Dear All,
I'm brand new to collecting football trading cards. Me and a friend of mine made a pact to give each other duplicate cards of each one we collect. I've been collecting regular topps 2012 cards, topps 2012 chrome, and topps 2012 strata.
I decided I'd go through my cards tonight and look through and separate duplicates (I sorted my cards by the number on the back). I feel like all I've been doing is sinking money into this. To complete my regular topps 2012 cards, I have to get like...100 more cards. This is truly shocking, since I've got a stack of 400 or so cards that are duplicates beside me.
So, I guess my question is simple. How do you personally collect football cards? I mean...I can't spend this much money, just to collect a set. How do you collect whole sets of cards?
I went to the local card shop, and the guy looked at me like I'm nuts when I wanted to know if he sold singles of common cards. In fact, he had none.
I bought a hobby box of topps strata, and I was quite satisfied. I believe (fingers crossed) that I got most of the base set cards. That's the only hobby box I've ever bought. The rest have been blaster boxes bought at wal-mart, and I guess I've bought around 8 of them (topps regular 2012).
On the bright side, I got a Drew Brees short print and a Vernon Davis short print. Other than that, that's the only thing of true value I have from regular topps cards. I've pulled no autos (only did in chrome).
Am I frustrated for no reason? Is this normal? How do you collect sets without going into the poor house? I have like 100 cards I need and I can't buy these for .99 on the bay. What should I do?
My friend says I should abandon the idea of collecting sets and only collect good rookie cards. I understand this...but shouldn't there be a goal involved?
Truth is, all I really want out of this is a hobby. A hobby that one day maybe 20 years from now I can look at my cards I collect and say, "That's cool...I can sell my collection for a couple hundred". I'm not trying to get rich, but I want to hold value.
Any suggestions for a frustrated newbie?
Thanks,
Rick
P.S. I have bought almost every topps chrome rookie relic on ebay, and I guess the price averaged to be about 3 dollars a card. Do these cards hold value? I really like that they have pieces of jersey in them.
P.S.S. Hopefully this isn't a stupid issue. I'm brand new to this, and I really don't even know where to start. I've put the money in, but I feel like I'm getting nothing out.
I'm brand new to collecting football trading cards. Me and a friend of mine made a pact to give each other duplicate cards of each one we collect. I've been collecting regular topps 2012 cards, topps 2012 chrome, and topps 2012 strata.
I decided I'd go through my cards tonight and look through and separate duplicates (I sorted my cards by the number on the back). I feel like all I've been doing is sinking money into this. To complete my regular topps 2012 cards, I have to get like...100 more cards. This is truly shocking, since I've got a stack of 400 or so cards that are duplicates beside me.
So, I guess my question is simple. How do you personally collect football cards? I mean...I can't spend this much money, just to collect a set. How do you collect whole sets of cards?
I went to the local card shop, and the guy looked at me like I'm nuts when I wanted to know if he sold singles of common cards. In fact, he had none.
I bought a hobby box of topps strata, and I was quite satisfied. I believe (fingers crossed) that I got most of the base set cards. That's the only hobby box I've ever bought. The rest have been blaster boxes bought at wal-mart, and I guess I've bought around 8 of them (topps regular 2012).
On the bright side, I got a Drew Brees short print and a Vernon Davis short print. Other than that, that's the only thing of true value I have from regular topps cards. I've pulled no autos (only did in chrome).
Am I frustrated for no reason? Is this normal? How do you collect sets without going into the poor house? I have like 100 cards I need and I can't buy these for .99 on the bay. What should I do?
My friend says I should abandon the idea of collecting sets and only collect good rookie cards. I understand this...but shouldn't there be a goal involved?
Truth is, all I really want out of this is a hobby. A hobby that one day maybe 20 years from now I can look at my cards I collect and say, "That's cool...I can sell my collection for a couple hundred". I'm not trying to get rich, but I want to hold value.
Any suggestions for a frustrated newbie?
Thanks,
Rick
P.S. I have bought almost every topps chrome rookie relic on ebay, and I guess the price averaged to be about 3 dollars a card. Do these cards hold value? I really like that they have pieces of jersey in them.
P.S.S. Hopefully this isn't a stupid issue. I'm brand new to this, and I really don't even know where to start. I've put the money in, but I feel like I'm getting nothing out.