[Jaelae]

Well as a young Jaelae I collected baseball cards. Great way to learn about a lot of players but didn't take it very seriously (I have some great bent rookie cards). Never got into football as a kid but over the past few years have been having a blast following a lot of players on a lot of teams.

I've had a lot of fun with Madden games and their wonderful money-sink ultimate team card game. It led me to the realisation that I really just want to collect cards. Not for money, just as a fun hobby. Unfortunately, this can be a bit overwhelming.

I've been lurking through the forums on this site and learning a lot about what people are going after. There are tons of different brands and series under those brands so it is difficult to figure out what to go for. To start off though, I ordered a Topps Finest 2013 hobby box.

Is this a good start? What other series are worth looking at? My goal is to go for quality over quantity. With that said, I won't be buying boxes constantly. But rather, I will pickup a box here and there and as I get into it more, start looking for deals on individual cards of players that interest me.

[butterworth1326]

The best thing to do is buy individual cards of players or brands you want. There a great thrill of breaking a hobby box but after $100 (average) for a box to get some no name rookies and a high numbered jersey card. I don't think it's worth it.

I would highly recommend finding a player/s or a team/s that you really like and collect for those, ie. the super collector route. Or you can just buy cards of stars, hof'ers, specific position, or anything. The more broad you are with your collection, the less bored you can get. That's just my 2 cents and happy collecting!

I super collect one player. All my other cards I use to get cards of him. If its a great deal, ill buy players on the same team.

[ugameck]

If you like a player - buy his stuff.
Like a team - buy their stuff.
Like a college - buy their stuff.

I swear, since this is a message board, that I sound like a sarcastic jerk - but that's not my tone here.

Collect what you want!! No box will help you fill any void if you want to pull a specific team/player. But - busting boxes is fun. It's like scratching a $100 lottery ticket hoping to get $50 back....but that false hope that you might get $200!!

[Jaelae]

Thanks. Now when looking for specific teams / players. What are some of the better brands / series to look at? Topps Finest, what else? There are a number of them but rather then buy EVERY one of a specific player I might want to stick to a few better quality ones - and for rookies one's that are more likely to have a higher value.

[phinzphan1372]

I would say just start buying what ya like!.... dont do it for profit ( like ya said) and ya wont have to worry about losing money... that makes it more fun! eventually you will find somthing you rreally like.

I started just collecting everything (mostly phins) then I started collecting just phins and buying non-phin stuff that catches my eye .... or sometimes I see somthing from a player I liked growing up and will buy that!


Now I just concentrate on ALL phins stuff! mostly daniel thomas. (and for some reason I keep buying Brandon marshall stuff!) and the occaisional HOF auto

[butterworth1326]

Yeah, see what brands are more appealing to you. Last year I did buy 1 box of panini prizm because I thought they looked good. I haven't bought anything outside the dolphins and my PC this year. Btw if you collect dolphins, there's a lot of dolphin fans on here lol!

[420ramsfan]

1st of all, welcome. its hard to say which brand/product is good or my favorite because they change from year to year. i think finest is a good start they are more or less consistent with price and design. my advice is go on the beckett marketplace or any selling site that shows photos of cards. that will give ya an idea on looks/price etc. have fun!

[phinzphan1372]

Btw if you collect dolphins, there's a lot of dolphin fans on here lol!

For real?... thats good to know hehe

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Yeah, see what brands are more appealing to you.

I personally always liked Certified as well as Topps chrome

But mostly just buy singles now..... Its gotten to the point where I would rather spend the 100$ + on singles I want than (as someone said previously) play the lottery and end up with 4 crappy hits that are worth a total of 15-25$ .... I wont say its not fun to rip wax and I will do a box or 2 of certified and chrome.

I know alot of people do not like on-line group breaks but I have gotten in a few and have had some pretty good luck gettin hits wihout spending a ton of $ !

Check out comc.com you can see almost every product with an idead of price ranges

[jplarson]

Check out comc.com you can see almost every product with an idead of price ranges

+1 to that

Also I'm a big fan of Topps Finest. It was a premium brand when I was younger and harder for me to get at so it holds a special nostalgic appeal to me. It still has a great design and sensible chase cards make it fun to collect still.

Welcome to the boards!

[Jaelae]

Well I got my first Topps Finest deck - Exciting stuff!

Got some great cards of players I follow including a sweet Eddie Lacy auto / patch card.