collecting beginner

76collector

Hey guys, this is my first post, so forgive me if I don't use proper protocol, or if this question would be better suited somewhere else. Anyway, I am new to collecting "again". I grew up in the 80's and collected back then, but quit when the market was flooded with so many choices. I started buying cards again a little before christmas and I am hooked. So, here is my question. What would you guys suggest as the best/fastest way of achieving the following goals. I've decided to only collect baseball. I'd like to work on building the post war hof rookies psa set. I'd also like to build a 54 topps, 68 topps, and 76 topps sets. Is it best to buy raw cards, and submit them ? Should I try to get the cards in lower grades, and then "upgrade" them in the future, or get the one's that are acceptable to me now? Any suggestions you guys have would be greatly appreciated, also any advice on things to avoid to save from getting ripped off, would be great.

Thanks in advance for helping me get started.

ThoseBackPages

Firstly, welcome back to the hobby.

- Do not buy raw on ebay.
- Buy the Slabs in grades that you want, do not plan on "upgrading" later, it's a waste imo
- Collect however you want!

thehallmark

Unless you have a lot time and money, you may want to narrow your focus a bit. It will be tough enough to handle two of the sets you're considering starting.

First, go here
Look up the recent sales for some of the key cards you want most. This should give you an idea of what kind of money you will need to dish out for quality. If you're going to be a player in the PSA Registry, look at high grade prices only. If you want decent looking but inexpensive cards, start looking for well centered PSA 5s and 6s for vintage and 8s and 9s for more modern cards.

Head over to Ebay and scout the landscape of the sets you are collecting. Setup some automatic searches that will email you when a card you want is found.
On Ebay, if it seems too good to be true, it probably is. If you have any specific questions about auctions or certain cards, start a thread here.

There's a lot more to it but I'll let others chime in. Good luck!

jeffcbay

To add to the suggestions:

NEVER buy unopened wax packs/boxes from ebay. A majority of us on this forum exclusively buy our authentic unopened wax from Baseball Card Exchange. The guys at BBCE are the best in the business, and they back up their word.

hofautos

I would suggest buying the best graded cards you can within your budget.

TO me, the most fun part of collecting is to upgrade, always searching for the best conditioned card I can within my budget. Especially to find nicely centered cards where centering is an issue.
I have upgraded my jackie more than any other card, and have upgraded it no less than 10 times in 15 years. The thrill of finding a nicely centered, nice looking card for the right price is my most fun in collecting.

Here are a few of my faves that i have upgraded NUMEROUS times.

Dialj

First and foremost ... Welcome to the Jungel. The guys here are great to talk with and discuss cards issues with. IMO collect how you want to (one set at a time or multiple). If you enjoy ripping wax then buy the boxes, but like mentioned earlier, use BBCE (they are the BEST!!!). As far as upgrading, I perfer to buy the best one my budget can afford so that I don't have all the duplicates. If they are HOFers or popular cards that can be easily traded or other cards you want, then I guess that method might be worth it. In terms of buying raw and then submitting; if you can pick up quality cards in bulk lots, I see nothing wrong with it and then hold out for the PSA specials. I look forward to seeing you on the boards. Good luck with you endeavors!!!

Goot

A lot of knowledge going around here and you'll likely learn a lot. Then again, there are also times when you wish you could get back those 10 minutes you just wasted reading some threads



Welcome and good luck!

NickM

For '76, common 9s sell for around the cost of grading. There really isn't a reason to submit them yourself - and that's assuming you want to start that set graded rather than raw.

For '68, most common 8s sell for around the cost of grading. Unless you're talking about Hall of Famers or cards that are sure to be 9s, submitting them yourself is likely to be a money-losing proposition.

For '54s, it's hard to find raw that will get a 7 or better without paying close to Beckett high column prices. If you buy at those prices and then pay for grading, you're close to spending what the cards sell for on eBay, with a lot more time and effort involved, thoughif you hit a good percentage of 8s or a few 9s, it can be quite worthwhile.

As far as what grades to get the cards in, upgrading star cards has much more of a market to sell/trade the ones you're getting rid of. Continually upgrading commons is messy, time-consuming, and makes only the USPS happy.

Nick

jay0791

The guys are right on here.

Subing cards and getting grades well below what you can buy them for will lose you a ton of $. If you are going to collect graded below a 6 on the 68 and 76 then do the set raw..unless you can get them super cheap.
Do not upgrade. Buy a $5 card and have it shipped for $2.......$7. Then sell and get back $5 ....reselling will cost 15% to 20 % and a lot of time so you will again lose $.

Keep in mind the investment value for 68 and 76's are not there so make sure you are doing this for fun first. The 54 set will cost big time.

1968 has nolan Ryan RC in it. Look up what the various grades sell for. Also Johnny Bench and some major HOFERS.

When you have decided. If it is buy then try to do it in bulk. Many sellers combine shipping that that will be you reall cost factor.

Many ask $3 for shipping one graded card. say that's $10 for example. Now multiply that shipping for # cards in set and you get the picture.

4_sharp_corners is one seller (ebay) that sells commons in those years (-54) on the cheap and they max out for shipping at a fixed cost.

Don't be afraid of placing a message on these boards in buy sell trade offering to buy. Just know what a reasonable price to pay is and be sure the seller can give you a few references.

frankhardy

THE FIRST THING I NOTICED IS THAT YOU DID NOT TYPE IN ALL CAPS. IN ORDER TO GET IN PEOPLE'S GOOD GRACES AROUND HERE, YOU MUST TYPE IN ALL CAPITAL LETTERS. IT HELPS PEOPLE TO READ YOUR POST BETTER.

THE NEXT THING, IF YOU HAVE ANYTHING FOR SALE, ALWAYS POST IT HERE IN THIS FORUM. EVEN IF IT'S AN EBAY SALE.

FINALLY, EVERYTHING I SAID ABOVE IS A LIE.

Welcome aboard! Good luck with your venture. I got back in the hobby in 2001 and I haven't looked back.

MBMiller25

Welcome to the boards. You have gotten some real good advice already. I would recommend, possibly tackling the 54, 68, and 76 sets in RAW form, rather than graded, unless your trying to build a very high end set in each of those years. As for the Post WAR HOFers set. I would recommend buying as much card as you can afford and are happy with. I personally do not play the upgrade game, as it tends to be a losing proposition. Good Luck with whatever you decide. I have build both the Post War HOFers set to about 75% completion, and am a huge fan of the 76 set, so we have alot in common from a collecting standpoint.

Brick

Hi, hello, how are ya?

I would imagine the stratedgy for putting together a 54 set may differ from the best way to do the 76 set. I wish you the best however you decide to accomplish your goals.

76collector

I think finding these boards is going to be very helpful and probably save me a lot of time and money, as I've already gotten lot's of useful info. Seems like for the budget I have, collecting raw cards especially for the 76 and 68's except for the hofer rookies is my best bet. Since I'm building the psa post war rookie hof set I will buy the rookies from those sets graded. As far as the 54's. I'm concerned about buying altered cards, or reprints if buying them raw, so I may want to stick with buying graded. Have you guys seen lot's of reprints sold as originals from that set or is that something that only happens for the big cards like the Aaron/Banks/Kaline rc's.

Thanks again everyone for the advice.

jeffcbay

If you end up buying raw from ebay, STAY AWAY from the seller Waverly82. The seller is notorious for altering/recoloring cards and getting away with it. If you do a search for "Waverly" in this forum, you should find enough evidence of his history.

Stone193

Hi and welcome!

I'm sure you've already received some really good advice so mine is a bit more general.

My collecting rules are simple:

1. Establish a Focus.

2. Establish a Budget.

3. Don't break rules 1 & 2!

You're off to a good start - you know "what" you want to collect - so now it's off to establishing a budget.

It's very important since ebay is loaded with potential buys and some bargains.

So on ebay:

1. You can go broke saving money - so paste that budget on your forehead.

2. If you see a 'must' on ebay? Out of money? I say - with few exceptions - Pass - another will come along down the road.

So many people come back to the hobby and go nuts - then they're over-extended - have night sweats and flashbacks - and then the hobby seems more like work than fun and I'm sure you already have a job. The OCD component is important to avoid.

I will defer to others for all the particulars on who, what, where and how....

My advice is - IMO - a good roadmap to enjoying the hobby and not getting mired up in debt and disappointment which will ultimately result in leaving the hobby.

And last - and this is just my opinion - collecting a set - e.g. - is best enjoyed like running a marathon rather than a 100m sprint.