I don’t know if it just started happening recently or if I just started noticing it recently but I’ve had a number of guys my age come into the shop looking to get back into collecting sports cards and memorabilia. Yes, you are reading this post pandemic and post pandemic sports card mania. Reengaged and new collectors are still popping out of the woodwork. I’ve even had a few old friends and former classmates stop in with questions and various levels of interest in getting back in the game.
Ironically enough, one of our customers who is an acquaintance of mine actually started coming after I started writing my series about the Leaf/Donruss Studio Baseball sets as it rekindled his love for that era. He’s now having us grab him each of those great 1990s and early 2000s sets. I must admit it’s pretty cool to see the worlds come together like that online and in person.
The idea of this particular piece is to speak to our readers as if they are someone who’s getting back into the hobby with some answers to some of the standard questions I often get.
One surefire way to enjoy your time in the hobby and what would be my first piece of advice is to collect what you like, plain and simple. Avoid the FOMO. Avoid the hottest and newest, the latest and greatest. Don’t feel like you have to chase what others are talking about. Whether it be your favorite teams, your favorite current players or favorite players from childhood, collect what you love if you’re truly in it to collect cards.
Many of the people I talk to want to reassemble some semblance of a collection they’ve had in the past or pick up cards and items of players they enjoyed watching as a kid, which totally makes sense.
Collect rookie cards, inserts, memorabilia, autographs and fun serial number cards of the players and teams you like. The good news is for most people my age to jump back into the hobby and collect what they had as kids is pretty darn cheap, considering I grew up in the junk era. Some collectors that come in are surprised that even the rookie cards of some of the most iconic players and Hall of Famers from our childhood go for pennies on the dollar, so you can definitely get back in the game and build a nice collection of things you enjoy for a nominal fee.
That’s not to say you can’t build a higher-end, elite collection of those same players because finding expensive items and spending money is definitely not hard to do in today’s collecting climate. If you’re looking to make a sizable investment in your walk down memory lane, grab graded cards of your favorite players in the highest grade you can afford. You probably wont be disappointed.
If you can, snag some of those often hard to find autographed, serial numbered and parallel cards of those same players. There is a huge selection even of guys that played decades ago. These bad boys hold value and are gaining traction even to this day.
If you’re looking really taking a walk down memory lane and buy packs and boxes from our childhood, well, that’s not all that expensive either, for the most part. You can get boxes and packs of a lot of the mass produced products for, again, a few bucks a pop.
Like with anything there are certain products that you’re going to pay more for and if you’re looking to make a dent in the collection and in your wallet we can make that happen, too.
If memorabilia is your thing the majority of autographs whether it be balls bats helmets or jerseys are also relatively cheap in the current market. For example, it still surprises people when I tell them how, in some instances, we can buy a Steve Largent autographed helmet cheaper than we can buy the helmet itself.
I think that tells you all you need to know about the current state of many of the widespread, mass produced autographs in the marketplace. Again, follow your heart and buy the item to hold on to it and cherish. If you are looking to resell autographed balls, helmets, jerseys, etc. at some crazy profit you will be pretty disappointed pretty quickly.
If you were collecting in the ’80s and ’90s but now you want to transition to modern day there will definitely be some sticker shock right off the bat and there’s no way around that. There are very few cheap packs and even fewer cheap boxes in any sport, so you’ll have to be prepared for the extra zeros on a lot of our price tags. Think of scratching a lottery ticket, hoping your favorite athlete is pictured under the dusty residue of the scratcher. That’s pretty much what we are doing now.
If you’re looking for the lottery ticket rip or trying to come into the store and get the pack of cards that you’ve heard about crazy products and valuable cards coming out of, you’re definitely going to have to pay to play. To be completely honest, if I’m talking to someone around my age who is looking to collect, the last thing I would tell them would be to buy high-end boxes and packs. It’s a rush, yes, but also such a crapshoot and so hit and miss. It’s hard for any collector to just walk in and grab a $3,000 box of cards to open for the sole idea of collecting.
If you do want to open current products in an effort to find some hits, find some mid-range products that offer some excitement, but don’t cost more than your mortgage. If you’re on a very modest budget, stick with lower cost products like Topps Heritage that aren’t built around hits, but offer some nostalgia and a bit of a set building challenge, along with the chance for an autograph or other hit.
Another suggestion I always offer is to simply buy the card you want. That’s not exactly some new piece of advice but it’s still as true as ever. Skip the high priced packs and boxes and just buy singles. If you grew up a Chipper Jones fan the odds of you opening a current or modern pack or box and getting the autographed card from that set are astronomically low. You’ll be far better off going on eBay or having us track down the card for a small fraction of the price of a pack or a box. But hey, if playing the lottery is your thing we definitely have a lot of tickets on the shelf.
There are a million and one ways to build a card collection and the beauty of it is that it’s unique to each individual collector. You can buy packs and boxes that are quite cheap or rather expensive. You can buy single cards that will break the bank or barely make a dent in your change jar. My bottom line piece of advice would be to collect what you love and what brings you joy. You can never go wrong. Enjoy the hobby the best way you see fit. After all, hobbies aren’t supposed to cause more stress.
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