where to begin?

[BigBen007]

Ok, I'm in this for the long haul after arguing with myself a thousand times on which direction I wanted to go. I need some opinions though. Would I be better to spend $500 on individual cards or $500 on boxes?

I haven't really collected since 1993 so my cards are out of date and what I do have is cheap junk so I'm basically starting over. I've figured out the players I'm willing to spend the dough on just not sure which would help me jump start. I figure if I by individuals I'm helping my PC but if I buy boxes I have the chance at MOJO and some trade bait or even the MOJO PC. Where did you guys begin and any thoughts/advice will be appreciated.

Thanks!

[sweedcollector]

well man, what ive learned is the safe bet is to just buy the cards individually. i mean dont get me wrong, its great to break boxes and i do it. but if you have $500 to start off, there is a great chance you could get 5 awful boxes and be starting with crap. i would say buy a few pc items, buy some nice traidbait (guys that people collect) and then with whatever you have left buy a box or two.. thats just my opinion though!

[MadMan1978]

500 on cards
that you will get what you want not a bunch of no name Au/GU you cant do anything with

[selby56]

I'd say spend half on PC, and half on Boxes. If you spend 250 on PC...you'll have a pretty decent collection going for yourself already depending on who it is you plan on collecting. And if you spend 250 on boxes, you should have at least a few decent cards to trade. If you already had some stuff up for trade, I'd go with spending all your money on PC cards, but since you don't have anything to trade yet, you might want to spend some of your money getting boxes so you can trade.

[blewis290]

Beckett had a nice article a few months back about the growing disparity between pack prices and the value of cards pulled from those packs. Busting a wax box is always exciting, but the odds are that you get a few mediocre hits that may sell for $5-10 from a box you paid $100 for. I'd be inclined for 1-2 boxes of mid-range stuff with 3-4 guaranteed hits and spend the rest on individual cards. Unless you are really itching to bust some 2008 products, 2007 or 2006 boxes can be purchased for pretty nice prices. Maybe some Playoff Prestige, Topps Chrome(only 1 hit but rookie cards hold value pretty well), or one of the mid-range Donruss products (Threads, Classics, Elite, Gridiron Gear).

[nirysh]

i would buy at least 2 mid-range boxes, and spend the rest on a PC. I have gotten real good hits out of the 2008 playoff prestige (mcfadden draft pick auto, and a mcfadden patch auto). I hope that this helps! Good luck!

[VRex78]

i found that after just doing box breaks for years that i am much happier buying on Ebay than breaking boxes. it is a great feeling to pull mojo but those are so rare. i might buy a box every other month but that's about it. otherwise i stick to trading, which is like opening a new box everyday at the mailbox, or buying cards i want/need.

[herdyrules]

I'd say surf Ebay and try to get some deals on nicer stuff to start on tradebait with. Maybe buy a few cards for yourself and a few for trade. I'd consider busting a box or 2 but nothing outrageous. Good luck on your quest.

[bearfield]

put it into PC cards for starters, that way your collection will have some value.
ask around and see how many people get out of a box what they paid for it. but be aware, some will lie, and say they got good stuff. its human nature, nobody wants to admit to being taken.

example--$500 spent carefully, you will have a $500 PC.
$500 on boxes--PC, probably not much, and at least $200 of stuff to trade, if somebody wants it.

good luck.

[pack9001]

I'm with a couple of the others here, split the money.

1. Buy a box of mid-end stuff that guarantees at least 3-4 hits. I actually like UD Trilogy from last year because for $150, you are guaranteed 3 #'d rookies (on nice acetate stock too - very cool looking cards), 3 GU'd/patches (I think at least one patch a box) and 3 autos. You may not get great hits every time, but that should take care of getting some tradebait and you may get lucky and hit something really nice.
2. Hit Ebay and look for guys selling tons of stuff (like at least 500 cards for sale) and pick up nice stuff from them (either PC or tradebait) because the bigger the seller, the better deal you can get, you save on shipping AND you're not sending 30 different PayPal payments.
3. Hit the Buying/Selling forums here. Some guys are looking to move top-end stuff at 50-60% BV, but you'll find a ton of other nice stuff here at 20-30% BV, especially lower to mid-end stuff.

Hope your collecting goes well and welcome back to the hobby!