Sports Cards collecting?

[Thornes70]

Anyone collect sports cards? I recently thought it would be a fun thing to get into with my son, and have quickly amassed about a notebook & a half already, starting about a month ago. It's a lot of fun, and I've found some card prices that surprised me when I looked them up in the Becket's book.

Well, now that I have so many cards, I'm just curious how others organize their collections. Right now, I've got them in Ultra Pro sleeves in a D-ring notebook going by numbers, mainly just Topps and Upper Deck baseball cards.

Also, is there any opinion about what the better types of cards are to collect? There's literally so many of them that it seems pretty hard to keep up.

[ZoomZoom71]

I "tried" collecting them when I was younger. Never did much baseball, at the time. Just football and Star Wars. I still have 'em all, too. They're 25+ years old, in pretty good condition, I imagine. I never completed a set, or anything. If I could get $25 for all of it, I'd unload 'em.

[lovekeiiy]

I haven't done any collecting in almost twenty years. I just keep mine in a small wood box that's barely bigger then they are.

A lot of stuff like cards, books and what not, loose their appeal to me because so many people get into for the future value. The problem with that now is that so many people do it that when they plan to sell, there is going to plenty of them to go around and not be worth though hundreds or thousands people are thinking they're going to get. I just don't see demand being significantly more than supply. I'm sure the big players will be worth something, but not like a rookie Babe Ruth or something.

I remember back in the day, if you want to keep cards in value, you didn't take them out the package. Basically, they're was assumption they're might be something in there worth while, even though you may just have nothing but junk. I don't know if that's still true. I have buddy who collects hot wheels, and apparently the sku number on the case tells you exactly what cars are in the box, so baseball cards may be the same way.

As for what you're doing, sounds like a good idea thus far. I would just make sure plastic pages are stiff enough that the card do not bend easily; one, keep their value, two, keeps them readable a long time.

[Thornes70]

Well as far as money/value is concerned, I'm not expecting to pay for my son's tuition or anything LOL but it's pretty fun to sit down & check out the stats, extra sets, etc. with the boy - it adds a sort of cool visual for him and I gotta admit it's pretty neat watching a collection go from a few cards, then a few more, etc. I'm more into having something fun to do with my son, opening up the packs to see if we get that $15.00 Jeter card... Stuff like that.

On the 4th, we scored free tickets to the Mariners/Tigers game so I took my son to his first baseball game and he really got a kick out of it. We bought some team cards and I think that is when he really got excited about it. Plus nabbing an Ichiro card was pretty sweet for him, too.

The sheets I put the cards in are pretty nice - I bought some cheapos at first, then when I saw how much better these Ultra Pros are (acid-free, UV protection, yadda yadda), I switched. The do a good job of keeping the card protected.

Zoomy - there's gotta be a shop somewhere in Jax that would be happy to buy them cards up. I know the SW cards would probably go for a decent penny, and who knows - you might walk out with fifty or 75 bucks if you have enough. Hell, that's a good night out to dinner, or at least part of it.

[Wallace Suka]

I collect baseball cards. Ultra Pro items has to be replaced after 2 years or it will stick to your cards. I place mine in white 1000 count boxes. If you are collecting with your son, get the regular Upper Deck or Topps cards, basically series 2 for most of the current rookies cards. If you are going for value, try the $5-10 packs like SP Legendary Cuts or what I am currently collecting, which is 2008 Topps Moments and Milestone (189 regular set or 12,500 for the master set. I am going for the master set). Any autographs cards must be kept in a dark and dry place. Any kind of light will ruin it, blue autograph cards must be kept out of the light or it will fade faster. Price Guide wise, use Beckett. If you go to Beckett.com, sign up and you will get a free checklist to keep track of your collection.

[Thornes70]

I bought the 2008 Beckett Guide - I thought you had to pay at Beckett.com? I'll have to check that out.

So the Ultra Pro will eventually stick to cards? The boxes you use - are they just cardboard boxes? How do you keep them protected from scratches, fading, bending, etc? I thought the sheets were a pretty decent way to organize/protect the cards because they can be placed in a notebook (keeping them out of light & fingerprint-free), but I guess I'll have to read more up on that.

Right now, we're collecting the Topps 2007 & 2008 Opening Day cards, plus I bought a couple small boxes of mixed cards that have a pretty good mix of everything in them; just turned out the next largest group after Topps happened to be Upper Deck cards.

The Opening Day cards all have autographs, I assume you're not talking about that kind of autograph, though, because they seem to be printed into the picture...

I thought about checking out some Bowman cards because I remember them as a kid, but they seem kind of hard to come by, although I read they have the better Rookie Cards.

[Wallace Suka]

Originally Posted by Thornes70

So the Ultra Pro will eventually stick to cards? The boxes you use - are they just cardboard boxes? How do you keep them protected from scratches, fading, bending, etc? I thought the sheets were a pretty decent way to organize/protect the cards because they can be placed in a notebook (keeping them out of light & fingerprint-free), but I guess I'll have to read more up on that.

The Opening Day cards all have autographs, I assume you're not talking about that kind of autograph, though, because they seem to be printed into the picture...

I thought about checking out some Bowman cards because I remember them as a kid, but they seem kind of hard to come by, although I read they have the better Rookie Cards.

Yes, I use cardboard to keep complete sets safe, but I will check up on them every six months to give them some air in between. Also, if the box is not completely filled... I put some toploaders to close the gap so it will not slide away.

Opening Day has fake autographs based on the contract they sign with Topps. You will know what is the real autograph when you look at the back of the cards and it will congratulates you with a small sticker on the lower left hand side of the card with serial numbers on the sticker, if it belongs to Topps or in Upper Deck it will just congratulates you.

Bowman do have rookies, but more than 80 percent of them do not last that long or they will never make it to the majors.

For the Beckett.com, use this link. Member Registration

[Wallace Suka]

Forgot to show what real autogrpah cards are.
21288180101.jpg
The top on is from Upper Deck SP Legendary Cuts.
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This one is from Topps.

[Thornes70]

Sweet - just signed up. I thought I saw there was a fee or something for checking prices that's why I didn't sign up earlier.

That's good to know about the autographs & what they look like, thanks for the info.

So do you put the cards in any kind of sleeves or protective pouches?

[Crippler]

Man, I used to have TONS of baseball cards from the late 70's to the early 90's. I honestly have no idea where the hell they all are. I have a few rookie cards locked up that I know of. My main rookie card is a Michael Jordan mint condition card I had gotten in the day. That sucker is all mounted in some sort of card contraption I bought to keep it safe. I need to get it graded and certified yet.

[Wallace Suka]

Originally Posted by Thornes70

Sweet - just signed up. I thought I saw there was a fee or something for checking prices that's why I didn't sign up earlier.

That's good to know about the autographs & what they look like, thanks for the info.

So do you put the cards in any kind of sleeves or protective pouches?

My autographs and game-used cards are protected by either toploaders with a penny plastic or a snaptight. There is a fee to check on the prices, but you could get around it by making multiple collections checklist and use that as a guide for the price of the card or buy the book.

[Wallace Suka]

Originally Posted by Crippler

My main rookie card is a Michael Jordan mint condition card I had gotten in the day. That sucker is all mounted in some sort of card contraption I bought to keep it safe. I need to get it graded and certified yet.

Which rookie, there is two different ones. The Star 84-85 Jordan is the true rookie and there is the Fleer 86-87 rookie.

Thornes70, this is an example of game used.
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[Crippler]

Fleer 86-87

[Wallace Suka]

Originally Posted by Crippler

Fleer 86-87

That is the common Jordan rookie card. They are easily damage around the corner and edges. They value for $600 mint, graded is another story.

[Thornes70]

I've seen those game used sets for around $10.00 at Target, thought about picking up a few to check them out but I don't have any of them hard cases yet (those are toploaders?). I'm heading to the store this weekend, I'll probably grab one just for the heck of it.

...So, if I add my collection on Beckett.com, does it automatically add the list price? because that would be cool. I'm using MS Excel spreadsheet, then adding the hi/low price just to keep a good running tab.