New Collector

[demersview]

Hey guys,
So I am 32 years old and my Old man just sold his house and made me come pick up all my stuff from his house from when I was a kid and of course there was boxes and boxes of hockey cards which at the time I thought when I'm an adult they will be worth money!! Oh how wrong I was!!
In my stash I had:
Andy Moog RC
Bobby Orr (which actually has value)
Teemu Selanne RC
Sundin RC
Jagr RC
Amonte RC
Etc ....
The list goes on of all the 80-90s stars RCs I have found!! So here is my question:

What is the best way to collect now a days?? The higher quality packs are outrageously priced so I thought maybe I can start buying singles on eBay all rookie cards but I only buy graded cards so I know they are authentic. So I am looking for some insight here folks,plz help!

Thx,
Todd

[87sluggo]

Dahhhhhhh..... where to start..........

What rookies are you collecting that you need to worry about authenticity? Gretzky? Roy? Lemieux? 50's and 60's stuff? The rookies of today are plentiful enough that you don't really need to worry about graded copies, unless you need a 9.5 or Gem 10.......

Personally, I mainly buy singles off eBay, I also buy from the members here in the trade forums and every now and then somebody will want something of mine and we'll do an actual trade. The only way I can get trade bait is by either cracking boxes or buying lots. You don't have to buy an insane $200-300-450 box to get good hits, sometimes you'll get veryyyy decent cards from a box of Limited or Titanium or SP Authentic or even plain old Upper Deck

[pwaldo]

Find something you like and then basically go after it. Stuff now on eBay is very cheap if you can have the patience to wait and unless you are looking for vintage, some amazing patch card, or a few brands of autographs you shouldn't have to worry about authentication on modern stuff. The only reason you'd go after graded stuff would be for the condition but most modern stuff is already near mint or better so it isn't necessary.

[Gallinator]

Welcome BACK to the hobby! I can't remember the last time I bought a graded card that wasn't already priced within my comfort zone for an ungraded version, so I don't know that you should worry about that aspect.

Pick a player or two (or team) that you like and start buying them. If you like to break unopened product and aren't looking to resell right away, wait for a while - or even check on older boxes and see what attracts you there. Go on YouTube and watch a few box or case breaks to see what comes out of a product.

There are a lot of different ways to approach this hobby...I find myself still in the "buy it all" phase that I've always enjoyed, but sooner or later I think I will be concentrating solely on a few players. Take a stab at a few things until you find an avenue you really enjoy - then dive deeper and flesh it out. Remember, if you're not having fun, take a step back to reassess things.