Collecting Cards: many options, many paths
One of the most amazing aspects of collecting sports cards is all the different ways you can choose how to collect. Recently, I have been engaged in several conversations with new collectors about how they can start collecting in this up and down market. My first thought is always to ask what do they like. Do you have a favorite player, team, or sport? Those are the top 3 categories I can recommend you to start dipping your toes in. Most people already know the answer to that question, even if they don’t realize it. Chances are you already follow a sport, or sports, a team, or player. Once you have your answer, we can start going a bit deeper on how to start and evolve your collection.
Player Collecting:
Probably the most basic form of collecting, player collecting focuses on selecting a particular player and all the cards released. Finding a checklist of the cards released for that player is usually my first recommendation. Learning about the player’s cards will eventually teach you about the different sets, releases, and types of cards. You will start identifying the cards you like and start focusing on them. Now player collecting has many layers most collectors don’t realize. Usually starting with the main releases of the major brands is the best way to start. With time you learn about other alternate releases and oddball cards you can add to expand your collection.
Team Collecting:
I usually see this type of collector in baseball and football, and definitely in college sports. Collecting a particular team is an art form in itself. The longer the team history, the more options you have. A collector who focuses on a particular team is someone who usually has a vast knowledge of the sport. He enjoys the history behind the team and will always be a fan through the good and the bad. One of the most basic forms of team collecting is roster lists. Usually, you find a card of each player that has played on the team through the ages. Now, most collectors will go a bit more specific and focus on a particular brand, giving the collection more consistency. One of the most beautiful collections I have ever seen is a New York Yankees Topps run from 1952 to date. Topps is the longest-standing brand in the hobby, founded in 1938 and releasing their first iterations of cards in 1949. This feat gives an incredible level of consistency to his collection, showing the different players through the eras and giving us a glimpse of the evolution of the trading cards made by Topps.
Now make no mistake, that collection has taken decades to assemble, it would be a daunting task for any new collector to take on. Nonetheless, team collecting is something many enjoy and can focus on. Since there is always something new to add, I consider this type of collecting one of the most dynamic ones out there.
Sports Collecting:
Focusing on a particular sport as a whole can be both fun and difficult at the same time. Some people simply enjoy the sport as a whole, the history behind it, with no particular player or team in mind, you can create some unique collections. Some examples I have seen are collections of every player who has won regular-season MVP. Maybe you like all-stars or Hall of Famers and focus on them. You can create a collection of every player with 3,000 hits in their baseball career. Or quarterbacks with the most touchdowns thrown in the league. The possibilities are indeed many. Going even deeper, these collections might be of rookie cards or autographed cards, or even memorabilia cards. Let’s say you want an autographed card of all players who have played on the all-star game. That 3,000 hits baseball player collection, you can get the cards of either the year they connected their 3,000th hit or the year after. The card from the year after would have an updated statline reflecting their achievement. You can choose to customize your collection any way you like.
For people who are simply a fan of the sport, this may be one of the most fun ways to collect. And since you have a whole history of the game to focus on, you can change, create, or edit any list you like.
Once you spend a few years collecting you will find yourself developing a taste for more than one way of collecting. Once you get a taste of enjoyment, you try to find multiple ways to replicate that enjoyment. Using myself as an example: I started as a player collector, focusing on Michael Jordan cards. Over time I discovered I enjoyed autograph cards so I started collecting them. At first, it was very simple, get my hands on any autographed card I could. Then I started focusing on certain players, certain sets, and styles of cards. While I still consider Jordan my main personal collection (PC), I enjoy adding new cards to my autograph collection just as much. Within that same collection, I have started to focus on certain players: MVPs, Hall of Famers, specific sets. I can modify or adjust that collection any way I can imagine. Still to this day, I can find new ways to collect.
While making that first decision on how to start collecting is important, it’s by no means etched in stone. Collections are meant to be malleable, ever-changing with the interests of the people behind them.
IG: @frankie3500
