Newbie Tips on Collecting from Europe?

[andy-500]

Hey guys, sorry if this is something you get a lot but I couldn't find much after searching the site - feel free to close it if you can direct me somewhere this has already been discussed.

I was over in Toronto on holiday recently, and picked up some hockey cards - and loved the buzz of opening the packs. Kept going back for more, after finding a cool little store. Also bought a nice Jersey/Auto Elias Lindholm card, which I now know as being an SP Authentic card.

After coming home, I've noticed how many cool cards you can get and wanted to start collecting on somewhat of a budget. So really, what I'm looking for is the best websites to get hobby boxes from Europe (UK), to avoid tax charges/high postage costs.

Also open to any tips on the hobby, or the best sets to get started on. Ideally with a decent number of packs per box, with the chance of catching the odd Auto or Jersey card - but not a high end product as I don't have the budget for that.

Thanks guys for any help. Hopefully be around here for a while.

[Ninjaflip]

Is it important for you to rip open the packs yourself? I mostly join group breaks, I have also gotten the ones breaking the boxes, to do a box only for me. Most of the breakers are happy to help!

[andy-500]

Is it important for you to rip open the packs yourself? I mostly join group breaks, I have also gotten the ones breaking the boxes, to do a box only for me. Most of the breakers are happy to help!

Ideally, yeah. But if it saves significant money I'd be happy to do that.

[andy-500]

No europeans on here at all that can help out with where they buy their hobby boxes? Or any more info on how much cheaper it is to get boxes busted for me and sent that way.

Won't bump again, sorry if I'm being a pain.

[sortguld]

In Sweden.

http://www.mncardscollectibles.se/
http://www.coolcard.se/

Swedish forum also in english

http://www.hockeykort.se/

/Patrik

[FrankToronto]

Very curious which shop in Toronto you checked out!

Tip #1: when visiting Toronto by way of Europe, do plan your trip accordingly to the Toronto Card Show schedule at www.TorontoCardShow.com :) (and say hello when you visit the show as we've had people from Europe and Australia and it's always a thrill for us!)

Now I wonder if COMC might be worth checking out and if you'd save on S&H to Europe after accumulating enough cards in your account?

[andy-500]

Thanks Sortguld for that one. Good to see there are options within the EU. As it turns out, I'm not sure how much cheaper it would be to do that - but it would be certain of no fees since it's within the EU, and would probably ship a lot quicker. Great option, thanks. I might yet buy from there.

In Toronto, I spotted from Hockey to Hollywood - next to a Tim Hortons a few blocks up from the Baseball stadium. Was a nice store - completely awesome to me, who gets nothing like that over here in the UK. Had loads of memorabilia too, and a lot of cool cards on show. As a Canes fan, the Ron Francis signed jersey was awesome - and they had a Jeff Skinner signed photo too.

Seemed an equal split on Hockey/Baseball. And the first day I went in, the guy on shift was very chatty and I had fun talking to him.

COMC looks cool, but probably for when I'm more into it I think. Definitely a good idea, and not a place I had checked out yet - so thanks. But I definitely want to bust some cases/packs for the fun just now.

I think my favourite looking sets just now are Series 1/2, SP Authentic and Black Diamond. I may look into older sets too.

The plan for now is to get a box of series 1/2 and/or continue building the set of MVP (the packs I bought in Canada) - since it's cheap and has a lot of packs. Will try some things out to see if I prefer set building for the fun of it, or looking for the nice cards - and tailoring my collection to who I like. A bit of both seems like a nice mix.

[FrankToronto]

Sounds like you were talking to Steve. He likes to chat. :)