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1 year after collecting again (lessons learned)

Figured I would ramble just a bit about my 1 year anniversary of getting back into card collecting. It all started with my wife complaining about my card collection in the basement that had been collecting dust for about 25 years. I recently retired so I thought why not dig out the collection and do something with it to get my wife off my back. After browsing my collection for a few hours I decided to see what the latest was with prices etc… Wow what a shock to find out about what had changed with card collecting. Graded cards and all the modern cards (which I could not fully understand at first) gave me a lot research to do. Needless to say I was hooked very easily and began my journey back into the world of card collecting. As any newbie can probably relate to I learned a few lessons during this venture back into my childhood hobby.

Lesson # 1: Buy the card not the holder. (I fell for this one when I started out and purchased way too many holders because of the grade only later to realize the obvious that all PSA ….. grades are not the same.

Lesson # 2: High grade low pop vintage commons don’t always hold their value. I purchased 3 PSA 10 cards from the 60’s and 1 PSA 9 from the 50’s. This was part of a deal when I was purchasing some HOFer’s from a person who lives in my area. I did my homework and went and looked at the cards he was selling and told myself to get a look but don’t purchase them until I did some homework. After looking at the cards I went back home and did some homework. The HOFer’s he was selling were priced very well and so were the PSA 10’s. I purchased what he had and did very well reselling the HOFer’s I was not interested in keeping for my personal collection. However the commons were not selling at the price they had sold for 3-5 years earlier. Lesson learned about VCP prices and the craziness that can go on with registry set collectors.

Lesson # 3: Patience is a virtue when collecting. I used to jump on the very first high grade PSA 8-9 Johnny Bench card that would become available (see lesson # 1). I have learned that if you are willing to wait most of the times you can get a better deal both in price and centering etc..

Lesson # 4: It is ok to pay well above VCP to get a card. I have missed out on several great cards early on because I was too stubborn to pay over VCP.
Lesson # 5: The baseball card forums are a great resource filled with a lot of knowledgeable collectors who are more than happy to share their wealth of knowledge. Just need to ask and the majority of time someone has the answer or an opinion.

Plenty more lessons have been learned but those listed above were just a few that came to me off the top of my head. To finish off the rambling session it has been a great 1st year back collecting. My main 2 goals when I got back into collecting after my 25 year hiatus was to put together a basic registry set for Johnny Bench (childhood hero) and to collect my favorite rookie cards. I finished off my first year of collecting with what I believe to be a great looking PSA 6 rookie card of Wilt Chamberlain. Needless to say if I would have purchased a PSA 6 card of Wilt during the first few months it would certainly not look as good as this one. Thanks for reading the rambling. You can probably guess a few of the cards (links below) that I purchased early versus later.

image


HOF Rookies
Johnny Bench Basic Set

Comments

  • vintagefunvintagefun Posts: 1,975 ✭✭✭
    What a Wilt! Congrats!
    52-90 All Sports, Mostly Topps, Mostly HOF, and some assorted wax.
  • JBrulesJBrules Posts: 2,116 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>What a Wilt! Congrats! >>



    Thanks. Lesson 4 made this one happen.
  • seebelowseebelow Posts: 1,643 ✭✭✭
    Excellent lessons. I agree with and have also shared. Any new collector entering the hobby would do well to read and learn from your post.
    Thanks and welcome back.
    Interested in higher grade vintage cards. Aren't we all. image
  • DboneesqDboneesq Posts: 18,220 ✭✭
    Welcome back to the collecting world. Thanks for sharing your lessons. When I got back into collecting I too bought the holder and not the card!

    Edited to add: That Wilt presents AMAZINGLY WELL for a 6. CONGRATS!
    STAY HEALTHY!

    Doug

    Liquidating my collection for the 3rd and final time. Time for others to enjoy what I have enjoyed over the last several decades. Money could be put to better use.
  • Stone193Stone193 Posts: 24,350 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Thanx for sharing David.

    I've been back collecting since 1989 or so and share some of that sentiment.

    I think there's so much to learn about our hobby - I believe - for me - the most important lesson on top is to "focus" and "budget" and try to stick to it.
    Mike
  • KendallCatKendallCat Posts: 2,962 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Beautiful Wilt card and nice pickup. While you may have paid more than VCP for it you grabbed a great card that looks better than the grade and most likely paid less than the next grade up.
  • JBrulesJBrules Posts: 2,116 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>Beautiful Wilt card and nice pickup. While you may have paid more than VCP for it you grabbed a great card that looks better than the grade and most likely paid less than the next grade up. >>



    You are absolutely dead on with your what you wrote. More than a 6 but less than a 7.
  • Big80sBig80s Posts: 2,758 ✭✭✭
    That was a fun read, and those are lessons that everyone can learn from. Thanks for sharing!
    Let's Rip It: PackGeek.com
    Jeff
  • SidePocketSidePocket Posts: 2,901 ✭✭✭
    Very well said. It's surprising to me when I look at some of the first graded cards I bought, thinking I only bought perfectly centered cards, and most of them have a little tilt.

    "Molon Labe"

  • Dpeck100Dpeck100 Posts: 10,910 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Cool post and a beautiful Wilt.

  • cardcountrycardcountry Posts: 569 ✭✭✭
    Well said. And great looking wilt! Congrats!!

    Jeff
    Jeff Foy/Dave Foy
    Card Country
    Graded stars 1950's-1980
  • I started back two years ago and agree with all you said. One thing that has really helped me is scanning my cards into the psa sets. It made me go back and look at the cards slower and appreciate what I already have. Also remind of many of the lessons learned you have listed. Thanks for sharing.
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