[OsBohs89]

When most people say theyre "collecting" say 1989 Topps. Are they going for all parallels/auto and everything or just base set? That seems like a ton of cards! Im new to the game here and still trying to figure out what I want to collect and focus on. I love opening backs and current cards.

At the moment Im thinkng the following.

Topps Only
Team Set Orioles- Base
All Rookies
1 Auto from Os a year

Too narrow?

[bonds20001]

Whatever brings YOU pleasure. I love the chase of getting as many Giants cards as I can. I have friends who collect Topps only and put set together, others master sets (every insert card from the set) and, like me, team collectors. There are player collectors here as well, collect the player even if he goes to another team.

There are no rules to collecting, just have fun... it is a HOBBY!

[zeprock]

Whatever brings YOU pleasure. I love the chase of getting as many Giants cards as I can. I have friends who collect Topps only and put set together, others master sets (every insert card from the set) and, like me, team collectors. There are player collectors here as well, collect the player even if he goes to another team.

There are no rules to collecting, just have fun... it is a HOBBY!

+1

I'm primarily a player collector. I didn't start out that way. I started in 1970 and HAD to put the entire 1970 Topps set together and spent all my allowance and paper route money on five cent packs until I finished that set. I continued for years putting each year's Topps set together and trading for any older cards I could find. When I discovered my first local card shop in 1981, it became a lot easier to pick up the older cards from the 50s and 60s that I was missing but that year Donruss and Fleer began releasing cards to compete with Topps. I got complete sets of those and then a few years later Score came on the scene followed the next year by Upper Deck. A couple of years after that all those companies began releasing secondary sets (Stadium Club, Leaf, Ultra, Pinnacle, etc.) By that point I began to be overwhelmed by all the product and realized I couldn't collect EVERYTHING so I began to just get the Topps set each year and just collect my favorite players from all the other sets. Now I collect Hall of Famers and potential HOFers and other stars (The PED guys who hold all the records). I collect anything that will fit into a 9 pocket binder page, cards, stickers, stamps, coins, magnets, pocket schedules, etc.

Like Bonds20001 mentioned above, there are no rules. Whatever brings YOU pleasure.

[pjrussell529]

I stopped collecting around 2000-01 then I was at Target one day in 2013 and saw some blasters of Allen & Ginter so I bought one. Pulled an Ed O'Neill(Al Bundy) auto and got sucked back in. I started buying boxes online (no card shops around) and had fun but after awhile I realized I had very few cards I actually wanted. So I narrowed my focus and started just buying singles and was much happier doing that.

It took about 5 years but I am building a collection I like and enjoy. For baseball I collect Red Sox, Topps base HOFers (other sets when needed), 1 HOFer auto, and 1 base RC & auto for current top stars. Seems like it would be a large collection but it's really not. At least not compared to what I had just busting boxes.

I guess what it comes down to is try some different things and see what you really enjoy. There are so many sets that there is something for everyone. And you don't have to get everything. You may not figure it out right away but part of the fun for me was trying different things.

One thing I have learned about new cards and the current crop of top rookies is 90%(if not more) will come down in price the following year. Patience is a virtue.

[OsBohs89]

Question. How do you guys handle your collection if the card you got could be in multiple collections. Example. Rookie collection and HOF collection, say you have Ripken rookie. Would you put him in rookie or HOF. What criteria do you use.

[zeprock]

For me, this happens when more than one HOF player is featured on a card. In that case I get a card for each player if I can. Otherwise the one card stays in the collection of the player I feel is most deserving until I get another of that same card.

I also have all my Topps base Red Sox cards separate in a couple of boxes so I can pull out a box and instantly pull all the cards of that year's team. However my HOF Red Sox cards are in individual player collections and I don't try to get duplicates of those cards for my Red Sox collection. I'm content knowing that I have them even though they're in my player collections. It is too pricey for me to get dupes of Yaz and Ted Williams and some of the other players.