[texjagman]

OK, I've been out of collecting cards now for about 8-10 years. I have a fairly specialized football collection that consists of RC's only on primarily hall of fame members...plus some other stars I really like. And like any other collector I also speculated on new players I thought might make the hall some day...trying to get their cards early in their careers before the prices skyrocketed.

So my confusion is this, in more current years where more than one RC was available, I always bought what I felt was the best card.....no signatures, no markings. Like for Peyton Manning it was his SP Authentic card. But in today's market, it appears the cards classified as a players "best" card are all autographs and jersey cards. If I want to stay true to my RC only collection of a player's best card (s) does this mean I should now introduce jersey cards and autographs?

For instance, if you were going to speculate and wanted Jimmy Clausen's best RC card for my type collection, or say Adrian Peterson's....which card would you say best fits. I can't figure out a good place to begin with today's offerings.

thx for the help for an oldtimer

[soccerscrub]

SP Authentic and Contenders RC tickets are pretty good bets (if you are talking about what most people thing) They are autos too...

[superynaldo]

it's way too confusing these days with each player having 40+ so called RC'S... you want the honest answer??? collect whatever you LIKE... don't get hung up on the so called "BEST" of the newer cards... as you will soon see, most of them plummet after the hype surrounding the new players anyway... talk to some of them members on here and see the examples of losing theirs asses on so called HOT and BEST cards...

[soccerscrub]

it's way too confusing these days with each player having 40+ so called RC'S... you want the honest answer??? collect whatever you LIKE... don't get hung up on the so called "BEST" of the newer cards... as you will soon see, most of them plummet after the hype surrounding the new players anyway... talk to some of them members on here and see the examples of losing theirs asses on so called HOT and BEST cards...

At the end of the day, that is what matters! Collect the cards that you like.

[CowboysFanatic]

You can always get the patch/autos of the RC you want and get the best of 3 worlds. Back then(80's-mid 90's) very special inserts and RC were the in demand cards. I got a ton of em myself, not worth much of nothing but i like em and they are a memory of me youngun days.

Now its just wild and crazy the stuff im seeing, a whole new world really. Its fascinating all the different types of parallels and autos in the hobby now, but alot more rare and higher value.

I think RC's have kept the most needed title for the most part, but on a whole new level. The best ones are gonna cost you your average fellers budget on a single card depending on who your collecting. The regular base rookies are not expensive at all, but if you want a National Treasures or Exquisite #'d to 10 or less rookie patch auto of say someone like Cam Newton or any of the big named guys, be prepared to break the bank lol

[ginge01]

For instance, if you were going to speculate and wanted Jimmy Clausen's best RC card for my type collection, or say Adrian Peterson's....which card would you say best fits. I can't figure out a good place to begin with today's offerings.

thx for the help for an oldtimer

If you are collecting RC's prior to 2010, you can pick from Topps, Upper Deck and Playoff(no Panini), they all had NFL licenses.

So SP Authentic & Playoff Contenders, good choices for RC's, will hold their value better than others, but as other collectors have said, most lose some value down to a value where they will settle. Adrian Peterson will still be a high priced RC.

2010 was when Upper Deck lost it's NFL license, so buying a 'RC' of theirs, the player will be in a college uniform, no NFL uniforms can be shown on their products.

So you have to look at Panini products or Topps products, it is common now that the auto or swatch or auto swatch card is bif, so along with Contenders, there are cards like Topps Triple Threads, Panini National Treasures.
The lowest priced RC's can be bought from the basic Topps or Score. Not everyone's favorite, but it is considered a True RC, not to be confused with so many parallels or inserts that claim to be RC's.

It's a little confusing today, made harder by Topps who stamp every Cam Newton card as RC, so collectors will count the base card as a true RC. That always fires up a discussion in the forum as the card companies deliberately confuse collectors like this, their job is to move their product so they don't seem as concerned with keeping it as 'pure' as collectors would like it to be.

My two cents

[adidasking417]

I'd say if you like the card, go ahead and pick it up. In my opinion for the newer rookies (auto/patch generation), that's the way to go. I never pick up any base cards even if they're a true 1/1. Just don't see the point, i'd much rather have at least the auto or patch. If you go my route though, be careful what cards you get, there's A LOT of scammers out there selling fake autos and patches. So if you find a card you like and are debating on picking it up, you might post it on here first to get a general consensus on everyone's real or fake thoughts. Anyway, hope this helps! Good luck in your card hunting!

[nthnoak]

Dude you are going to spend a ton of money now days on a players "best" rc card. While some people are saying sp authentic and contenders there is still one product that tops those and it is exquisite. But they are not cheap by any means. Try getting an exquisite AP or Bradford. It will cost you a ton more than a contenders AP or Bradford. Good Luck

[pbean]

it's way too confusing these days with each player having 40+ so called RC'S... you want the honest answer??? collect whatever you LIKE... don't get hung up on the so called "BEST" of the newer cards... as you will soon see, most of them plummet after the hype surrounding the new players anyway... talk to some of them members on here and see the examples of losing theirs asses on so called HOT and BEST cards...

EXACHARY !!!

well said

[fishtaco02]

Hey i was the same way man, didn't know that everything nowadays was about GU/autos. I've had to adjust my collecting (especially to get some trades going in here) but it is what it is.