[soey10]

This will be my son's first Christmas he is 7 Months old and I bought him a box of 2016 Bowman Draft to keep tucked away until he is old enough to open them up for his collection. I plan on buying a box for him every year for Christmas and for his birthday so that by the time he is around 8 years old he can have an established collection. I was wondering if anyone else is currently doing this and if there are any suggestions on best practices?

[cspen]

What I started doing for my son was to buy a sealed Topps Factory Set every year. He was born in 1994 so I now have 23 of them. This year's factory set is the Topps 65th anniversary set which are only available from Topps' web site.

[elberson]

I did the same for my daughter (2015) and sons (1996 and 1999), Birth year sets. I also did a regular topps run for my sons. One card for each year 1952-now. It's really cool to look back in time. Every year I put a new topps card in it for them, there 20 and 17 years old now, so when they get to 30 or so, I'll give them there albums and let them continue the fun

[kerryandbeth]

I like the ideas above. When my son was 14, I asked him to join me in the hobby. He looked at me like I had horns growing out of my head. Now he is 24 and I still collect alone. Good luck to the rest of you!

[soey10]

I did the same for my daughter (2015) and sons (1996 and 1999), Birth year sets. I also did a regular topps run for my sons. One card for each year 1952-now. It's really cool to look back in time. Every year I put a new topps card in it for them, there 20 and 17 years old now, so when they get to 30 or so, I'll give them there albums and let them continue the fun

That is a good idea, sounds like fun. Do your sons collect cards?

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I like the ideas above. When my son was 14, I asked him to join me in the hobby. He looked at me like I had horns growing out of my head. Now he is 24 and I still collect alone. Good luck to the rest of you!

That is very sad... My brother and I grew up collecting together and then he stopped collecting and it is just me by myself. Nobody to share my collection with, that is why I am banking on my son collecting cards. Hopefully if I introduce him to the hobby at an early age I can get him into it.

[bengalsandreds]

I gave my son a Topps factory set on his first Chistmas too, 2012. (I still need to get one for my daughter, 2015, but second kid always gets behind lol. I'll do it here soon) I never thought to get one each year, I like the idea. I wish my parents would have got me one for my first Christmas, 1982. Ripken RC! And like a lot of you guys, I collect alone. I show my son some cards hoping he will in a few years join me, but if he doesn't, that's ok. He and his sister will just have to deal with my entire collection all at once when I hand them down.

[oneofakindcards]

The Topps set is the standard. Pre-rookies, in my opinion, aren't normally the best way to get others into collecting; stashing away boxes of draft is kind of a hedge bet for yourself if he decides not to go into collecting, assuming Draft retains value!

[DrMitchJ]

My main concern and valid reason for dissuading you from your plan can be summed up in two words .... Redemption cards.
There is a better than good chance that there are redemption cards that will expire before your son ever opens the box. The odds of prospects that fail : prospects that succeed is like 100:1. Imagine getting your only good hit in the box, and it's an expired redemption card.

Personally, I'd start him off with Topps complete sets ... They have some cool special 'inserts' as well as some exclusive rookie cards / star cards included. I think it's a safer long term purchase.

Or better yet ... Pick him up one really nice low numbered auto and/or relic card every year of an established current star. A nice Trout card now will be really cool for him to open up 10-12 years from now.
Bryant, Harper, Trout, etc will probably still be playing and might be Cooperstown-bound when your son is 12 years old. If you really want to get him into the hobby, do you think opening a box of failed prospects will spark an interest ... Or perhaps a few very cool, very valuable rare cards of viable superstar players will do the trick?

[kerryandbeth]

My main concern and valid reason for dissuading you from your plan can be summed up in two words .... Redemption cards.
There is a better than good chance that there are redemption cards that will expire before your son ever opens the box. The odds of prospects that fail : prospects that succeed is like 100:1. Imagine getting your only good hit in the box, and it's an expired redemption card.

Personally, I'd start him off with Topps complete sets ... They have some cool special 'inserts' as well as some exclusive rookie cards / star cards included. I think it's a safer long term purchase.

Or better yet ... Pick him up one really nice low numbered auto and/or relic card every year of an established current star. A nice Trout card now will be really cool for him to open up 10-12 years from now.
Bryant, Harper, Trout, etc will probably still be playing and might be Cooperstown-bound when your son is 12 years old. If you really want to get him into the hobby, do you think opening a box of failed prospects will spark an interest ... Or perhaps a few very cool, very valuable rare cards of viable superstar players will do the trick?

That is some decent advice, even from a Yankee fan...LOL. Seriously, I like this idea better than factory sets with tons of commons nobody cares about in less than 5 years.

[the cardboard fan]

Yes I would just buy one nice RC of a HOFer or a on card HOFer auto for him each year personally