Just started collecting again .. need some advice

[Teamxdmatt]

Hi everyone yes i'm a noob at this i just want to get some sort of guidance to go in the right direction on this.. I have a small collection here 87-91 fleer so far but im wanting to continue collecting all the years till the current year whatever that will be lol. which brands should i look at more to purchase? i dont have any graded cards i have everything stored by year in seperate binders which i hear is horrible to store cards in. i would appreciate any advice on what to do from here i just dont know which brands should i look at more for the better value. thanks and appreciate it

[Teamxdmatt]

anyone?

[whalechaser]

Hi everyone yes i'm a noob at this i just want to get some sort of guidance to go in the right direction on this.. I have a small collection here 87-91 fleer so far but im wanting to continue collecting all the years till the current year whatever that will be lol. which brands should i look at more to purchase? i dont have any graded cards i have everything stored by year in seperate binders which i hear is horrible to store cards in. i would appreciate any advice on what to do from here i just dont know which brands should i look at more for the better value. thanks and appreciate it

Really depends what type of cards you're looking for and your budget. If you're just looking to get one set from every year, the base Upper Deck/ Fleer (till 2000) / Topps / Skybox (till 2will give you large sets (meaning extensive roster), decent action photos for minimal cost. You can easily even find complete sets on ebay as well.

Popular base sets which retain value a little better might be cards from Topps Chrome, Topps Finest, Flair (96-97 to 04-05).

High End (expensive) base sets such as Exquisite & Ultimate are available as well and hold their value even better, especially exquisite.

For the most part, base cards are not too valued currently in the hobby. People are mainly into and put the most value rare 90's inserts, Game Used cards of superstars, Game Use Patch cards (beware of fakes), autograph cards, and low #'ed parallels.

Hope this gets you started in the right direction.

[Teamxdmatt]

Thanks for the help i appreciate it! i'd like to get some of the popular base sets you mentioned too is ebay the only place i can get anything from? i'd probably just get base sets from every year and then focus on the topps chrome, finest, flair etc sets. i notice some of the popular base sets go for a couple hundred dollars is this about right? i don't want to feel like i'm getting ripped off. the exquisite cards look to be way out of my range

[whalechaser]

Thanks for the help i appreciate it! i'd like to get some of the popular base sets you mentioned too is ebay the only place i can get anything from? i'd probably just get base sets from every year and then focus on the topps chrome, finest, flair etc sets. i notice some of the popular base sets go for a couple hundred dollars is this about right? i don't want to feel like i'm getting ripped off. the exquisite cards look to be way out of my range

Cheap base sets should not run you more than $20. . . Even more expensive base sets should not be couple hundred unless some sort of expensive RC (e.g. Topps Chrome Kobe) or some sort of special SP cards are included. But there are very few base sets that would command that type of money. So not sure which set you're looking at that would be a couple hundred.

You can get stuff from ebay, your local card shops or local card shows (if you're lucky). There is also a site checkoutmycards.com that have a lot of cards, but I don't like to use them personally, but many do.

If you're looking to buy boxes/cases to open the two most popular websites seems to be blowout cards & Dave & Adams Card world.

[Teamxdmatt]

it was an exquisite box that was a couple hundred dollars for it that must be why.. i know the 1997-97 topps chrome with the kobe rc is alot of $ for that set. ill prob never own that one lol. ive seen most topps chrome sets go for anywhere from 40 on up on ebay. there was one box i seen that was a 1996-97 upper deck ud3 box that was going for $130 on ebay.. i was just going through the years on ebay to see what was available.

i must thank you for the time you have spent guiding me in the right direction i greatly appreciate it

[whalechaser]

it was an exquisite box that was a couple hundred dollars for it that must be why.. i know the 1997-97 topps chrome with the kobe rc is alot of $ for that set. ill prob never own that one lol. ive seen most topps chrome sets go for anywhere from 40 on up on ebay. there was one box i seen that was a 1996-97 upper deck ud3 box that was going for $130 on ebay.. i was just going through the years on ebay to see what was available.

i must thank you for the time you have spent guiding me in the right direction i greatly appreciate it

No problem! Good luck with your search, have fun!