Any Golden Rules?

[Falcon1234]

I am new to collecting - I retired early and ran by some of the "New"" cards by mistake and I was hooked!

I know that there probably isn't but are there any rules for collecting - Such as which card company or time of year that is best to buy a certain series.

i would like to buy one series for each sport per year selling the high ends and collecting the base to sell as a complete set eventually! I really only keep any that I come across from the 70's (not so much for value than nostalgia).

I have done some research, let me know if I am on the right track.

Baseball - Bowman always seems to do well
Basketball and Football seem to be run by Panini
Hockey by Upper Deck (Although I am not sure if the Canadian and American cards are the same?)

Any Notes?
Thanks

[pwaldo]

If you are looking for the best bargains or to buy cards when they are lower to save some money wait till the off season. So let's say you are looking for a hockey card if you buy during the season you are basically paying full retail. During the off season you should be able to pick up the same hockey card for 10-25% off. The only time that doesn't apply is if the guy/team wins the Stanley Cup, a player dies in the off season, or they get traded to a more popular team.

[Falcon1234]

Good Point - Thanks - Keep up the ideas.

Also I noticed the sites and stores in the US have sales on the holidays on card packs and boxes if you can wait and save up in advance.

We do not have the same sales here in Canada - We pay retail pretty much all year long! I have ordered from the US but only big orders. Shipping, brokerage fees, taxes and the exchange make boxes too expensive unless it is a large order

[JWinn]

My advice is to be selective on what you buy.

You'll find that players now have thousands of autos every year, especially rookies. In football, almost every rookie has an autographed card, and usually with several parallels. In addition, they often have autographed insert cards. A top rookie can have up to a dozen different autographed cards in just one product. More when you count the parallels.

And there's like 30 products in football alone just from Panini. Every year.

If you like a specific player, you might want to try to collect all versions of just one card, called a Rainbow.

Or maybe focus on On The Card auto cards. So many today are autographed stickers attached to cards. Not really autographed cards. That's become the norm for the hobby, but there are still OTC cards for most players.

Just narrow your focus, so you don't waste money adding stuff you really don't want into your collection.

[pwaldo]

Good Point - Thanks - Keep up the ideas.

Also I noticed the sites and stores in the US have sales on the holidays on card packs and boxes if you can wait and save up in advance.

We do not have the same sales here in Canada - We pay retail pretty much all year long! I have ordered from the US but only big orders. Shipping, brokerage fees, taxes and the exchange make boxes too expensive unless it is a large order

Yes Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving in the US) the sites will usually discount some good boxes and cases but they usually go real quick and you have to get up real early to have a chance at them. Not really worth the effort in my opinion but if you want good deals sometimes you have to make sacrifices.

[althib]

Baseball - Bowman always seems to do well
Basketball and Football seem to be run by Panini
Hockey by Upper Deck (Although I am not sure if the Canadian and American cards are the same?)

Any Notes?
Thanks

Exclusive contracts.

NHL has sold exclusive rights to Upper Deck and MLB to Topps. Anything new and licensed is derived from Upper Deck. O-Pee-Chee is now an Upper Deck brand . Most of them are the same everywhere, but there are some cards produced for specific markets, such as Hockey Card Day in Canada/America or the Tim Hortons / Canadian Tire sets sold in Canada only. Personally, I grown up with OPC/Topps and I am not much of an Upper Deck high-glossy card fan. Upper Deck packs cost a lot and the worthless base set is too large and there's too many subsets / short prints. I prefer the older cards.

[althib]

As someone said: buy what you like and like what you buy. It is probably one of the most important golden rule.