Any Trading Cards guys? (Sports, etc) (3 Viewers)

[djmich]

So going through my old collection and I’ve never sent a card off to be graded before and a bit nervous about sending my better ones. I assume there aren’t ever opportunities to get cards graded locally by any of the major companies? Any suggestions on how best to do it to protect card and make sure it’s a painless process? My main gem is a Bob Gibson RC that’s in better condition than I remember. I’d be nervous as hell trying to get it in one of those flimsy card savers.

Assuming you are near Philly.
The Philly card show at the Oaks is in a few weeks.

Philly Show

phillyshow.com

I am sure the main 3 grading companies will be there accepting submissions but do not believe they offer same day grading and encapsulating.
BGS may offer a raw card review.
Not a bad idea. Sometimes (especially for new comers to the grading game) what you think will be a 7 or 8 is really a 3 or 4.
At the very least that can temper your expectations.

Personally
I would go
PSA
SGC
I wouldn't grade with BGS but the raw card thing could be an option and then you send your card off to whoever.

Dropping off at the show will at least alleviate your anxiety of shipping the card off your self.
PSA will probably cost you around $100, especially if you are just doing 1 card and that price may go up if the card grades higher.
You will get the card back in 30-50 days is my guess.

SGC
Will cost you about $20, regardless of the grade and you will have the card back in your hands within 7-10 days.

While i lean towards PSA and send stuff off to them often. You may be better served with SGC for this and the resale value would be comparable for vintage...some may say better.

Good luck!
If you need help with anything just ask.
I planned to go to the show but I think I will be out of the country. If I am in the country I will stop by for 1 day.
I went to the last one in Dec.

Great information, really appreciate it. I’m south of there now and won’t be at that show but is that common for shows to offer that option? Maybe I can find one closer by and go that route.

Its common but spaced out

https://www.psacard.com/events

This weekend in NYC and then next month drop off in Jersey City.

They also do card shop drop offs from time to time where they have a rep at the card store accepting submissions.
(instead of the card store sending it off for you)

They were recently in Collinswood NJ I believe.

If your end game is to preserve and sell down the road.
SGC may be a good option for you as you will get your cards back a lot quicker and cheaper.
Weeks instead of months for a fraction of the price.
Most people will swear by PSA for resale value but when it comes to vintage DGC is def in the discussion, if not preferred by some.

Interesting. I’ve got some that I’ve held back on grading in part because the pay a % of what the card grades at or is worth seems like such an over reach and harder to get payback on.

Yep
I don't believe SGC does that unless super high end cards i think.

I mean its not so much a % of what the card grades for as it is if it surpasses the threshold for insured value at the time you sent it in.
And they are not super stingy with it.
Cards i am sending in now have a $500 insured value. If one grades a 9/10 that causes the value to go to $575, they ''typically" let that slide.
But if it goes to say $800 they will bump the $19.99 fee to the next level at $59.99 (so you're paying $30 extra) if it now has a value of $1300 you go to the $74.99 level (an extra $55)
and all this is only for the card that exceeded the threshold...not the entire submission.

Sucks, seems like a money grab just because they can but people (who are reselling) love getting the upcharge cause it means their card is worth more.
If you are PCing...sucks to pay all that "perceived value" on something you plan to keep for 20 years or pass on to your kids

Yah, on an individual card basis, it sucks but works out ok if the card is worth a lot. When you send a bunch and 4 grade meh and one grades good, and you pay extra on the one that pays good...the value of the entire exercise can get diminished greatly. At least thats what it looked like when I did the math with PSA

 

[jvdesigns2002]

You’re doing things right. The hobby is supposed to be fun—but the investment potential is also an aspect that you are not ignoring. Wax prices have gotten so high that I don’t find myself ripping as much—but I do try to engage in things that involve the “fun” aspect of the hobby. One of the more under rated ones is set building. If you are ripping a decent amount of Prizm football—you might want to consider putting together a set.

what products do you see as the best for retaining long term value?

Honeslty, I’m more of a believer in buying/collecting the player rather than a product. For basketball and football—prizm tends to be the flagship product—but the production runs have been really high the past few years. They offer First off the line products, followed by hobby boxes, followed by various forms of retail products (blaster boxes, mega boxes, hanger packs…etc). Because of these higher production runs, I think that the true numbered parallels are a good way to hedge against that. (Like true blue, true gold—stay away from disco gold, or blue wave..etc). I also think that licensed products with on card autos are good for value retention. With football though—for value retention—you almost need a quarterback that you think will pan out to be very solid. The shorter careers of the position players makes them really hard to hold value in the long term. Look at a guy like AJ Green. He was an awesome WR for many years—but for the most part—his marketability in the hobby is nominal to non-existent. Personally—for modern value retention—the guys that I think are good are Shohei, the qb’s from 2018 (Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, and a few tiers below that—Baker mayfield). In basketball—I like guys that have international appeal—as their cards will be desired in at least two markets—so Shai, Luka, Jokic, Giannis…etc. Also-the safest route for value retention is vintage.

 

[Senor Schmutzig]

This is the one card I would love to have this year.

 

[jvdesigns2002]

This is the one card I would love to have this year.

It’s a cool card, but it is unlicensed by the NFL. It’s only licensed by the players and the players association. That’s why it only says “Chicago” but it doesn’t say the “Bears”. Normally thats not a good thing for long term value retention—but fanatics has been paying for exclusive rights for the autographs of desirable draft picks (Wemby, Caleb.etc) and that has made it so that if you want a rookie autograph from these players—you are forced to go unlicensed. It’s hard to predict how the market will value these cards in the long term.

 

[Senor Schmutzig]

This is the one card I would love to have this year.

It’s a cool card, but it is unlicensed by the NFL. It’s only licensed by the players and the players association. That’s why it only says “Chicago” but it doesn’t say the “Bears”. Normally thats not a good thing for long term value retention—but fanatics has been paying for exclusive rights for the autographs of desirable draft picks (Wemby, Caleb.etc) and that has made it so that if you want a rookie autograph from these players—you are forced to go unlicensed. It’s hard to predict how the market will value these cards in the long term.

I don’t care. Green Bay still sucks.

 

[comfortably numb]

This is the one card I would love to have this year.

It’s a cool card, but it is unlicensed by the NFL. It’s only licensed by the players and the players association. That’s why it only says “Chicago” but it doesn’t say the “Bears”. Normally thats not a good thing for long term value retention—but fanatics has been paying for exclusive rights for the autographs of desirable draft picks (Wemby, Caleb.etc) and that has made it so that if you want a rookie autograph from these players—you are forced to go unlicensed. It’s hard to predict how the market will value these cards in the long term.

Good points.
Non licensed stuff was always a bad word years ago...as was minor league or college stuff.
It's becoming more normalized now.
Will be interesting to see how they fare and if they fare well does that do anything to the older non licensed stuff most ignored.

 

[jvdesigns2002]

This is the one card I would love to have this year.

It’s a cool card, but it is unlicensed by the NFL. It’s only licensed by the players and the players association. That’s why it only says “Chicago” but it doesn’t say the “Bears”. Normally thats not a good thing for long term value retention—but fanatics has been paying for exclusive rights for the autographs of desirable draft picks (Wemby, Caleb.etc) and that has made it so that if you want a rookie autograph from these players—you are forced to go unlicensed. It’s hard to predict how the market will value these cards in the long term.

Good points.
Non licensed stuff was always a bad word years ago...as was minor league or college stuff.
It's becoming more normalized now.
Will be interesting to see how they fare and if they fare well does that do anything to the older non licensed stuff most ignored.

Definitely. I’ve believed for the past several years (and still do) that college stuff is vastly undervalued and could have major upside in the long term. The reason why I say that is for a few reasons: First of all—look at the production runs between collegiate stuff and the pro stuff. It is far less produced and the pop counts tend to be lower. Also—a lot of the patch autos are actually far more cosmetically appealing—and eyeball appeal does have impact on the value of cards.

Secondly—professional athletes change oro teams all of the time. Look at guys like Aaron Rodgers, Paul George, Juan Soto, Luka, Kat…etc. Most of them played for a single college (maybe two at max).

Lastly—lots of fans are very supportive of their universities. People still donate to the university they graduated from and they have a certain level of pride in their schools athletics after they graduate.

I agree that the question is out on unlicensed and collegiate stuff—but I personally am long term bullish on collegiate.

 

[Lehigh98]

We've (me - 48, son 1# - 18, son #2 - 16) been cycling on and off card collecting since they were little and they seem to be back on the upswing, at least son #2 who's been into Pokemon again and trying to get to stores for retail releases. We're planning on heading to the "Philly Show" this weekend which may end up being a bit of a mad house due to the Eagles Superbowl win and them going heavy on Eagles autograph guests after that. There will also be a PSA booth there so we may bring a couple of submissions for that too.

I've realized over this past upswing that I'm just wasting money buying blaster and mega boxes and should instead just use that money to buy the cards that I actually want. There are a few old school /memory lane ones I'm interested in and will keep an eye out for. For example, I started looking for a deal on a 1989 Bill Ripken FF PSA 10 before the pandemic and almost bought around $200 but then everything skyrocketed. Last year I turned down spending $500 thinking it would come down again and they're going for around $700 on eBay!

I'm now thinking of at least picking up some graded rookies while I'm walking around to give me something to do instead of just gawk at cards. Any suggestions for the big future stars to at least get a piece of? For example, I just picked up a PSA 10 Optic Wemby rookie for around $45 shipped (the night before he was ruled out for the season!) I'm kinda intrigued by the NHL Connors (McDavid and Bedard) and was looking at their UD Young Guns rookies. I haven't been following baseball too closely and those kids seem alot more volatile though. Thoughts on other players and specific (more affordible / non numbered) rookie cards to target?

 

[Fat Nick]

We've (me - 48, son 1# - 18, son #2 - 16) been cycling on and off card collecting since they were little and they seem to be back on the upswing, at least son #2 who's been into Pokemon again and trying to get to stores for retail releases. We're planning on heading to the "Philly Show" this weekend which may end up being a bit of a mad house due to the Eagles Superbowl win and them going heavy on Eagles autograph guests after that. There will also be a PSA booth there so we may bring a couple of submissions for that too.

I've realized over this past upswing that I'm just wasting money buying blaster and mega boxes and should instead just use that money to buy the cards that I actually want. There are a few old school /memory lane ones I'm interested in and will keep an eye out for. For example, I started looking for a deal on a 1989 Bill Ripken FF PSA 10 before the pandemic and almost bought around $200 but then everything skyrocketed. Last year I turned down spending $500 thinking it would come down again and they're going for around $700 on eBay!

I'm now thinking of at least picking up some graded rookies while I'm walking around to give me something to do instead of just gawk at cards. Any suggestions for the big future stars to at least get a piece of? For example, I just picked up a PSA 10 Optic Wemby rookie for around $45 shipped (the night before he was ruled out for the season!) I'm kinda intrigued by the NHL Connors (McDavid and Bedard) and was looking at their UD Young Guns rookies. I haven't been following baseball too closely and those kids seem alot more volatile though. Thoughts on other players and specific (more affordible / non numbered) rookie cards to target?

I was all set to go to the Philly show tomorrow, then fly down to Miami for a conference on Sunday...but now my wife hijacked my work trip as a defacto long weekend escape from the cold, so we're flying to Miami at 7 AM tomorrow morning, so no card show this time. I hit the Philly show almost every time, but I agree - this time is going to be a mad house with the Eagles being there. I'm not a big autograph guy, so honestly, that might have been enough reason to be OK missing it. It's generally a great show though.

I still buy blasters/megas...Only at retail pricing though. I won't pay the mark-up from the people who clean out Wal-Mart to make a buck. I've had decent luck online. They're memory-builders with my son honestly. We pulled an Orange Laser Prizm Jayden Daniels the other day and just both started screaming and jumping up and down. I also have a pack-pulled Connor Bedard Young Gun that I'll never sell b/c of the fun we had looking for it. If you're purely about the profit - I agree 100%. I might make money on every 5th box or so, but the other 4 are usually complete busts. The odds just aren't there.

I'm a big vintage collector at this point - and I've got enough that most new adds for my real vintage passion are 4-figure cards only. What that means is shows aren't as fun "searching" because it's hard to find what I like/need. I supplement by dabbling in modern stuff for flipping.

My $0.02 on what to look for - The big name rookies are already going to be priced in. Look at Connor Bedard and Wemby - their values have only gone down over the last few years. Same with C.J. Stroud. The "chase" player in most any product will be worth the most on release day, and go down from there...then maybe come back over the next few years. There's just way too much excitement priced in. What I do is buy in the off-season of the sport. Last summer, I bought 3 Lamar Jackson raw rookies (1 optic, 2 Donruss), and a pair of Optic Brock Purdy rookies. I looked for good, gradeable cards, then sent them in for grading and did pretty well. Lamar's value continued to go up, but Purdy took a hit. Even still, I'm up easily a few hundred as I paid ~$50 for the Jacksons, and $25 for the Purdy's. Two of the Jacksons came back PSA 10, which gave them a massive value bump.

I'd collect sports in the off-season, and buy guys who aren't the TOP guy from a collector standpoint, but are on a good team, with upward potential. For Football this year, I'm looking at Josh Allen, more Lamar, Jared Goff, Baker Mayfield, and maybe a few others, but you get the idea. Playoff teams last year who are taking steps forward. You can get Goff and Mayfield rookies for like $5-10. If they win a super bowl, they'll go for $40-$50 easily in a good grade. Hurts rookies used to be cheap. My son had a bunch. They're way up now. Timing is key though - they'll come back down.

Also - from pure value from boxes, I've had far more luck getting profit from HOCKEY boxes. The hard part is finding a place to sell. Card show guys don't seem to buy as much. Nobody wanted Bedard when he was hot...but you could sell them on Facebook and eBay. Lots of Canadian buyers. I've pulled several big cards from Hockey. Never pulled anything worth more than a few hundred from football, and I've even bought a few Hobby Boxes. From Hockey, I pulled a $1,400 Bedard from a Synergy Hockey box, and have pulled another half-dozen $100+ cards from boxes. I'm probably almost even lifetime on Hockey stuff.

Anyway, long post. Sorry. Have fun at the show!

 

[Sparky Polastri]

Anyone have a good place to buy wall art? Framed pics or jerseys or stadium settings or specific moments in games etc? Can be autographed or not.

 

[opensourcebeer]

This is the one card I would love to have this year.

It’s a cool card, but it is unlicensed by the NFL. It’s only licensed by the players and the players association. That’s why it only says “Chicago” but it doesn’t say the “Bears”. Normally thats not a good thing for long term value retention—but fanatics has been paying for exclusive rights for the autographs of desirable draft picks (Wemby, Caleb.etc) and that has made it so that if you want a rookie autograph from these players—you are forced to go unlicensed. It’s hard to predict how the market will value these cards in the long term.

Reminds me of the old Broder cards from the late 80s.

 

[comfortably numb]

Anyone have a good place to buy wall art? Framed pics or jerseys or stadium settings or specific moments in games etc? Can be autographed or not.

Large card shows have plenty of all that

 

[Major]

Skenes' 1-of-1 rookie card fetches record $1.11M

Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes' 2024 Topps Chrome Update MLB debut patch autograph card sold for a stunning $1.11 million, including buyer's premium.

www.espn.com

 

[nirad3]

Man, these things have gone up in price.

My son has taken a shining to football cards (which I'm happy for) so I took him to a sports memorabilia shop near us this past weekend. They didn't have a great selection (they had mostly clothing & hats) but what they did have was 2 or 3 times what I was expecting to pay. Upwards of $15 for a pack of Score football cards from 2024? Yikes.

Well, he had $10 on him so I took that from him and bought him 2 packs. The guy at the counter gave him a "bonus pack" (of 3 cards) for free.

He ended up pulling a Jayden Daniels rookie card, which he looked up on Google and found that it was going for $175 on a few sites. Not bad.

 

[comfortably numb]

Man, these things have gone up in price.

My son has taken a shining to football cards (which I'm happy for) so I took him to a sports memorabilia shop near us this past weekend. They didn't have a great selection (they had mostly clothing & hats) but what they did have was 2 or 3 times what I was expecting to pay. Upwards of $15 for a pack of Score football cards from 2024? Yikes.

Well, he had $10 on him so I took that from him and bought him 2 packs. The guy at the counter gave him a "bonus pack" (of 3 cards) for free.

He ended up pulling a Jayden Daniels rookie card, which he looked up on Google and found that it was going for $175 on a few sites. Not bad.

Packs are definitely more but on the flip side. When packs cost 50c to $2 the highest card you could pull at that moment was $50? $100?
Now, people are pulling life changing money....weekly?

 

[nirad3]

Man, these things have gone up in price.

My son has taken a shining to football cards (which I'm happy for) so I took him to a sports memorabilia shop near us this past weekend. They didn't have a great selection (they had mostly clothing & hats) but what they did have was 2 or 3 times what I was expecting to pay. Upwards of $15 for a pack of Score football cards from 2024? Yikes.

Well, he had $10 on him so I took that from him and bought him 2 packs. The guy at the counter gave him a "bonus pack" (of 3 cards) for free.

He ended up pulling a Jayden Daniels rookie card, which he looked up on Google and found that it was going for $175 on a few sites. Not bad.

Packs are definitely more but on the flip side. When packs cost 50c to $2 the highest card you could pull at that moment was $50? $100?
Now, people are pulling life changing money....weekly?

I guess that's true. I mean, back in college I'd buy 4-5 packs a week (at like $5/pack) and would sometimes find pretty sweet cards (I think I have like 4-5 Shaq rookie cards).

Perhaps it's all relative at this point... but my son (nor I) have the cash laying around to buy a bunch of packs at one time. I'm hoping, though, that he remains interested in collecting them so we have a good birthday or Christmas present idea for him.

 

[Desert_Power]

Upwards of $15 for a pack of Score football cards from 2024? Yikes.

Local card show owner has to make money too, I guess, but that pricing is a bit of a rip off.

 

[nirad3]

Upwards of $15 for a pack of Score football cards from 2024? Yikes.

Local card show owner has to make money too, I guess, but that pricing is a bit of a rip off.

He had some other packs for like $8 but he said the best bang for the buck - meaning number of cards in each pack - was to go with the $15 one(s).

I have a TON of old cards from the 80's - 90's that I should probably look to sell somehow. Or give my son the real nice ones (again, got a few Shaq rookies... a Jordan 2nd year car worth maybe $100ish, etc.)

 

[TripItUp]

having a blast getting back into the hobby, mostly focusing on football and baseball.

Looking forward to Donruss Optic coming out.

 

[The Longtime Lurker]

I was a big collector of baseball, basketball and football cards in the late 80s early 90s. Was going through the collection recently and while most are junk i had a few i was surprised at their value (graded Jordan fleers 87-93 PSA 8s-10s, Ricky Henderson rookie raw, but decent shape). Have a complete set of 1990 skybox basketball cards which are cool cards, but i didn't see much for value individually. If i ever needed to keep a fire going i have enough 80s baseball cards to keep it burning for the rest of my life.

That said I'm curious what i should look for if i wanted to get back into it. I'm probably mostly interested in football cards. I tried looking online and it was damn confusing. Is there a gold standard brand to look for? If i wanted to buy a pack or two what would i want to get? Do people buy packs, or is it mostly by the box?

 

[Fat Nick]

Packs / boxes in the secondary market are hella expensive, and buying 1st hand are really hard to find. It's the worst dynamic in the hobby in my opinion. Resellers and Breakers literally sit at Wal-Mart and wait for the re-stock, then clean them out. They buy all the $25 blasters, and re-sell for $40, and buy all the $50 Megas and re-sell for $80 or more. What you're buying at the card show should cost you 75% or less of what they sell it for.

At that mark-up, I'd say only 5% of boxes will actually make your money back. I DO NOT buy boxes for profit. I buy them for the fun of opening with my son. What I do is scour retail websites and try and find them when they get inventory. When they do, I'm prepared to by several boxes, and I put them away and we open them here and there when we want to rip some packs. Again, even paying retail and not mark-up, I still lose money on most boxes, but it's fun. I won't buy boxes or packs from shows anymore. We used to buy a box at each show from the lady with the big ta tas that has boxes at most of the shows in the north east (if you've been and seen her, you'll know who I mean), but I got sick of the mark-up. If you want the high-end hobby stuff, just buy from Dave & Adams or Steel City directly. Once you buy enough and get status, the prices are better than what you'll pay elsewhere as most of the middle-tier shops buy from there anyway.

Last piece of advice as I was exactly like @The Longtime Lurker a bit over a year ago - Buy the singles you like at shows and on eBay. eBay is a great place for buyers, a horrible place for sellers because of the fees. If I'm at a show, and a guy is selling for tons above comps, I'll simply walk away. You'll find guys who actually will carry on conversations, etc. They're the ones to buy from. If you see a table run by a bunch of broccoli-haired teens staring at their phones who won't even say hi, just keep walking.

My favorite brands for football are Prizm, Mosaic, Donruss, and Optic. I'll sometimes buy Absolute or Select if it's all I can find. Everything else is kind of meh. Now keep in mind Panini is losing the NFL license next year, so this is all going to change once Topps takes over.

 

[The Longtime Lurker]

Packs / boxes in the secondary market are hella expensive, and buying 1st hand are really hard to find. It's the worst dynamic in the hobby in my opinion. Resellers and Breakers literally sit at Wal-Mart and wait for the re-stock, then clean them out. They buy all the $25 blasters, and re-sell for $40, and buy all the $50 Megas and re-sell for $80 or more. What you're buying at the card show should cost you 75% or less of what they sell it for.

At that mark-up, I'd say only 5% of boxes will actually make your money back. I DO NOT buy boxes for profit. I buy them for the fun of opening with my son. What I do is scour retail websites and try and find them when they get inventory. When they do, I'm prepared to by several boxes, and I put them away and we open them here and there when we want to rip some packs. Again, even paying retail and not mark-up, I still lose money on most boxes, but it's fun. I won't buy boxes or packs from shows anymore. We used to buy a box at each show from the lady with the big ta tas that has boxes at most of the shows in the north east (if you've been and seen her, you'll know who I mean), but I got sick of the mark-up. If you want the high-end hobby stuff, just buy from Dave & Adams or Steel City directly. Once you buy enough and get status, the prices are better than what you'll pay elsewhere as most of the middle-tier shops buy from there anyway.

Last piece of advice as I was exactly like @The Longtime Lurker a bit over a year ago - Buy the singles you like at shows and on eBay. eBay is a great place for buyers, a horrible place for sellers because of the fees. If I'm at a show, and a guy is selling for tons above comps, I'll simply walk away. You'll find guys who actually will carry on conversations, etc. They're the ones to buy from. If you see a table run by a bunch of broccoli-haired teens staring at their phones who won't even say hi, just keep walking.

My favorite brands for football are Prizm, Mosaic, Donruss, and Optic. I'll sometimes buy Absolute or Select if it's all I can find. Everything else is kind of meh. Now keep in mind Panini is losing the NFL license next year, so this is all going to change once Topps takes over.

Great info, thanks. Ebay is where i bought my Jordan cards years ago, everything else I've got was collected the old fashion way. I remember me and my buddy picking up cans to return to buy packs at the gas station and then fighting over the Jose Canseco cards.

I didn't know about the reselling. That's lame. I like the idea of opening my own packs for fun like you said. I'm looking at it as a hobby and small investment. I have various collectibles that hold value and i look at this a bit like that. I asked reddit about a few cards and now my feed is full of 1/1 blaster auto memorabilia type stuff and i had no idea what kind of packs people get. I haven't been in a retail target or Walmart in a long time, so i wasn't even sure if that was the best place to look.

I think I'll take your advice and not go crazy into boxes and packs, though I'd like to open a few here and there for nostalgia if nothing else. I'll start thinking about who I'd like to collect and maybe go the individual route. I'm not just interested in new players, I'd like to start a collection of the greats from my youth. I have a few cool cards and players to go along with all the junk, but most appear to grade just above cards used in bicycle spokes.

 

[Desert_Power]

That said I'm curious what i should look for if i wanted to get back into it. I'm probably mostly interested in football cards. I tried looking online and it was damn confusing. Is there a gold standard brand to look for? If i wanted to buy a pack or two what would i want to get? Do people buy packs, or is it mostly by the box?

Honestly would say Chronicles blasters would be perfect for this but I think they've stopped making them? Still you can find a prior year and just familiar with the different offerings that way.

It is tough because the landscape is fragmented now between Fanatics and Panini. So I just collect the players I like whether or not it is licensed.

 

[Fat Nick]

Packs / boxes in the secondary market are hella expensive, and buying 1st hand are really hard to find. It's the worst dynamic in the hobby in my opinion. Resellers and Breakers literally sit at Wal-Mart and wait for the re-stock, then clean them out. They buy all the $25 blasters, and re-sell for $40, and buy all the $50 Megas and re-sell for $80 or more. What you're buying at the card show should cost you 75% or less of what they sell it for.

At that mark-up, I'd say only 5% of boxes will actually make your money back. I DO NOT buy boxes for profit. I buy them for the fun of opening with my son. What I do is scour retail websites and try and find them when they get inventory. When they do, I'm prepared to by several boxes, and I put them away and we open them here and there when we want to rip some packs. Again, even paying retail and not mark-up, I still lose money on most boxes, but it's fun. I won't buy boxes or packs from shows anymore. We used to buy a box at each show from the lady with the big ta tas that has boxes at most of the shows in the north east (if you've been and seen her, you'll know who I mean), but I got sick of the mark-up. If you want the high-end hobby stuff, just buy from Dave & Adams or Steel City directly. Once you buy enough and get status, the prices are better than what you'll pay elsewhere as most of the middle-tier shops buy from there anyway.

Last piece of advice as I was exactly like @The Longtime Lurker a bit over a year ago - Buy the singles you like at shows and on eBay. eBay is a great place for buyers, a horrible place for sellers because of the fees. If I'm at a show, and a guy is selling for tons above comps, I'll simply walk away. You'll find guys who actually will carry on conversations, etc. They're the ones to buy from. If you see a table run by a bunch of broccoli-haired teens staring at their phones who won't even say hi, just keep walking.

My favorite brands for football are Prizm, Mosaic, Donruss, and Optic. I'll sometimes buy Absolute or Select if it's all I can find. Everything else is kind of meh. Now keep in mind Panini is losing the NFL license next year, so this is all going to change once Topps takes over.

Great info, thanks. Ebay is where i bought my Jordan cards years ago, everything else I've got was collected the old fashion way. I remember me and my buddy picking up cans to return to buy packs at the gas station and then fighting over the Jose Canseco cards.

I didn't know about the reselling. That's lame. I like the idea of opening my own packs for fun like you said. I'm looking at it as a hobby and small investment. I have various collectibles that hold value and i look at this a bit like that. I asked reddit about a few cards and now my feed is full of 1/1 blaster auto memorabilia type stuff and i had no idea what kind of packs people get. I haven't been in a retail target or Walmart in a long time, so i wasn't even sure if that was the best place to look.

I think I'll take your advice and not go crazy into boxes and packs, though I'd like to open a few here and there for nostalgia if nothing else. I'll start thinking about who I'd like to collect and maybe go the individual route. I'm not just interested in new players, I'd like to start a collection of the greats from my youth. I have a few cool cards and players to go along with all the junk, but most appear to grade just above cards used in bicycle spokes.

My son and I collect modern football just because they're players he can relate to.

I personally am back into vintage baseball - buying all the cards I used to covet as a kid in the early '90's but either 1) couldn't afford, or 2) couldn't find in our small town before the internet era.

I have a hard time sinking big money into the modern stuff. My son and I buy base rookies, but I'm not shelling out for the 1/1's or the RPA's at 3-4 figures. What is happening in the hobby feels a lot like what happened in the Junk Wax era - stuff is being over-produced, and people are buying cards not to collect, but because they think there's big money in it. It's going to pop at some point. You can't convince me somebody will still pay $1,000 in 15 years for a 1/1 of an average QB who is now 5 years retired. To make an analogy, is there any world where you think someone would pay $1,000 for a Jake Plummer card? Maybe when he was playing...but not 10 years later where he's an after-thought.

 

[Fat Nick]

That said I'm curious what i should look for if i wanted to get back into it. I'm probably mostly interested in football cards. I tried looking online and it was damn confusing. Is there a gold standard brand to look for? If i wanted to buy a pack or two what would i want to get? Do people buy packs, or is it mostly by the box?

Honestly would say Chronicles blasters would be perfect for this but I think they've stopped making them? Still you can find a prior year and just familiar with the different offerings that way.

It is tough because the landscape is fragmented now between Fanatics and Panini. So I just collect the players I like whether or not it is licensed.

Chronicles are a fantastically fun rip - especially for kids. I completely forgot about them. I got a bunch of 2020's last year. So fun to get a Jefferson/Hurts/Tua/Burrow/Herbert in almost every pack, even if they aren't worth much. I wondered - I hadn't seen the 2025 ones yet. I'll be bummed if they don't make them.

 

[The Longtime Lurker]

That said I'm curious what i should look for if i wanted to get back into it. I'm probably mostly interested in football cards. I tried looking online and it was damn confusing. Is there a gold standard brand to look for? If i wanted to buy a pack or two what would i want to get? Do people buy packs, or is it mostly by the box?

Honestly would say Chronicles blasters would be perfect for this but I think they've stopped making them? Still you can find a prior year and just familiar with the different offerings that way.

It is tough because the landscape is fragmented now between Fanatics and Panini. So I just collect the players I like whether or not it is licensed.

Right, this is what confused me. I don't know what's "crap" and what isn't. There's so much variety. I used to just get topps as a kid and we were all pretty happy.

 

[Desert_Power]

That said I'm curious what i should look for if i wanted to get back into it. I'm probably mostly interested in football cards. I tried looking online and it was damn confusing. Is there a gold standard brand to look for? If i wanted to buy a pack or two what would i want to get? Do people buy packs, or is it mostly by the box?

Honestly would say Chronicles blasters would be perfect for this but I think they've stopped making them? Still you can find a prior year and just familiar with the different offerings that way.

It is tough because the landscape is fragmented now between Fanatics and Panini. So I just collect the players I like whether or not it is licensed.

Right, this is what confused me. I don't know what's "crap" and what isn't. There's so much variety. I used to just get topps as a kid and we were all pretty happy.

There is a ton of variety, so you will want to focus collecting on things that actually are limited print runs. This is indicated on the checklists usually, but Panini has been awful with that lately.

Some examples of things I've been collecting recently are 1/1 Leaf Mythics and National Treasures runs with fake (non-game used) bowl patches.

 

[Desert_Power]

That said I'm curious what i should look for if i wanted to get back into it. I'm probably mostly interested in football cards. I tried looking online and it was damn confusing. Is there a gold standard brand to look for? If i wanted to buy a pack or two what would i want to get? Do people buy packs, or is it mostly by the box?

Honestly would say Chronicles blasters would be perfect for this but I think they've stopped making them? Still you can find a prior year and just familiar with the different offerings that way.

It is tough because the landscape is fragmented now between Fanatics and Panini. So I just collect the players I like whether or not it is licensed.

Chronicles are a fantastically fun rip - especially for kids. I completely forgot about them. I got a bunch of 2020's last year. So fun to get a Jefferson/Hurts/Tua/Burrow/Herbert in almost every pack, even if they aren't worth much. I wondered - I hadn't seen the 2025 ones yet. I'll be bummed if they don't make them.

2020 and 21 Chronicles are my absolute favorite rips for that reason. Cheap blasters with so many great players. And if you squint that Prizm Black Silver just might be a 10.....

 

[The Longtime Lurker]

Packs / boxes in the secondary market are hella expensive, and buying 1st hand are really hard to find. It's the worst dynamic in the hobby in my opinion. Resellers and Breakers literally sit at Wal-Mart and wait for the re-stock, then clean them out. They buy all the $25 blasters, and re-sell for $40, and buy all the $50 Megas and re-sell for $80 or more. What you're buying at the card show should cost you 75% or less of what they sell it for.

At that mark-up, I'd say only 5% of boxes will actually make your money back. I DO NOT buy boxes for profit. I buy them for the fun of opening with my son. What I do is scour retail websites and try and find them when they get inventory. When they do, I'm prepared to by several boxes, and I put them away and we open them here and there when we want to rip some packs. Again, even paying retail and not mark-up, I still lose money on most boxes, but it's fun. I won't buy boxes or packs from shows anymore. We used to buy a box at each show from the lady with the big ta tas that has boxes at most of the shows in the north east (if you've been and seen her, you'll know who I mean), but I got sick of the mark-up. If you want the high-end hobby stuff, just buy from Dave & Adams or Steel City directly. Once you buy enough and get status, the prices are better than what you'll pay elsewhere as most of the middle-tier shops buy from there anyway.

Last piece of advice as I was exactly like @The Longtime Lurker a bit over a year ago - Buy the singles you like at shows and on eBay. eBay is a great place for buyers, a horrible place for sellers because of the fees. If I'm at a show, and a guy is selling for tons above comps, I'll simply walk away. You'll find guys who actually will carry on conversations, etc. They're the ones to buy from. If you see a table run by a bunch of broccoli-haired teens staring at their phones who won't even say hi, just keep walking.

My favorite brands for football are Prizm, Mosaic, Donruss, and Optic. I'll sometimes buy Absolute or Select if it's all I can find. Everything else is kind of meh. Now keep in mind Panini is losing the NFL license next year, so this is all going to change once Topps takes over.

Great info, thanks. Ebay is where i bought my Jordan cards years ago, everything else I've got was collected the old fashion way. I remember me and my buddy picking up cans to return to buy packs at the gas station and then fighting over the Jose Canseco cards.

I didn't know about the reselling. That's lame. I like the idea of opening my own packs for fun like you said. I'm looking at it as a hobby and small investment. I have various collectibles that hold value and i look at this a bit like that. I asked reddit about a few cards and now my feed is full of 1/1 blaster auto memorabilia type stuff and i had no idea what kind of packs people get. I haven't been in a retail target or Walmart in a long time, so i wasn't even sure if that was the best place to look.

I think I'll take your advice and not go crazy into boxes and packs, though I'd like to open a few here and there for nostalgia if nothing else. I'll start thinking about who I'd like to collect and maybe go the individual route. I'm not just interested in new players, I'd like to start a collection of the greats from my youth. I have a few cool cards and players to go along with all the junk, but most appear to grade just above cards used in bicycle spokes.

My son and I collect modern football just because they're players he can relate to.

I personally am back into vintage baseball - buying all the cards I used to covet as a kid in the early '90's but either 1) couldn't afford, or 2) couldn't find in our small town before the internet era.

I have a hard time sinking big money into the modern stuff. My son and I buy base rookies, but I'm not shelling out for the 1/1's or the RPA's at 3-4 figures. What is happening in the hobby feels a lot like what happened in the Junk Wax era - stuff is being over-produced, and people are buying cards not to collect, but because they think there's big money in it. It's going to pop at some point. You can't convince me somebody will still pay $1,000 in 15 years for a 1/1 of an average QB who is now 5 years retired. To make an analogy, is there any world where you think someone would pay $1,000 for a Jake Plummer card? Maybe when he was playing...but not 10 years later where he's an after-thought.

Excellent points. I think what I probably end up doing is looking for the older 70s 80s 90s cards. Montana, Marino, Barry, Rice ect type rookie cards. The ones my parents wouldn't buy me at the card shop no matter how many times i cut the grass. I like the idea of pulling cool modern cards, but won't spend a lot to do so, nor should I from the sounds of it.

 

[Fat Nick]

That said I'm curious what i should look for if i wanted to get back into it. I'm probably mostly interested in football cards. I tried looking online and it was damn confusing. Is there a gold standard brand to look for? If i wanted to buy a pack or two what would i want to get? Do people buy packs, or is it mostly by the box?

Honestly would say Chronicles blasters would be perfect for this but I think they've stopped making them? Still you can find a prior year and just familiar with the different offerings that way.

It is tough because the landscape is fragmented now between Fanatics and Panini. So I just collect the players I like whether or not it is licensed.

Chronicles are a fantastically fun rip - especially for kids. I completely forgot about them. I got a bunch of 2020's last year. So fun to get a Jefferson/Hurts/Tua/Burrow/Herbert in almost every pack, even if they aren't worth much. I wondered - I hadn't seen the 2025 ones yet. I'll be bummed if they don't make them.

2020 and 21 Chronicles are my absolute favorite rips for that reason. Cheap blasters with so many great players. And if you squint that Prizm Black Silver just might be a 10.....

Not a silver, but one of my son's most treasured cards...pulled and graded.

 

[Fat Nick]

Excellent points. I think what I probably end up doing is looking for the older 70s 80s 90s cards. Montana, Marino, Barry, Rice ect type rookie cards. The ones my parents wouldn't buy me at the card shop no matter how many times i cut the grass. I like the idea of pulling cool modern cards, but won't spend a lot to do so, nor should I from the sounds of it.

There are some fantastic FB groups out there for buying cards as well - tons of what you describe. I feel like I see good values on those guys all the time. I'm on a few and have both bought and sold 4-figure cards on there. As a seller, it's pretty risk free as you get paid before you ship. As a buyer, buy from guys who have been active on the site, have physical shops, or for whom you can get "vouches" from better members and you'll be fine.

 

[TripItUp]

Where is the best place to trade cards, for example I want to trade all Penix for Nabers....is there an affordable way to do that or should I just start hanging out with the neighborhood 12 year olds.

 

[Fat Nick]

Where is the best place to trade cards, for example I want to trade all Penix for Nabers....is there an affordable way to do that or should I just start hanging out with the neighborhood 12 year olds.

Some shows have trade nights or areas. FB is also a good place once you can find a good safe group. There are scammers out there, but some of the better groups do a very good job of weeding them out and being safe for trading. I recently traded a few cards on a vintage site with no issues.

If you're ever overly worried about trading online, instill an intermediary. If you trade two cards worth $100, you each send $100 to each other via paypal...at least that way if the other guy stiffs you, you can use PayPal as an intermediary to get your $$ back.

 

[TripItUp]

Some shows have trade nights or areas. FB is also a good place once you can find a good safe group. There are scammers out there, but some of the better groups do a very good job of weeding them out and being safe for trading. I recently traded a few cards on a vintage site with no issues.

If you're ever overly worried about trading online, instill an intermediary. If you trade two cards worth $100, you each send $100 to each other via paypal...at least that way if the other guy stiffs you, you can use PayPal as an intermediary to get your $$ back.

The amount of scamming is really disappointing....seen it on eBay and also the breaker apps like Whatnot etc.

A real shame.

 

[Major]

That said I'm curious what i should look for if i wanted to get back into it. I'm probably mostly interested in football cards. I tried looking online and it was damn confusing. Is there a gold standard brand to look for? If i wanted to buy a pack or two what would i want to get? Do people buy packs, or is it mostly by the box?

Honestly would say Chronicles blasters would be perfect for this but I think they've stopped making them? Still you can find a prior year and just familiar with the different offerings that way.

It is tough because the landscape is fragmented now between Fanatics and Panini. So I just collect the players I like whether or not it is licensed.

Right, this is what confused me. I don't know what's "crap" and what isn't. There's so much variety. I used to just get topps as a kid and we were all pretty happy.

Do you even lift, bro?

 

[shuke]

Where is the best place to trade cards, for example I want to trade all Penix for Nabers....is there an affordable way to do that or should I just start hanging out with the neighborhood 12 year olds.

Facebook groups I assume.

 

[shuke]

I'm solely focused on what looks cool now. I don't give two ****s about what cards are worth. I actually just bought some custom made cards, will share them here when I get them. Looking for cool ways to display if anyone has any ideas.

 

[The Longtime Lurker]

That said I'm curious what i should look for if i wanted to get back into it. I'm probably mostly interested in football cards. I tried looking online and it was damn confusing. Is there a gold standard brand to look for? If i wanted to buy a pack or two what would i want to get? Do people buy packs, or is it mostly by the box?

Honestly would say Chronicles blasters would be perfect for this but I think they've stopped making them? Still you can find a prior year and just familiar with the different offerings that way.

It is tough because the landscape is fragmented now between Fanatics and Panini. So I just collect the players I like whether or not it is licensed.

Right, this is what confused me. I don't know what's "crap" and what isn't. There's so much variety. I used to just get topps as a kid and we were all pretty happy.

Do you even lift, bro?

How much ya bench?

 

[The Longtime Lurker]

Looking at graded slabs and anywhere from psa 6-8 is pretty affordable for most of what I'm looking for. I think quantity over top quality will work for me. I'd love a Jordan and Gretzky rookie of any grade, but that's not gonna happen. I don't think they're as warm in bed as my wife is and I'd be sleeping with them if i spent that much on a single frayed cardboard picture, but a guy can dream.

I think mid grade vintage 70s and 80s cards are where I'm at. The new card market might not be for me, but I'd still like to try and get a few packs here and there just for the fun of it.

Is it possible to get these kinds of cards ungraded and trust that they aren't altered or fake? I wouldn't trust ebay for that, but maybe there's some other way?

How are we doing in the price cycle for cards right now? Does the market stay pretty stable or are we at a high point or low for prices? If things take a downturn economically I'm guessing cards might get cheaper or do they maintain value pretty well historically?

 

[FairWarning]

Some shows have trade nights or areas. FB is also a good place once you can find a good safe group. There are scammers out there, but some of the better groups do a very good job of weeding them out and being safe for trading. I recently traded a few cards on a vintage site with no issues.

If you're ever overly worried about trading online, instill an intermediary. If you trade two cards worth $100, you each send $100 to each other via paypal...at least that way if the other guy stiffs you, you can use PayPal as an intermediary to get your $$ back.

The amount of scamming is really disappointing....seen it on eBay and also the breaker apps like Whatnot etc.

A real shame.

Agree, at least EBay has your back if you are a buyer. I wouldn’t use whatnot.

Another site you may want to look at is COMC.

 

[Fat Nick]

Looking at graded slabs and anywhere from psa 6-8 is pretty affordable for most of what I'm looking for. I think quantity over top quality will work for me. I'd love a Jordan and Gretzky rookie of any grade, but that's not gonna happen. I don't think they're as warm in bed as my wife is and I'd be sleeping with them if i spent that much on a single frayed cardboard picture, but a guy can dream.

I think mid grade vintage 70s and 80s cards are where I'm at. The new card market might not be for me, but I'd still like to try and get a few packs here and there just for the fun of it.

Is it possible to get these kinds of cards ungraded and trust that they aren't altered or fake? I wouldn't trust ebay for that, but maybe there's some other way?

How are we doing in the price cycle for cards right now? Does the market stay pretty stable or are we at a high point or low for prices? If things take a downturn economically I'm guessing cards might get cheaper or do they maintain value pretty well historically?

So honestly, when I first got back into the hobby, that was my first mindset - buy 6-8's at 30% of the price of a 10...Worked for a bit, then I started wanting more valuable/collectable stuff. If all you want is to display cards you like the looks of, that's 100% the way. The average guy can't tell a modern 10 from a modern 8 very easily minus maybe centering. The differences are SO small. I do think if there's any element of monetary value (even if not via flipping cards, but for wanting a valuable collection over time), buying higher grades does make some sense. Grading basically created a rarity out of a commodity. Yes, there are 10,000,000 '89 UD Griffey Jr's...but there are only a fraction that are 10's...

For 1980's at least, If you're not buying 10's, you'll probably find 9's very affordable. As I noted above, the Junk Wax era flooded the market. Outside of 10's, the rest are very common. If you like the look of the slab, it usually makes sense just buy it already graded. I'm working on a Nolan Ryan Topps run. Once I started looking for the 1980's cards, it almost always made sense to just by an already-graded card. I could often get a 7 or an 8 for less than what it would cost me to grade it.

For 1970's/1980's it is really easy to get good cards ungraded. Just go to any card show and look through some of the star boxes guys have. I picked up Wade Boggs and Tony Gwynn rookies for under $30 at the last show. You may not get a 10, but there's some nice cards out there. Again though, note how little you pay for a non-10 grade. The one thing to look for is trimming - I have encountered some cards that were trimmed. I even found out that the Billy Ripken FF card I bought as a kid was trimmed. I never knew. I do think that's rare though on '70's - '80's stuff.

What I've read, and seen in practice though, is if a guy has a table (or eBay site) that sells almost all graded cards, but he's selling one ungraded, there's a reason. It either grades way lower than expected, or it won't grade because it's altered. Be careful there - but there are plenty of guys who sell raw and don't bother with grading.

I will say for higher dollar stuff, I won't buy ungraded anymore. I got burned once on a Clemente rookie that looked BEAUTIFUL...Thought it would grade a 5 or maybe a 6, but it got a 2.5. Lost a bunch on that one, but it's still one of the best looking Clementes I've ever seen until you get a REALLY bright light on it and notice a chip in the gloss coat. It's just highly unlikely a really good card is still floating out there raw unless it looks significantly better to the naked eye than it grades. Also - if you do ever buy a Jordan RC, That's probably the most faked card there is. If you find a raw MJ rookie, probably a 90% chance it's fake.

Last one - sorry so long...I think the price cycle is high right now. At least for the more modern stuff. The market spiked REALLY high during COVID. Card prices went nuts. Jordan RC's were $10K+ for mid-grades. They've come back a decent bit, but still way higher than they were in the mid 2010's. I think the older stuff is more stable, but still elevated from what it was a while ago...I'm not sure it'll ever go back to pre-COVID levels, but it might come down some. The really rare stuff, IMO, won't ever go down. It's rare, and guys with $$$$ will pay for what they want. I fully expect 99% of modern stuff will be worth less in 3 years than it is today. No way I'd ever collect that for value. If you're buying modern for profit, your holding times need to be really short. I'd look to flip almost every 2024 QB rookie before the season starts except the ones I want for my PC.

 

[Fat Nick]

I'm solely focused on what looks cool now. I don't give two ****s about what cards are worth. I actually just bought some custom made cards, will share them here when I get them. Looking for cool ways to display if anyone has any ideas.

I was at the Philly show over the winter, and there was a guy selling these solid wood cases. They were made from birch, so they were relatively light. Roughly 4' x 2', and had shelves with a little lip. They were nicely painted a matte black. He wanted $100. I could totally have built one, but honestly, I'd probably spend close to that on materials. I bought one for my son's room. It's perfect. Holds the cards, looks nice, and you can still grab them and look at them without having to open a cover or anything. I hung it with a pair of keyhole hangers.

The only way I'd recommend against it is if it was in a REALLY bright room where you might want some UV protection.

 

[The Longtime Lurker]

Looking at graded slabs and anywhere from psa 6-8 is pretty affordable for most of what I'm looking for. I think quantity over top quality will work for me. I'd love a Jordan and Gretzky rookie of any grade, but that's not gonna happen. I don't think they're as warm in bed as my wife is and I'd be sleeping with them if i spent that much on a single frayed cardboard picture, but a guy can dream.

I think mid grade vintage 70s and 80s cards are where I'm at. The new card market might not be for me, but I'd still like to try and get a few packs here and there just for the fun of it.

Is it possible to get these kinds of cards ungraded and trust that they aren't altered or fake? I wouldn't trust ebay for that, but maybe there's some other way?

How are we doing in the price cycle for cards right now? Does the market stay pretty stable or are we at a high point or low for prices? If things take a downturn economically I'm guessing cards might get cheaper or do they maintain value pretty well historically?

So honestly, when I first got back into the hobby, that was my first mindset - buy 6-8's at 30% of the price of a 10...Worked for a bit, then I started wanting more valuable/collectable stuff. If all you want is to display cards you like the looks of, that's 100% the way. The average guy can't tell a modern 10 from a modern 8 very easily minus maybe centering. The differences are SO small. I do think if there's any element of monetary value (even if not via flipping cards, but for wanting a valuable collection over time), buying higher grades does make some sense. Grading basically created a rarity out of a commodity. Yes, there are 10,000,000 '89 UD Griffey Jr's...but there are only a fraction that are 10's...

For 1980's at least, If you're not buying 10's, you'll probably find 9's very affordable. As I noted above, the Junk Wax era flooded the market. Outside of 10's, the rest are very common. If you like the look of the slab, it usually makes sense just buy it already graded. I'm working on a Nolan Ryan Topps run. Once I started looking for the 1980's cards, it almost always made sense to just by an already-graded card. I could often get a 7 or an 8 for less than what it would cost me to grade it.

For 1970's/1980's it is really easy to get good cards ungraded. Just go to any card show and look through some of the star boxes guys have. I picked up Wade Boggs and Tony Gwynn rookies for under $30 at the last show. You may not get a 10, but there's some nice cards out there. Again though, note how little you pay for a non-10 grade. The one thing to look for is trimming - I have encountered some cards that were trimmed. I even found out that the Billy Ripken FF card I bought as a kid was trimmed. I never knew. I do think that's rare though on '70's - '80's stuff.

What I've read, and seen in practice though, is if a guy has a table (or eBay site) that sells almost all graded cards, but he's selling one ungraded, there's a reason. It either grades way lower than expected, or it won't grade because it's altered. Be careful there - but there are plenty of guys who sell raw and don't bother with grading.

I will say for higher dollar stuff, I won't buy ungraded anymore. I got burned once on a Clemente rookie that looked BEAUTIFUL...Thought it would grade a 5 or maybe a 6, but it got a 2.5. Lost a bunch on that one, but it's still one of the best looking Clementes I've ever seen until you get a REALLY bright light on it and notice a chip in the gloss coat. It's just highly unlikely a really good card is still floating out there raw unless it looks significantly better to the naked eye than it grades. Also - if you do ever buy a Jordan RC, That's probably the most faked card there is. If you find a raw MJ rookie, probably a 90% chance it's fake.

Last one - sorry so long...I think the price cycle is high right now. At least for the more modern stuff. The market spiked REALLY high during COVID. Card prices went nuts. Jordan RC's were $10K+ for mid-grades. They've come back a decent bit, but still way higher than they were in the mid 2010's. I think the older stuff is more stable, but still elevated from what it was a while ago...I'm not sure it'll ever go back to pre-COVID levels, but it might come down some. The really rare stuff, IMO, won't ever go down. It's rare, and guys with $$$$ will pay for what they want. I fully expect 99% of modern stuff will be worth less in 3 years than it is today. No way I'd ever collect that for value. If you're buying modern for profit, your holding times need to be really short. I'd look to flip almost every 2024 QB rookie before the season starts except the ones I want for my PC.

Thanks for this, really great info here and makes a ton of sense. The idea of mixing in 7s 8s and even 9s on guys that are just cool to have and collect makes sense and ponying up for 10s on guys that will hold high value and increase also makes good sense. Modern stuff i think I'll mostly steer clear of other than the random pack here and there.

When i was buying Jordan's i did get an 88 fleer 10 graded by Gem and have no doubts it's trimmed. Beautiful card, but with a jewlers loop and good lighting compared to a raw i have it certainly looks that way. I think I'll just leave it be, but cracking to know forsure has crossed my mind. I'm good with it for now though.

 

[FairWarning]

I would say anything before 2018 that isn't a 9-10 is VERY affordable. Many don't realize that they just didn't crank out 10's before that. I collect a lot of the diecut pacific inserts and they never grade well, so the market is nonexistent. People also grade GU cards, those don't grade well either. To me, a 8 from that era and back is close to a 10 today. The only stuff I have graded is autos that were authenticated and 9's 1 bought cheap and cracked for my set.

 

[STBootleg]

I'm solely focused on what looks cool now. I don't give two ****s about what cards are worth. I actually just bought some custom made cards, will share them here when I get them. Looking for cool ways to display if anyone has any ideas.

M1NT cases and frames are pretty sweet.

 

[Fat Nick]

Sorry for the long post - a bit of a vent...Went to the Brotherly Love Card Show at the LIVE! Casino in Philly with my son. Most of the shows I go to (Philly, Chantilly, Westchester NY) have a heavy vintage presence, so I'm entertained, but my son collects modern, so he gets bored at those. I figured this one would be more for him as it's mostly modern. It was a sobering experience honestly.

My $0.02 after attending that show - The modern market is due for a sizeable collapse, and it's going to happen soon. It's not sustainable. It's being held up by flippers selling to other flippers selling to breakers/repackers to sell on WhatNot and other sites. It's almost a Ponzi scheme where the only people who can afford it are the same ones flipping cards and driving up the price. As a collector, it's nearly impossible to enjoy a modern card show. Half of the tables are covered by attendee's giant card boxes and cards as they try and sell their stuff. You can't even see the dealer inventory. When you can see what a lot of them have in their cases, most of what they have is $300+, with some having dozens of $1K+ cards. There's a real lack of cards under $100 other than the dollar-box stuff. It's hard to find good stuff in the $30-70 range IMO. Even a year ago, I would see tons of younger kids, but now it's all broccoli-haired teenagers in their sweatpants, crocs with Zion cases full of cards they want to sell.

What we did see that looked interesting was stickered at 125% of comps, and MAYBE they'd negotiate down to 110% or so for single cards. The majority of the deals that were getting done were to repackers who would buy out whole tables at 95% - 100% of comps, and presumably flip them online for more than comps, driving the price up and repeating the cycle. I saw a few guys who were packing up their tables within the first 2 hours because somebody came by and bought their whole table to sell on WhatNot.

The modern industry is changing. It's not for collectors. It's basically the stock market. You try and buy some random piece of cardboard low, and sell it high. People don't care if it's MLB, NFL, Pokemon, UFC...they don't even know the guys they are collecting half the time, they just look for something they can flip. Also - you can't tell me the number of premium inserts justifies the current price. Downtowns, Kabooms...now add Uptowns, Dual-Downtowns, Explosives, etc...J.J. McCarthy unnumbered, unsigned cards going for $1,400...a guy who hasn't even played a single NFL snap. I just don't get it. Guys holding lots of inventory are going to get absolutely burned when it crashes.

I don't think this same dynamic holds for vintage. Repacks are scarce, and breaking isn't a concept. Price is dictated by actual scarcity...and players are long retired. It's a collector's market - and thus a much more stable market.

 

[nirad3]

Went with my son again to the local memorabilia shop yesterday as he'd been asking to get more cards for a couple of weeks. Bought a couple of packs of Score 2024 NFL cards ($15/each).

He got all excited cuz he pulled a pretty fancy looking card that was apparently a special card stamped #69 of 150. I tried to tell him it was probably not worth much since it was Ka'imi Fairbairn, but man he was pumped nonetheless.

He asked me to go grab some protective plastic covers from the box where I'm keeping my valuable cards. He got a peek and pulled one out... it was one of my many Jordan cards. I told him that at some point I'd give them all to him, and he asked "why not now?" Maybe I should just give him the box (it's hundreds of cards) now to have him do the research online to figure out how much the collection is worth. I have some cards that I know were in the $200-300 range 15-20 years ago, so wondering if they've gone up, and if so how much.

 

[Zegras11]

Where is the best place to trade cards, for example I want to trade all Penix for Nabers....is there an affordable way to do that or should I just start hanging out with the neighborhood 12 year olds.

Facebook groups I assume.

I've been on this FB group for a few years. Rarely see any issues and there are many posts selling everyday

Log into Facebook

Log into Facebook to start sharing and connecting with your friends, family, and people you know.

www.facebook.com

 

[The Longtime Lurker]

Man there's a lot of cool vintage cards out there graded for pretty cheap. Clearing the budget with the boss and I'll start with the cheaper cards and work my way towards the more expensive (economic uncertainty might bring a few prices down if i wait a little bit I'm thinking). New cards are out for me. I like the relics and autos, but that's not a world i want to get into.

 

[Desert_Power]

Downtowns, Kabooms...now add Uptowns, Dual-Downtowns, Explosives, etc...J.J. McCarthy unnumbered, unsigned cards going for $1,400...a guy who hasn't even played a single NFL snap. I just don't get it. Guys holding lots of inventory are going to get absolutely burned when it crashes.

A lot of this stuff with the big repack/breakers I'm sure involves a lot of shill bidders. And these AI Downtowns are some of the worst cards I've seen.