[cashiert]

Hello Everyone,

My name is Trav and I am new to the forums. I am thinking about collecting sports cards in particular football and maybe a few packs of basketball cards here and there.

I googled and read a GREAT article that was posted on the forums in 2012. http://www.beckett.com/forums/thread-147...age-2.html

Since that it's been a few years I wanted to know what were some good packs (brands) to concentrate on? I am going to try to get rookie cards and which packs are the ones with the jersey's? How do sets work?

I am purely going to be collecting and keeping them for the next 15-20 years or so. Maybe down the road they will be worth something if I land a good card if not then oh well! I just want a new hobby and figure this would be a fun one for me.

Thank you for your time and help I appreciate it. Have a good day!

-T

[jaderock]

Welcome to the forums Trav.

Collecting should be a personal choice and one that is not swayed by others. However, in the end, the only guideline you should follow is: collect what YOU like/enjoy and ALWAYS collect WITHIN your means.

A couple of suggestions:

1. Avoid packs and boxes unless you have deep pockets. Rarely do you get back what you spend.

2. Buy singles - specifically cards YOU like (for whatever reason)

[jplarson]

A collection can get out of hand pretty quick chasing all the different releases out there. I've always enjoyed opening a couple hobby boxes of a product, then using trading and buying singles to finish off sets.

Welcome to the forums Trav.

Collecting should be a personal choice and one that is not stayed by others. However, in the end, the only guideline you should follow is: collect what YOU like/enjoy and ALWAYS collect WITHIN your means.

A couple of suggestions:

1. Avoid packs and boxes unless you have deep pockets. Rarely do you get back what you spend.

2. Buy singles - specifically cards YOU like (for whatever reason)

Completely agree though there's something irresistible to busting packs

[melcmd]

Welcome.

The best advice I can offer is to collect what you like, don't try to collect everything out there, especially if you don't care for a product (the card companies hope you do chase everything) and don't worry about what other people think about your collection. As long as you are enjoying what you are doing, it will be fun. Once it becomes a chore, then it's no longer worth the trouble.

I started out buying packs with my sons, then moved to boxes and later cases. I have been a player and team collector to a set builder. Now I just buy what I like and on occasion will open a box of cards. I prefer letting other people do the heavy lifting with boxes and cases now and I just get the singles.

[phinzphan1372]

Welcome to the forums..... Go with singles!!!! ya get what ya want and have a better chance of not losing your shirt on a box with crap hits, points and redemptions ..... just my opinion

[bojesphob]

I agree with those above. I'll also add that you need to have a focus. What I mean by that is that you need to find the one (or 2 or 5) thing(s) that you enjoy, and stick with them. Now, I am a bit ADD with my collection. I team collect Packers (try to get whatever I can), but I also collect Favre, Rodgers, Reggie White, and Jordy Nelson specifically. Then, on top of that, I collect Prizm more specifically. My order of collecting is I will try to find stuff for my Prizm collection first. Then, if it's been a while since I've gotten anything in that, then I'll try to find specifics for my main guys. If that's been a while, then I look for cheap base card lots that have stuff I don't have in my PC already for just about anything Packers. But, if I only focused on getting everything Packers, I would be overwhelmed from one year only. Just with Prizm from 2014, I have 355 different variations out of 400 total possible (and that's excluding the Rodgers autos from that set!), I can't even imagine trying to get all of the different versions for 50 different sets with those counts. Also, you will not collect very long if you don't have some sort of personal connection to your collection, so try to find a team/player/set/whatever that speaks to you personally.

[soccerscrub]

I have a slightly different opinion than most on here. I enjoy opening boxes and the random hit that you can get out of them. Just know that you don't generally get your money out of a box, but you are guaranteed to get the hit out of it. But if you do like a particular player, then I agree with most that just picking up the single cards when available is best and less expensive than chasing them in boxes.

[savagenate]

Welcome! The other guys covered most of the advice, so I'll just stick with hello lol

[jfrench91]

[quote='soccerscrub' pid='2633555' dateline='1465835088']
I have a slightly different opinion than most on here. I enjoy opening boxes and the random hit that you can get out of them. Just know that you don't generally get your money out of a box, but you are guaranteed to get the hit out of it. But if you do like a particular player, then I agree with most that just picking up the single cards when available is best and less expensive than chasing them in boxes.


also agree with this.. if you don't buy the random stuff then what will you have to trade away if you only buy stuff you collect? I'm an all around collector .. I collect Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Alex Smith, Derrick Morgan, Josh Hamilton, Terrell Owens and a few sets from 2015 National Treasures that wont break me lol. People go gun-ho for one thing for so long and it gets boring.. fast, then you wind up wanting to sell out or quit collecting entirely. Make it fun and not boring and you'll be ok.

[jonathani]

You need focus. I look for specific players, myself. There are countless ways to do this. You'll find the best way for you.