Outline · [ Standard ] · Linear+ New to the Game, What is the best collection?

[Evolution]

Im new to sports collecting and to the sport in general. Next season will be my first full season to watch and I want to start collecting the cards aswell. Im in the UK and on the tv we see a lot of Americans collecting football cards. But there are so many different sets to choose from, so I am stuck on where to start.

Is there a general set where I should start, Im not that interested in memoribilia cards and the like, just the basic player cards.

also on the same US programs, we hear a lot of talk about Rookie cards and their values, now what is the general collection that people collect for the big rookie cards.

I hope that made sense, any help would be apprecited.

[bob_TCC]

Welcome to the Collector Zone and to collecting football cards!

Plus, it's good to see that we're taking on an International look already.

I'm sure there will be different views/suggestions on this, but here's some initial thoughts...

If you're looking to mainly build sets and learn more about the players and teams, I'd recommend staying with the "standard" or "base" products from each of the companies. For example, look at the Donruss, Score, Topps, Fleer Tradition, Fleer Ultra and Upper Deck brands. In general, these products are going to offer a larger number of base cards. Plus, you'll get RC cards as well.

When focusing on RC cards, brands like Bowman's Best, Finest, Fleer Hot Prospects, Leaf Rookies & Stars, SPX, Topps Chrome or UD Finite would generally be some of the better products. However, most - if not all - of the products will provide a chance at some decent RC cards.

By the way, almost all of the products will still provide some basic inserts including game-used and autograph cards.

Looking forward to others' input as well on this one.

-Bob

[Evolution]

thanks, i like the look of the Fleer Tradition set, im more interested in learning more about the game and building up a big base set, instead of a master set with the countless chase cards that are out there today. plus if they dont come out till July, ill have enough time to get some money together. i suppose that the set with 360 base cards will take some work to build, the biggest base set ive ever had was 120 cards!!!

[bob_TCC]

i suppose that the set with 360 base cards will take some work to build, the biggest base set ive ever had was 120 cards!!!

Boy, have times changed. When I started collecting, base sets were 792 cards for baseball. Now, less than half of that is viewed as "big".

By the way, I like the Fleer Tradition set as well.

-Bob

[Evolution]

do you have any guess on what the price would be for a hobby box of fleer tradition in the UK? because our prices are ridiculous compared to in the US. or for that matter, do you know anywhere to buy full boxes online that will ship to the UK as we dont have sports card shops over here.

[bob_TCC]

or for that matter, do you know anywhere to buy full boxes online that will ship to the UK as we dont have sports card shops over here.

Guess my first suggestion would be to use www.ebay.co.uk to search for what you're looking for and then see who the sellers are, where they are located and their shipping policies.

Maybe Jim (also from the UK) will add something here about where he gets cards.

By the way, glad to see a couple of you setting up blogs.

-Bob

[northicehero99]

As Bob pointed out Fleer Tradition is good for a base set and getting some RCs but the set is around 300 cards and I do not beleive you will be close to a set with one box. If you are not interested in the inserts and RCs as much you may want to try 2004 Fleer Platinum as you will get close to the 135 card base set in the box (at least this was my results out of two boxes I busted I had about 90% of a set on each and combined I had a full set out of two boxes). The price is reasonable at roughly $50 to $60 US and you get at least 1 shortprinted RC (#799 or less) and 1 game used per box. The game used and rookies do not book much though, as compared to the highend products. Also, as far as price goes you can get some prior year products cheaper than this year. I just purchased a box of 2002 Fleer Genuine football for $35 + $7 shipping on Ebay. Here again I pulled between 80-90% of the base set, 2 Rookie cards, and 4 game used cards so it was a good buy. You may want to consider a 2002 or 2003 product as the 2004 Football products are very hot products here in the US due to the good Rookie class and the boxes are harder to get and some have climbed in price.

For the rules of the game I would expect they would be listed at the NFL website of www.NFL.com.