I still see Ball base morphs as a good investment. I always buy for the particular snake, because I can't live without That snake. But that aside.. let's say that I pay $700 for a base morph right now, a female. Let's be conservative and give her three years to grow before breeding. By then, her morph's price could be down to $100. But in the years to come (and maybe even that year) her babies should pay for her original price, not factoring in the price for care, etc. And combos by then using her, should definately not be too low; maybe around her original price? A snake that can be bred multiple times and years; its offspring make a nice return investment. This to me is why it's OK to spend a lot of money on one snake; not withstanding the fact that there are certain snakes that I bought that I could not have left the store/website without owning. That alone makes them worth their price to me
I believe that anyone who is willing to shell out money for animals now, with hopes of breeding them for profit later, shares my view. Unless you simply have to have that snake, now, and money is no object.
I cannot wait for my female morphs to be up-to breeding size, though. I believe that combos are the future! And double/triple/mega hets from respected breeders.