[07diedrt]

I am just getting into card collecting and a buddy of mine told me that buying cards at a hobby shop will raise the chances of getting better cards then what you buy at let's say walmart. Is this true? Any advice for a newbie would be greatly appreciated!

[jeantoto]

I'm not a card guru but the difference comes from the fact you're buying hobby version in the hobby shops and retail in the walmart. Hobby is more expensive but rewards you with a better rate for inserts.

It's up to you which path to follow.

[Phillies_Joe]

1st, welcome to the hobby and to Beckett!

You are guarenteed "hit's" (auto's or relics) buying hobby boxes. You are not by buying retail. You do not however have to buy boxes from a hobby shop, you can purchase them online. Buying retail doesn't diminish your non-guarenteed hit chances.....the back of packs tells how and what are seeded throughout the product run. Also, there are only certin inserts and parallels that are available in either hobby or retail. Some folks swear by retail, others not so much. There are others who don't buy anything but individual cards.

My suggestion is to start out slow and figure what it is that you want to collect. Nothing worse than buying a bunch of stuff that ends up sitting in boxes because you can't move it via trades or selling. Everybody has different tastes and economic situations so putting a blanket statement out there is just wrong. Go onto as many sites as possible and, especially here, ask questions!!!!!

Good luck and have fun. Just remember, because something is old, doesn't mean it's worth much and becuse something isn't worth much, doesn't mean it's not collectible.

[jn baseball cards]

+1 - I agree completely with Joe's point of view here. We've been in this Hobby as Father and Son for a little over 6 years now, and my Dad on and off for 30+ years. I wish I knew then what I know now - We are absolutely guilty of having those boxes of cards piled up that you just can't seem to move.

So take your time - Figure out what kind of hobbyist your going to be, weather it be a collector or a buyer/seller. Do some research, and don't be afraid to ask questions, everyone has to start somewhere. This is where we started, and though we've branched out and don't frequent much here anymore - There is no friendlier and more welcoming place to start.

1st, welcome to the hobby and to Beckett!

You are guarenteed "hit's" (auto's or relics) buying hobby boxes. You are not by buying retail. You do not however have to buy boxes from a hobby shop, you can purchase them online. Buying retail doesn't diminish your non-guarenteed hit chances.....the back of packs tells how and what are seeded throughout the product run. Also, there are only certin inserts and parallels that are available in either hobby or retail. Some folks swear by retail, others not so much. There are others who don't buy anything but individual cards.

My suggestion is to start out slow and figure what it is that you want to collect. Nothing worse than buying a bunch of stuff that ends up sitting in boxes because you can't move it via trades or selling. Everybody has different tastes and economic situations so putting a blanket statement out there is just wrong. Go onto as many sites as possible and, especially here, ask questions!!!!!

Good luck and have fun. Just remember, because something is old, doesn't mean it's worth much and becuse something isn't worth much, doesn't mean it's not collectible.

[bondssf2425]

Collecting is such an individual thing and there are so many products and so many ways to go about it, Ill echo what was said above, don't jump into the deep end too fast because it can get expensive too. As a kid I just bought new product I liked, now for the most part it just hangs out in the box. Since I renewed my collecting a few years ago I started collecting a couple certain players. Players that I like, not whats hot. By collecting a player I like it keeps my interest much more. It can get discouraging collecting a hot rookie who fizzles out and does nothing, although there are plenty of "prospectors" who would disagree with me. Bottom line don't be a sheep collect what you like, whoever/whatever that is.

[edlockhart]

My personal experience with retail is that you need to know your store, I've come to find that some stores allow pack searchers to do whatever they want and some stores have a huge amount of returned product that has been searched and re-sealed. I buy hobby only now because I have a good relationship with my LCS and I trust that his product has not been searched or re-sealed.

[djohn]

My personal experience with retail is that you need to know your store, I've come to find that some stores allow pack searchers to do whatever they want and some stores have a huge amount of returned product that has been searched and re-sealed. I buy hobby only now because I have a good relationship with my LCS and I trust that his product has not been searched or re-sealed.

This is one of the biggest reasons people have been turning away from buying retail cards. I have noticed my local retail outlets (Target, Walmart, etc) have been carrying less and less packs of sports cards.

[ktkline7]

I started collecting a little over a year ago and I have had a blast with it. Everyone has a different situation and I'll give you mine. I am married with a wife and two kids and my wife can not stand me collecting cards so I have had to be careful and very patient. WARNING!! I got into this hobby for fun not to make money so my strategy thus far may not be worth reading to you...

I started out buying singles of mostly RC's because they are pretty cheap. As I started gathering RC's of the guys I wanted I started to dabble in prospect cards (which I was already quite familiar with) and slowly worked my way in to low end prospect auto's. And once you get there you will start to understand the hobby a little more and you will start finding yourself.

I went through a few months of breaking boxes here and there and eventually that led me into case breaks and that is when you start spending the money... They are a lot of fun and they help you gather trade bait but it gets frustrating watching color auto's drop and go to someone else. Breaking boxes and case breaks are a ton of fun but they are not for everyone. I got annoyed with breaking boxes because you get a bunch of junk and it is really time consuming to inventory them. So for me, they just go in boxes and I store them. I've since slowed on them and started concentrating on certain players, chrome auto's, and nice patches.

As for retail vs hobby, once again, you will eventually work that out on your own. If I bought retail it has always been Bowman Platinum. It seems to be the best retail product out there in my experiences... Even then, the odds drop considerably when comparing them to hobby boxes.

But to warn you, when you start buying Blaster Boxes at $21 a pop, be ready to tell yourself, "I could have just dropped $20 on a single and got something I really would like instead of these trash commons that are going in a box."

As for trading, I wasted a lot of money by not packaging and shipping efficiently. It didn't take long for me to figure that out either though. If you ever need some help in that department, shoot me a PM...

[07diedrt]

Thanks for all the input. It is nice knowing that I am getting into a hobby that has people willing to give a lot of good advice and willingness to help. Right now I haven't quite figured out what I want to accomplish or work towards. I have a bunch of cards that I am trying to organize as we speak and have spend well over 10 hours in the past week doing so. It is very overwhelming with all the boxes of cards I have, but luckily most of them are full sets. These sets are mostly from the 90 ' s and early 2000 ' s and are your basic topps, upper deck, and donruss sets. I believe I just want to be a single card collector instead of a set collector, so pretty soon I want to sell/trade these full sets. I'm assuming there are not many full set collectors out there that do not have what I have already so I can imagine it will be difficult finding people interested.

[DrMitchJ]

Thanks for all the input. It is nice knowing that I am getting into a hobby that has people willing to give a lot of good advice and willingness to help. Right now I haven't quite figured out what I want to accomplish or work towards. I have a bunch of cards that I am trying to organize as we speak and have spend well over 10 hours in the past week doing so. It is very overwhelming with all the boxes of cards I have, but luckily most of them are full sets. These sets are mostly from the 90 ' s and early 2000 ' s and are your basic topps, upper deck, and donruss sets. I believe I just want to be a single card collector instead of a set collector, so pretty soon I want to sell/trade these full sets. I'm assuming there are not many full set collectors out there that do not have what I have already so I can imagine it will be difficult finding people interested.

You might find people interested, but that's only because they can pick up sets cheap, sell the valuable ones and throw out/give away the rest and still make money. Sorta like "parting out" a car. Selling the individual pieces are more valuable than the complete vehicle.
Good luck.
Btw: I buy retail and hobby. Depending on the product and depending on my luck, retail can be pretty good. I've bought boxes and cases from hobby sources and got nothing good, while picking up a retail blaster, got some great 'hits'! It's really very random. Anyway ... Have fun. Collect what you like and you can never go wrong.