Where to start with collecting?

[TorontoFan]

I used to collect when I was a kid but gave it up during my teenage years. Flea Markets used to be packed with card sellers but unfortunately back then I didn't have the cash to collect like I wanted to. Sadly, I don't even have my cards anymore.

I hear there is a sports card specialty store in my city but I have no idea where it is except the part of town it's supposedly in (gonna have to drive around looking). There is a comic shop that I can pick up some packs but they don't have much selection.

Where do I really start? Getting some packs and trying to do a set? Or get certain players? What are the hot cards now? I hear a lot about jersey cards. When I was collecting way back when these cards were almost impossible to get.

I want to collect hockey and baseball. My budget for a month is $300. So that's $3600 a year. I don't get to travel around much so I wouldn't be able to get to sports card shows to pick up hard to find vintage rookies.

I'd love to get some replies here just laying down the basics for me again. It's been so long since collecting but I really want to start again. I remember spending hours each night going through and looking at my collection.

[OnePimpTiger]

Welcome back!! I went through the same thing a couple of years ago...I collected from 5-13, then quit 14-24, and now I'm back.

As far as what to collect, that's up to you man...everybody does something different. There are player collectors, team collectors, set builders, auto/GU collectors, investors, etc etc etc. And combinations of each...ie do players and set, collect players but only their GU/autos, etc. I found several players that I liked and collect them, then try to put 1 or 2 sets I really like each year together just for something else to do.

As far as where to start, the best thing to do is go for hobby boxes. Buying packs can be fun and will suffice if you're needing to just open something, but you greatly reduce your odds of the "hits" buying packs. If you buy hobby boxes, most of the time you're guaranteed something, whether it's 1 GU or 5 Autos. I learned pretty quick to avoid retail boxes and packs as much as possible, far less chance of getting anything good...

But most importantly, do whatever you want to do...it's a hobby, it's supposed to be fun, you're supposed to actually enjoy it! If you only want base cards of obscure players, go for it! It may be hard finding them or finding someone who will trade just base, but if that's what you want, that's all that matters. Being on sites like this, it's easy to get caught up in the #'d GU/Autos only and all that crap, but you can find people that will trade whatever it is you want to trade...

[TorontoFan]

What's the difference between a retail and hobby box? I buy my packs from a comic shop.

[OnePimpTiger]

In most cases...retail is what you would get at Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Target...general stores. Hobby is what you get at trading card shops (most comic shops would fall in this category). Hobby boxes generally cost more and have fewer cards/box, but they give you a better chance at getting #'d, RCs, GUs, Autos, etc.

Most hobby boxes will say Hobby on them somewhere. Also, most retail and hobby will have different configurations of packs/box and cards/pack (ie the hobby of a particular brand may have 10 packs/box, 5 cards/pack, while the retail could have 24 packs/box, 4 cards/pack...but the hobby give you much better chance of pulling a GU/auto).

If you're interested in a particular brand, but can't figure out which is hobby and which is retail, you can do some research on the web to find out which configuration the hobby box has and which is retail...that would help you tell them apart.

If you're shopping online, most will say if it is hobby or not. If it doesn't say, assume retail. On eBay, for example, some sellers will intentionally not say if the box is hobby or retail, because they have the retail, but want you to assume it's hobby (hobby costs more).

[TorontoFan]

Alright. My UD series 1 pack today had 8 cards in it. Not sure how many packs to the box but I pulled the jersey card.

I think I'm gonna go with putting together one base set a year (maybe for baseball too) and then getting my fave player GU and Autos like you do.

I'm in this more for fun than I am for profit. I actually have no idea where I would sell cards since I don't have a credit card to make an ebay account.

[OnePimpTiger]

Congrats on the jersey card! That's always a good start.

I would recommend keeping it for fun...when you try to make money of trading cards, that's when it quits being fun and you start getting frustrated. It's extremely hard to make money of cards...hard to even break even even.