old collector returning to the hobby
norseman
Posts: 5
After buying my first house, my mother informed me that i could take all my football and baseball cards home with me. After flipping through them (and remember seeing some of them for the first time), I've been bitten by the collecting bug. When I last collected, Upper Deck had just come on the scene. I bought a Beckett to see what some of my cards might be worth, and noticed all the new companies.
My question is: with all the card companies out there today, which card lines (for football and baseball) should a new collector be looking at, and which ones to avoid? Which card lines hold their value the best? Which card lines give you the most value (purchase price vs. resale value?)
Norseman
My question is: with all the card companies out there today, which card lines (for football and baseball) should a new collector be looking at, and which ones to avoid? Which card lines hold their value the best? Which card lines give you the most value (purchase price vs. resale value?)
Norseman
0
Comments
As for your questions I would either just focus on what you like for fun or if some any type of investment go with vintage stuff as theres just tons of everything being made today and back to the early 80s which makes it not worth much at all. I know I probably have 75,000 or so cards I spent probably $6-8k on back in late 80s to early 90s and now they are almost all worth nothing especially since none are graded, if I did grade my better items (some Rice/Montana/Young/Sanders/Smith/ect rookies for football and Puckett/Clemens/McGwire/Griffey/ect rookies for baseball and other assorted stuff) and they got 8s ( i know not to expect 9s or 10s) I could maybe get a grand or so but probably won't go that route will just sell/trade so stuff raw for what I want to collect now mostly for fun.
I'm pretty new myself but I think you'll find that there are a lot of helpful and friendly people on these boards that share the same passion for collecting that you do. I recently returned to the hobby as well and the last thing I remember from collecting was also upper deck. Cards have changed a bit since those good old days... now you've got to deal with serial numbers, autographs, game used memorabilia... and last but not least, grading. I think that you should basically collect whatever you like. I'm not really into all of that stuff I listed above, except for grading, I'd rather just buy the base cheap cards of my favorite players rather than paying a premium on some gimics. The best part about this is that I can usually get my favorite cards of favorite players in Gem Mint form for the same cost or a little more than it would cost me to send it into PSA. Since returning to the hobby I've picked up an 89 Donruss Gary Sheffield ($10), 90 Topps Traded Emmitt Smith ($10) and an 89 Topps Traded Deion Sanders ($6) all PSA 10! I really like the benefits of grading as you know the quality of card you are getting and I also feel it helps protect the value of the cards should you ever need to resell them. Some new football sets I like are 2004 Topps Football and 2004 Fleer Tradition. They are base sets but have some pretty cool looking cards. The Fleer Tradition set has a couple cool "Trio" cards, one which shows E. Manning/P. Rivers/B. Roethlisberger and another that shows Ro. Williams/Re. Williams/L. Fitzgerald. Anyways, welcome back to the community and I hope that you find eBay and PSA will make the hobby more enjoyable for you.
Bottom line, collect what you like and you can never go wrong.
Thanks again
Norseman
One thing I was wondering. When a card is sold and shipped in the mail, how should it be packaged to avoid any damage?
Norseman
<< <i>After buying my first house, my mother informed me that i could take all my football and baseball cards home with me. After flipping through them (and remember seeing some of them for the first time), I've been bitten by the collecting bug. When I last collected, Upper Deck had just come on the scene. I bought a Beckett to see what some of my cards might be worth, and noticed all the new companies.
My question is: with all the card companies out there today, which card lines (for football and baseball) should a new collector be looking at, and which ones to avoid? Which card lines hold their value the best? Which card lines give you the most value (purchase price vs. resale value?)
Norseman >>
<< <i>One thing I was wondering. When a card is sold and shipped in the mail, how should it be packaged to avoid any damage? >>
Welcome Norseman! Make sure you explore the PSA website; there is lots of good information on there. The answer to your question is here.