[bojesphob]

Good luck with what you choose.
I personally would be a TEAM collector. I have collected everything I like of the DOlphins. It is easier and you can get some cards you like for 1-3 bucks. If you tried to Super Collect Kelly or SMith you would have a hard time at your budget.
I would def go in the direction of being a at team collector and maybe narow it down from there.
I now mainly focus on autos and Cameron wake stuff from my Dolphins PC. I still get what i like when i see it but its nice to have a focus as well.

I'll echo this as well. Unless I see something AMAZING that would be really nice to have for Packers stuff, I tend to focus my buying on Jordy Nelson or Brett Favre. But, when I trade, I go for just about anything, so my collection of Packers stuff is pretty large (although not as large as some Packers collectors I've seen!).

Being on a budget is awesome, and it keeps you from overspending... most of the time. I am currently in a spending freeze, but somehow have spent ~400 bucks on cards in the past 4 weeks. And I have a few more Nelsons I'll probably pick up when their auctions end soon. I was really bad a little over a year ago and was spending 2-300 bucks a month on *breaks*. That was in addition to my normal spending!! Yeah, that ended pretty quick when I started dating my girlfriend and then we found out she was pregnant, but I still have been buying too much... Probably one of the reasons I've taken on side work along with my full time job LOL I do recommend getting into some breaks if you want to try your luck and see if you can't get some nice hits from decent products without breaking the bank. If you want a couple good breakers, I know of a few, and I know there are a few other people on the boards that know of some good ones if you want some recommendations.

Try to ease into it slowly, but don't be too surprised if you end up going a bit overboard.

[buffalobrandon]

Thanks for the advice all. The problem i foresee with team collecting is that there would be an almost infinite amount of cards. And every year hundreds more would be produced. Even if my budget were 5 or 10 times greater i don't think i would ever get to the hunt phase which is my end goal.

With that said i think i am going to start a slow and steady super collection of the four horseman: Thurman, Kelly, Bruce and Reed.

[Kingofallmarks]

My suggestion would be to go with a Panini product like possibly Threads since they will have exclusive rights to the NFL licensing, and you mentioned you like action shots. Also it tends to be at a lower pricing point than other popular sets, it is also ideal to chase complete sets because it has a decent sized checklist you get about 24 packs to a box and I think somewhere between 10-12 cards per pack. I also believe on average you get 3 hits per box. Either way good luck and welcome back to the hobby.

[buffalobrandon]

My suggestion would be to go with a Panini product like possibly Threads since they will have exclusive rights to the NFL licensing, and you mentioned you like action shots. Also it tends to be at a lower pricing point than other popular sets, it is also ideal to chase complete sets because it has a decent sized checklist you get about 24 packs to a box and I think somewhere between 10-12 cards per pack. I also believe on average you get 3 hits per box. Either way good luck and welcome back to the hobby.

King, thanks for the Panini suggestion. I'll look into it. One way or another I'm definitely going to want to break a box or two.

[jjoy]

One thing I would look at is buying into box breaks and case breaks of the Bills. How this works is you would get every Buffalo Bill card from that break. They might just be base cards, but you could also get a autograph of a current Bills player or rookie or even Thomas, Smith, or Kelly if they are in that specific release. Do your research first.
Shipping will eat you alive in this hobby. I would recommend buying from COMC.com. You can buy store credit, $1 for $1 and you can buy as many cards as you like over an extended period of time and they will store them for you till you are ready to have them shipped. They have $3 flat rate shipping. So for instance what I like to do is wait till I have at least 100 cards, usually bought over a period of several months. Then I have them shipped at $3.00 flat rate, that works out to just 3 cents a card in shipping.
Best of luck to you.

[jephthah1]

If you tried to Super Collect Kelly or SMith you would have a hard time at your budget.

What gadsden86 points out is going to be your greatest issue...particularly going after the four players you have selected--Thurman [Thomas], Kelly, Bruce and Reed. And you expressed a desire to bust some boxes along the way as well? That'll be tough. Even if you are breaking retail, your budget will be eaten up in one shot. Hobby breaks...pretty much impossible.

Having a budget is wise, but my concern is that you have already overextended yourself. Maybe choose one of those players and get after it. Start on the low end, get a feel for what lies ahead in your PC, and expand from there.

I wish you the best, and hope that you will post your pickups along the way. Some of us love to see what ya got! Welcome to the hobby!

[jaykayzee]

Just curious, are you living in WNY, or an ex-pat? I was just wondering which lcs you are going to.

As said before, having a budget is wise, but I see yours as unrealistic. Gone are the days of buying sealed boxes for 20 bucks, or packs 3/$1.00. You are talking about $240 a YEAR? I probably spend that per week. You are best served going after just one player, and you mentioned 4 true greats of Buffalo sports. I might suggest broadening your collection, instead of just spending the budget on cards, you can pick up auto'd items like photos or mini-helmets. I'm just thinking quality items over a huge amount of common cards.

None the less - Welcome! Be nice to see some B-Lo LOVE.

[buffalobrandon]

Thanks again for the advice all. I've definitely been watching the shipping charges on EBay. I'll look into COMC.com but not sure I can handle waiting to get the cards. LOL

I went through my current PC and noticed I have by far more Bruce Smith cards then the other three players. I think I will pretty much start with him and very casually go after the others. As for the budget, my birthday is in March so maybe I'll treat myself to a little extra.

I'm in CA too BTW. CA born and raised Bills fan.

BTW Did sports card collecting experience a bubble back in the mid 90's or did the internet just kill most of the shops.? I remember growing up my small town of about 26,000 people had three LCS's alone. I doubt they have any now. I currently live in a town of about 300,000 and I think we have two shops.

[bojesphob]

Thanks again for the advice all. I've definitely been watching the shipping charges on EBay. I'll look into COMC.com but not sure I can handle waiting to get the cards. LOL

I went through my current PC and noticed I have by far more Bruce Smith cards then the other three players. I think I will pretty much start with him and very casually go after the others. As for the budget, my birthday is in March so maybe I'll treat myself to a little extra.

I'm in CA too BTW. CA born and raised Bills fan.

BTW Did sports card collecting experience a bubble back in the mid 90's or did the internet just kill most of the shops.? I remember growing up my small town of about 26,000 people had three LCS's alone. I doubt they have any now. I currently live in a town of about 300,000 and I think we have two shops.

The 90's were a bad time for cards. Nearly killed card collecting by MASSIVELY overproducing! That's why when you look at BV for base cards from around 1989-1998 you'll see that a lot of them are about 5 cents apiece. I still remember going and buying 20 packs of Topps or other brands like UD Collector's Choice for under 10 bucks. I recently went through and purged all of the dupes I had in my collection and I had 25 copies of the Reggie White 1995 Collector's Choice! My home town used to have 2 LCSs in the 90's but hadn't had one in the 2000's until 2 years ago when a new one opened.

[wazzujim]

Interesting opinions here guys. I started collecting football cards this past fall and am going for a set. Well, at least the base and all parallels that aren't 1/1 or 1/5, although I do have a few. A couple thousand dollars later, I now understand the term Cardboard Crack! Hahahahaha. I'm collecting 2014 Strata. I have the entire base set, all gold and purple, and about 150 of the 300 autographs. The clear cuts and relics are pretty neat; I have a number of those but my focus has been on autos first.

TONS OF FUN!!!!