Need help for a potential new football collector.

EagleEyeKid

Hi guys. I know very little about football, and I'm strictly a hockey guy. My best friend's son recently asked me about card collecting and primarily about football cards.
He's 16 yrs old and wants to start collecting cards. He asked me where should he start since there are a million cards out there and was shocked after i showed him the
football section on ebay. He doesn't care about graded cards which is probably a good start. He said his favorite player is Adrian Peterson? if I remembered correctly.
He knows what a rookie card is cos a couple of his friends collect football and wants to buy rookies and players he thinks will have long great careers and maybe head to the HOF.

Where should he start? I told him I would get back to him after I get some advice and would luv to see this fine young man get into collecting.
I was thinking a little bit from every decade from the 80s - present of key rookies. They don't have to be premium expensive cards; maybe just low tier brands like Topps.
Thoughts please

armyautin

Collect what he loves. Favorite team and players. Introduce some vintage cards so he learns the history of both the sport and the cards. I personally collect 1955 Topps All American cards, game programs, and tickets. It's really up to what he enjoys. Just set a budget and a goal. The goal can change and grow, but give him something to work towards.

Sean1125

Well, according to Garthman, the younger you are the worse it is to collect.

However, tell him to collect what he likes... If he likes AP, he can collect AP, if he wants vikings, collect vikings.

perkdog

I think its great that he wants to start collecting football, I would tell him to definately buy what he likes to get started which sounds likes its Adrien Peterson. He can get Peterson base cards fairly cheap so its not like he is going to break the bank doing that.

I would also suggest to him to research the game and explore the rich history of the NFL as well. Down the road he might find himself interested in older cards which I think will bring more fun and open up even more interest. There are a TON of DVDs and Books out there too.

Sheamaster

Personally, I would recommend limiting yourself to certain brands. For example, buy Topps cards only. If you want to expand, buy Topps Chrome and Topps Finest. There are still way too many brands (Score, Leaf, etc, etc.). I would recommend starting with every regular edition Topps card of Peterson. His first card is 2007 Topps which is his rookie, and can be bought on eBay for a couple of bucks. Then, go to Chrome and Finest. He could put them in a binder with pages - staring with 2007 across the top (Topps, Chrome, Finest), and second row is 2008. Just an idea to keep it simple and relatively cheap.

Sheamaster

He could also do a rookie project. He could collect the Topps rookie cards of all of his favorite players. You can probably get raw rookies of everyone playing today cheap...from Aaron Rodgers to Cam Newton. Cam Newton would be a great player to collect (if he likes him). You can get his Topps rookie (2011 Topps) for like $2 and his Topps Chrome Rookie for less than $10. Then, if he wants to buy older players, he can get into the older HOFers like Marino, Elway, Montana (a little pricier). You could put together a fine collection of raw, Topps rookies fairly cheap.

Send me a PM if he would be interested..I could throw some in to get him started. Just let me know who he likes besides AP (I have APs).

EagleEyeKid

You can probably get raw rookies of everyone playing today cheap...from Aaron Rodgers to Cam Newton. Cam Newton would be a great player to collect (if he likes him). You can get his Topps rookie (2011 Topps) for like $2 and his Topps Chrome Rookie for less than $10.

Yea, stuff like that would be great. It's fairly cheap and I think he can appreciate that.


I talked to his dad tonight and told him to pick up a football Beckett for his kid at a newstand or something. He can then get a general idea
of what it may cost him to get certain players/cards. I figured to start off, Topps would be the cheapest way to go. The kid has a part-time
job so he can buy for himself. I'm going to pick up a few topps rookie for him. Saw that A. Peterson RCs are fairly cheap, and will get one or two.
I've got a Steve Young 86 topps and a Score Barry Sanders Rc in nmt condition that's just been sitting here as well. His dad doesn't collect cards
but I think he's beginning to catch interest. I'm hoping this can get both of them into it so I wouldn't feel like a card geek when I visit them.
I'm hoping for a positive turn out. Going to see them and party with them for Memorial Day, so we'll probably talk about cards lol.

Toro

2007 Upper Deck Hobby Boxes, they are cheap and contain AP rookies as well s other stars.