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jwall22
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I recently wrote this article on my blog at http://blogforhockeycards.blogspot.com/. It's regarding advice for the novice collector and theming once's collection.
You can read the article below, but I basically think that it's a good idea to stick to one specific theme if you're on a budget, rather than spreading your money around in too many places, ie. a set and a team collection and a player collection. Essentially, your collection would just be one of random crap. I think one of the best pieces of advice you could give a new collector is to focus their money one a specific theme, be it a player or team or whatever, and it will end up being more rewarding in the long run.
So do you find yourself frustrated if your collection loses its theme and becomes chaotic? Like, if you buy a ton of boxes and packs and whatever and end up with piles of loose cards, rather than just buying cards of a specific player you like. Or is the thrill of opening packs worth the chaos of an incoherent collection?
Anyway, here's the article:
Well, after reading Joe Orlando's tips on how to collect sports cards, I thought about what sort of advice I would give a novice collector.
I think I have a lot of advice to give, which is why I'm breaking up each bit of advice into a separate article. I think with each bit of advice that I give, there are deeper themes to explore than just a few sentences explaining why I think something is a good idea. So, let's get started.
#1: Pick a Theme and Stick With it
This is the same advice that Orlando gives in his book, and I agree with him. Pick a theme to your collection and stick to it. This is actually two bits of advice under one category. Let's explore the first bit.
You need to decide what you're going to collect. People generally go with a particular set, team or player. You can choose whatever you want. You can collect cards of guys with huge mutton chops, players with the same last name as you, players from the same town as you, players with big broken noses or teeth missing or players with handsome smiles that make you feel all warm inside. It's really up to you. The only advice I can give you about what theme you should pick for your collection is that you want to collecting something you'll enjoy, not just something that is trendy.
I think there is a lot that can be debated about the merits of set, team and player collecting relative to one another. I think modern cards, with so many sets, parallels and memorabilia cards, lend themselves to player collecting. Set collecting is really unfulfilling with modern cards because you can never collect every card of a set, and so if you attempt to do it, you have to draw a subjective line about what constitutes a set (ie. base and inserts count, but parallels and jersey cards don't).
Vintage seems more about set collecting or team collecting, because there weren't that many cards of each player made, especially of lesser known players. I think set collecting is attractive, though, to a lot of people who don't have a favourite team or player. I think you have to have a sentimental attachment to a particular team or player in order to collect them because you'll lost interest too quickly.
That brings be to the second part of this advice, which is that you need to be consistent with your collection. There are going to be times when you get tired of collecting and that's okay. I have a tendency to sell off everything that I collected when I go through these funks, and always end up starting over with a new theme. Don't do what I've done. If you need to take a break from collecting for whatever reason, then do so, but keep your collection intact for when you feel like starting up again.
Like Orlando, I think picking a theme for your collection is the most important bit of advice, which is why I made it first on the list. If you buy random stuff, you'll get discouraged and you won't stick with it, and your collection will be chaos. This idea lends itself to avoid buying boxes and packs, because you just end up with lots of random crap from them that you don't want.
Also, sometimes you may want to collect two or three things at once, like a team and a set and a player. I think this is a bad idea if you are on a budget, because you're spreading your money out too thin. If you focused on one player or one set or one team or whatever theme you pick, you'll build a nicer collection around that theme far quicker than if you had three of four collecting goals. If, however, you have tons of money to throw around and can handle numerous collecting themes, then go for it.
You can read the article below, but I basically think that it's a good idea to stick to one specific theme if you're on a budget, rather than spreading your money around in too many places, ie. a set and a team collection and a player collection. Essentially, your collection would just be one of random crap. I think one of the best pieces of advice you could give a new collector is to focus their money one a specific theme, be it a player or team or whatever, and it will end up being more rewarding in the long run.
So do you find yourself frustrated if your collection loses its theme and becomes chaotic? Like, if you buy a ton of boxes and packs and whatever and end up with piles of loose cards, rather than just buying cards of a specific player you like. Or is the thrill of opening packs worth the chaos of an incoherent collection?
Anyway, here's the article:
Well, after reading Joe Orlando's tips on how to collect sports cards, I thought about what sort of advice I would give a novice collector.
I think I have a lot of advice to give, which is why I'm breaking up each bit of advice into a separate article. I think with each bit of advice that I give, there are deeper themes to explore than just a few sentences explaining why I think something is a good idea. So, let's get started.
#1: Pick a Theme and Stick With it
This is the same advice that Orlando gives in his book, and I agree with him. Pick a theme to your collection and stick to it. This is actually two bits of advice under one category. Let's explore the first bit.
You need to decide what you're going to collect. People generally go with a particular set, team or player. You can choose whatever you want. You can collect cards of guys with huge mutton chops, players with the same last name as you, players from the same town as you, players with big broken noses or teeth missing or players with handsome smiles that make you feel all warm inside. It's really up to you. The only advice I can give you about what theme you should pick for your collection is that you want to collecting something you'll enjoy, not just something that is trendy.
I think there is a lot that can be debated about the merits of set, team and player collecting relative to one another. I think modern cards, with so many sets, parallels and memorabilia cards, lend themselves to player collecting. Set collecting is really unfulfilling with modern cards because you can never collect every card of a set, and so if you attempt to do it, you have to draw a subjective line about what constitutes a set (ie. base and inserts count, but parallels and jersey cards don't).
Vintage seems more about set collecting or team collecting, because there weren't that many cards of each player made, especially of lesser known players. I think set collecting is attractive, though, to a lot of people who don't have a favourite team or player. I think you have to have a sentimental attachment to a particular team or player in order to collect them because you'll lost interest too quickly.
That brings be to the second part of this advice, which is that you need to be consistent with your collection. There are going to be times when you get tired of collecting and that's okay. I have a tendency to sell off everything that I collected when I go through these funks, and always end up starting over with a new theme. Don't do what I've done. If you need to take a break from collecting for whatever reason, then do so, but keep your collection intact for when you feel like starting up again.
Like Orlando, I think picking a theme for your collection is the most important bit of advice, which is why I made it first on the list. If you buy random stuff, you'll get discouraged and you won't stick with it, and your collection will be chaos. This idea lends itself to avoid buying boxes and packs, because you just end up with lots of random crap from them that you don't want.
Also, sometimes you may want to collect two or three things at once, like a team and a set and a player. I think this is a bad idea if you are on a budget, because you're spreading your money out too thin. If you focused on one player or one set or one team or whatever theme you pick, you'll build a nicer collection around that theme far quicker than if you had three of four collecting goals. If, however, you have tons of money to throw around and can handle numerous collecting themes, then go for it.
