Coming back to the hobby - 37yo

[MN Hockey Guy]

Hey friends,

I wanted to introduce myself here. I have been lurking on the forum for a year or two as I began to consider picking up the card collecting hobby again. I know a lot of people my age (37) grew up collecting cards in the 80s and 90s, right around the time the market was pretty flooded; and are starting to relive their childhood. I still have all of those cards back home in Minnesota (I am in Denver now) and plan to pick them up at the end of the month when we drive home; I understand they aren't worth much and I don't really care about that, I want to use them to relearn how to be a good collector and be active in the community. Over the last couple years, I have been reading about what it means to be a modern collector and how things have changed... Wow, it seems like there is a lot to know. Definitely felt a little overwhelming, I had no concept of base sets, master sets, inserts, errors, alternates, etc... One piece of advice that I found to be helpful when starting back up was to identify some goals. I decided two things: I was going to grab a couple of jumbo packs at a Rockies game to see how it felt, and if I liked it, I was going to go for just completing the base set.

I ended up grabbing a couple Topps 2021 jumbo packs and I loved it. The excitement was like being a kid again. I jumped over to MLB.com and bought one of the retail boxes and continued having a blast opening the packs. That is pretty much where I am. I went to Beckett and downloaded the checklist to start cataloging and that brings me here. I am certain you all can point me to published resources to answer these questions but I wanted to engage here and see if I can get answers to some things I have been pondering as I start back down this path.

1. As I said, I am going for completing the Topps 2021 Base Set. What is the best method for trading my extras to fill the gaps in my base? Local shops, on the forum here, eBay?

2. I am reluctant to do the online trading because I am not sure what people want to see for shipping and all of that. If online trading is best, can you give me some shipping advice?

3. As a basic rule, is a 1 for 1 base set trade a good decision? I understand some cards like RCs, LLs, etc could be worth more later but when set building, is this a good strategy?

4. I decided I would most likely set the inserts, autos, relics, alternates, and other rarities aside and sell those individually to recoup some costs while set building. Should I rely on Beckett for pricing? Combination of what is visible on the market (eBay etc..) and Beckett? I will keep some of this stuff that I think is kind of cool, just to keep things interesting... Is this a strategy people are doing?

5. I know there is a fair bit out there about how to store your cards properly to protect them. What are base set collectors doing here? Just curious.

Super stoked to be involved again and happy to be in this forum. Like I said, it is a little overwhelming coming back in to the fold so I am hoping to make some connections here. Sorry for the dissertation.

Dustin

[BSEBALLCOMMISH75]

Greetings:
PM sent!!!!

[michigandan]

Welcome back ! Hopefully more members will chime in here, as there are several different answers to your questions. If you have any questions about the site, feel free to drop me or any other staff member a pm! Dan

[pwaldo]

Personally I think the hobby moves too quickly for Beckett and their pricing update. It isn't the fault of Beckett because nobody would be as fast as you would need to be in this day and age but seeing as how it is FREE and almost as good or better I would recommend using what a card sells for on eBay as the trading/selling/buying standard.

As for how to ship and how to properly store stuff I would imagine there are videos on Youtube that would go over this. Can't be sure because I have never checked but they seem to have everything else on there.