[arkhawgsfan]

I am 31 years old and have decided it's time to start collecting again. I must say I haven't really purchased a card since I was in my mid-teens. I have a collection of around 1,500 cards that I am looking at organizing, but after that not sure what to do. I've thought about starting with specific teams/years, or specific brands/series/years. I don't really have a lot of money to spend but want to do something productive with my two boys.

Anyone else in my situation? Have some good advice for a fun collection technique.

[rocknandrew]

Well let me first say welcome! Plenty of people are in your position at some point. Just curious what team/players would you be interested in collecting? For example, I go for Giants but specifically Tim Lincecum, Freddy Sanchez, Nate Schierholtz, and Jim Thome to name a few.

[jmc316]

My fist packs I opened were 79 topps...but I go through many lulls in my collecting. I basically didn't buy anything in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 until just buying some 2010 about 2 months back. Being here in ATL what spurred me back recently was the dearth of young talent the Braves have in Heyward, Freeman, Beacy, Venters, Minor, Tehran, etc. so I'm trying to gather some of those guys to resell, trade, or maybe hold on to.

I would say pick a team, a specific player, or a couple of rookies to build around...buy a box or two of Topps and/or Bowman...and fill in purchasing using blaster boxes at Walmart, Target, etc. That way you start building your collection and also a base of some cards you can use in trade on this site to get what you want. Also go to your local card shop and look for older year box deals...if you want to collect, say D Jeter, well you can find some good values on boxes from 03, 04, 05 that may not have the "big hits" but have a good bit of inserts, etc that add to your collection and again give you differnet trading material other than all current year stuff.

In 2005-06 I was buy tons and tons of 2002 leaf certified for roughly $55 a box and getting GU stuff of Clemens, Bonds, Gwynn, Prior, HOF'ers, etc.

[crazyforkinsler5]

I am 31 years old and have decided it's time to start collecting again. I must say I haven't really purchased a card since I was in my mid-teens. I have a collection of around 1,500 cards that I am looking at organizing, but after that not sure what to do. I've thought about starting with specific teams/years, or specific brands/series/years. I don't really have a lot of money to spend but want to do something productive with my two boys.

Anyone else in my situation? Have some good advice for a fun collection technique.

I'd say pick a team or player like the other guys have mentioned. You can buy some lower-end blaster (Wal-Mart/Target) boxes or find websites where you can buy team/player lots in bulk. Or buy popular guys/teams. Jeter, Ripken, Pujols are always popular among baseball collectors.

At that point, you'll start to build up some "trade bait" as we call it. Use those cards then to trade and pick up stuff you really want.

Visit local card shops and shows. I like to go to shows on the last day because you can find a lot of good deals. I went to a show not too long ago on a Sunday and spent $120 and came home with about $800-$900 in cards. Bought a lot of stuff out of $1 boxes, etc.

Also, look for cheaper, older boxes where you get some nice inserts or RCs and use that as trade bait as well. You can find some good deals on late 1990s boxes or popular singles.

Again, just get a few cards here and there and some players that you know are popular and then use them to trade on here for what you need.

Welcome to the board and the site. Good luck trading in the future.

[jhyde77]

I am 31 years old and have decided it's time to start collecting again. I must say I haven't really purchased a card since I was in my mid-teens. I have a collection of around 1,500 cards that I am looking at organizing, but after that not sure what to do. I've thought about starting with specific teams/years, or specific brands/series/years. I don't really have a lot of money to spend but want to do something productive with my two boys.

Anyone else in my situation? Have some good advice for a fun collection technique.

I am sort of in your situation. I was heavy into collecting in my early teens and since 15 or 16, I've been just casually collecting. I've been buying some 80s rookies and early year cards (mainly oddball) I like here and there and have put a run of 90s Bowman sets together. That has been over the course of about 15 years. I'm now looking for something to collect that is tough to do, has an end, is low priced, but has the potential to increase in value. I'm a runner and I'd like to collect something that is the equivalent of a Marathon.

[kaughtlooking]

I interest increased in the Minor Leagues this past offseason while corresponding with a bunch of people on Twitter. My interest then took me to a small card show where I began looking for prospects to collect. I decided after that show to do the exact same as you. While at the show I got this awesome feeling of being a kid again and opening packs of cards. I decided that I wanted to start collecting again so that in the future me and my two boys could possibly have something to share in the future.

I have been collecting for a couple of months now. I mostly buy Bowman cards hoping to get the newest and upcoming prospects. It makes watching the game more fun since in my city we have a Double-A affiliate. I can watch the next big Major Leaguer for only $5 and maybe get their autograph which is another thing I thought I could share with my boys in the future.

So like everyone else says, pick something you like and start collecting from there.

http://kaught-looking.com (A baseball-inspired fashion and paraphernalia blog)