow. A better

solution would be to invest in the marketplace as a whole, from players to mint finds, think

again to increase margins by investing in higher end items, where wax only becomes a luxury

purchase, mostly for the sake of subsidizing your profit line. Afterall, wax is like buying a

lottery ticket – it is where the fun is, busting open packs of trading cards.

As was mentioned in the last issue of “On the Same Page,” here we postulate another

notion… I know I know this, but do I know that you know this too, continues to be the drill.

So, with the balancing of a ledger; with everything from expenditures to margins and profit

all measured, one is better equipped to manage the funds going in and out of a cash flow

system. Managing money aids in better work flow, but keeping track of your profits and your

losses might do well for smaller players of the hobby game.

For most die-hard fans one isn’t concerned with anything outside of how the game is played,

but and this is a big BUT when speaking in light of certain other things. From the player’s

union, endorsements, contractual obligations and celebrity goings-on’s the way the game is

played is and will always involve how the NBA has grown and changed since the end of the

Wax Era and into the 2000’s moving forward.

The value of sports cards reflects the way the game is played… sure! But again, the way the

game is played is very much determined by how much power a player can yield in the open

market of executive moves and player mobility. From Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and James

harden making move after move after move, one can only assume that this will also affect the value of cards being traded, especially if the players themselves are affecting their value by playing for a myriad of other teams.

The long and the short

The fundamentals of winning Vs the convention of money is again a hot topic, when it comes

to investing. As collectors, it is always rudimentary that we care about the products we are

consuming or in this case collecting, but one does need to be a state of mind where all

“investments,” requires one to believe in making money – and this must work for everyone

i.e., everybody needs to make money to keep this hobby alive and thriving.

In keeping deals coming and going, believe that though the PC is of vital importance, being

petty with assets is never the way forward. As an individual limited liability acts as a means to

buy, sell and trade Sports Cards in regular intervals. It is an ideal.

An interesting note is to be able to subsidize losses from trade, because of the need to cut people in, by means of other streams of revenue. The basic concept of investing means for one to understand that the market goes down when previously sold high and is often up when previously sold low. The last three 2017 – 2018 Panini Chronicles Kyrie Irving /99 Autographs Were sold on eBay for $85, $95 and $41 dollars making for the value of said asset to be up in value, being that the market is down.

Assuming one purchases the last two at $95 and $41 a marginal gain of roughly 15% after all

levies have been incurred would be a fair sale. It is a hobby standard and also a means of

keeping the asset of moderate value. All quite arbitrary but defining the rules of the game is

what all collectors need to adhere to in this grand `ole ideal. Keeping the value of assets up is the end game.

The bottom line is we all know where these cards come from and keeping the hobby fun and

exciting is what a shared trust in a community of enthusiasts is all about. The more we have as a collective in asset and cash-based equity the better we are as collectors. Winning and money is the sad part of his game – they go hand in hand. Refer to link below for a better case study surrounding the odds of game, I call it at 51% to the manufacturer and 49% to the consumer.