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Posted by: TrueSkinsFan Jul 5 2013, 03:42 PM

Hello all!

Im getting back into collecting both for fun and for profit. Its been a long time since ive been active, and i've got alot of questions. I would appreciate any help you can offer, and please forgive my seeming ignorance.

First off, what is the best way to organize the cards? By team? By rookie cards? I know a lot collectors do very segregated by card company, year, etc.

By extension of the last question - what is more valuable... A complete years set, one company? Or single individuals rookie card or autograph?

Does a printed autograph have any value difference than a hand signed one?

What does it mean to break a box?

More questions to follow, and thanks for any help. Oh, and please break it down for me and explain amy abbreviations or trade- talk you might use PLEASE! I'm learning.

THANKS!

Posted by: droubaysports Jul 5 2013, 04:45 PM

Posted by: aceecards Jul 5 2013, 06:37 PM

welcome aboard.

first off.. welcome back to collecting . Remember it is a hobby and designed to be fun and leisurely.

If you are in it for profit.. well that is a pretty bleak prospect!

Organizing your cards. Do you want to be a set builder? are you going to put inserts autos gu in top loaders? The best way to organize I found is binders with pages for sets and 4 row indestructo boxes for toploaded cards!

Again more valuable is a rhetorical redundant question. I like sets. Don't really care what they are worth, just like the feeling of accomplishment, plus they are fun to look at especially Topps Allen and Ginter.

A set unless it is an assembly of a limited number parallel set (like some set of cards#/25) is not going to carry the value of an auto or GU in most cases of a high end player or hot young rookie!

Printed autograph?? not sure I understand the question but a preprinted facsimilie auto on a card is worth nothing more than the value of the base card. I will repeat the advice above.

On card auto carries a lot of wight with certain collectors
Cut autos of deceased folks also carry a lot of weight/value
Sticker autos continue to decline in popularity but continue to be widely used by the OEM's to avoid redemptions!

Break a box.. Go to a Hobby store , break out a Ben Franklin ($100) or more and rip into a box to get the guaranteed hits the box advertises. In Panini products that would be on average 4 hits (3 GU and 1 auto) Topps sometimes only has 1 auto for your trouble, Upper deck varies by product depending on price point!

For example Panini has a new football product released last week called Prestige, which has all the new draft picks and GU and autos of veterans and draft picks, with plenty of inserts and parallels (or shinys as some folks call them) Bust away for a Ben Franklin, you will have fun and get a nice selection of cards towards a set as well as some potential profit should you pull some RGB/Andrew Luck stuff or a nice low numbered Geno Smith auto or insert. Or you might get hosed and get far less in return than what you spent but you had fun!

Posted by: TrueSkinsFan Jul 5 2013, 06:47 PM

Thanks! I dont understand some of the terms you used.

GU?
hit?
Parallel?
Inserts?
OEM?

Posted by: aceecards Jul 5 2013, 08:52 PM

gu= game used they inbed pieces of jersets, bats, sticks, gloves, hats etc into cards

hit= auto or GU

Parallel a limited # serial numbered version of a base card

inserts = special cards outside the base set much more limited than a base set

OEM = Topps, Upper Deck Panini ( the manufacturers of cards)

Posted by: aceecards Jul 5 2013, 08:53 PM

click on m y bucket link and take a browse at what trading cards have evolved to!

Posted by: captkirk42 Jul 6 2013, 01:25 AM

RE: Organization. Since it sounds like you intend to collect AND sell/trade you will need to have your cards in two separate catagories. The ones you plan on keeping as part of your collection or PC (Personal Collection) you can organize any which way you please. It will also depend on if you become a player/team collector or a "set" collector. There are some folks like me who are a strange combination. If you decide to concentrate on only one or two players (to 'SUPER' Collect) then organize by player that will probably drift partly into collecting the team that individual player plays for so you may have a "favorite" team If you plan on concentrating on "set" collecting then dividing your cards by sets and years would be the way to go.

For cards you plan on selling I see two ways of doing that either by organizing by sets which could be tedious when your stock gets larger, and organizing by team. It will probably be best to try different methods at first and then pick the one that seems to work best for you.

RE: Value a Tricky creature, it partly depends on years/eras, but in general Modern Topps seem to be the best bet, and for vintage depending on years Bowman. Usually Individual cards are more valuable than full sets. some of the values are outrageous. Some key super Rookies (Micheal Jordan, Walter Payton, Cal Ripken Jr, Mickey Mantle etc...) tend to be more valuable than say an A-Rod Auto.

RE: Autos printed vs hand signed? Do you mean facsimile autographs? Like during the 60s/70s? The ones that are pre-printed when the card is made? Hand signed is more valuable by a long shot. Any card that the player actually signed vs the "signature" being printed by machine is way more valuable. Now-a-days the "auto" cards come in two basic types. The "on-card" and the "on-sticker" those should be self explanatory. On-Card is cards the player signed on the card surface itself, and the On-sticker the player signed a clear sticker that is then placed on the card. Cards that are "Short Printed" (meaning not as many made as the standard amount whatever that is) and serial numbered cards of a specific limit /1000, /100, /50 etc... are more valuable than cards made in the thousands and thousands. Research the overproduction years of the mid 1980s to mid 1990s often called the "junk wax" era to get sick to the stomach about dozens of card companies making dozens of sets a year (sort of like now) and 100s of thousands of just one card.

RE:Break a box Open a sealed box of cards and open all the packs. Many people join in on "group box breaks" where about a dozen people pool their money together, sending it to a "host" the person who actually purchases the box to be opened. The host then at an announced time opens the box live using a video streaming website (usually recording as s/he goes along) so that all who have paid into the break can get a chance to see the cards as they are "pulled" (taken out of the packs)

Posted by: TrueSkinsFan Jul 6 2013, 08:02 AM

Wow, thanks CaptKirk - that added some great new tips. And thanks to everyone. Im in the process of organizing my starter collection now, and will figure out where to go after that.