You don’t need me to tell you that a 7x champion, 3x regular season MVP, and 4x Super Bowl MVP is a solid addition to your sports card portfolio. But sometimes the most common sense is a bit too… common… and boring… and we forget.

I did.

I preached the thirds method in my ANOTHER 6 WAYS NOT TO LOSE ALL YOUR $$$ IN SPORTS CARDS . For the uninitiated, or people who accidentally clicked on the link thinking we were talking about the milk producing hollow horned mammal instead of the greatest QB of all time, this is the post where I discuss spreading your financial risk by spending a third of your card budget on retired hall of famers, a third on young stud prospects, and a third on current superstars adding to their Hall of Fame resume.

Amidst the seismic gains for ultra modern superstars like Luka Doncic, Fernando Tatis, Jr., and Patrick Mahomes in the past couple years, I noticed I’d gotten caught up in the bull market and run afoul of my own rule. I had invested too heavily in ultra modern rookies. So I made the tough decision to purge some of my ultra modern rookie cards to get this BGS 9.5 gem mint 2000 Upper Deck Graded Tom Brady numbered to 1325 to rebalance my portfolio.

I still have some recalibrating to do. But Tom Brady was a good place to start. This got me thinking about the guidelines I should use, or continue to use, on my sports card investment journey.

#1. Diversification is key.

Even though I know the rule, and preach the rule, I lost sight of the rule. The meteoric ultra modern rookie gains in the past few years blinded me to smart long term investing principles. Blue chips like Tom Brady rookie cards may not offer the sexy high upside at lower acquisition costs the young guns do, but Tom Brady will be liquid forever. It may go up or down, but you will be able to sell it if you need to. More than a few of the hot rookies du jour will definitely go to zero.

#2. Continue to monitor your sports card portfolio.

It’s a never ending quest. It’s also easy to get caught up in prospect and rookie hype and overlook the sure thing staring you in the face. A little boring in your life is a good thing. Gambling can be fun… until you lose it all. Only gamble with 1/3rd of your sports card portfolio. That should be enough to scratch the itch.

#3. Man I wish I had purchased more Tom Brady rookie cards upon my return to the hobby in 2018.

I bought a few Tom Brady rookie cards… but not nearly enough. This is not a sportscard investing guideline… just a lament.

Here’s to hoping you stocked up on Tom Brady Playoff Contenders Rookie Autos over the last 21 years.

As always, I’m Freddy… and you’re welcome.