The world of sports cards is growing at a fast rate and you’ve probably noticed sports cards through your social feeds or through your favourite influencers opening packs on live streams. It is an exciting and rewarding hobby that lets you build a connection with the sports you love.
If you want to start but are unsure where to start, we have gathered a few hints and tips to help you start your own collection.
Define Your Sports Cards Collection Goals
With any hobby, you need to decide your goals and this is essential to make a collection worthwhile.
Focus your collection on a specific genre. This can be a specific sport such as Athletes, football trading cards, F1 Trading cards or baseball trading cards. If you want to build your collection even more specifically you could look to build on the following:
- Player Collections - hone your efforts on specific players from throughout the years
- Team Collections - collect all the players from your favourite sports team
- Investment collections - collect rare or highly graded cards which may have the possibility returning a profit in the future
Once you have established your sports card collection goals, you will need to set a budget. A strict budget for your collection will prove vital in the longevity of your collection. Set a budget and stick to it.
By creating a budget, you will avoid overspending and ensure that collecting sports cards will be a long-term hobby rather than short term.
Understanding Different Card Types
Taking time to research is your friend. Scanning online forums, websites and price guides for card advice, trends and card value will help you immerse yourself in the sports cards community. As a Sports Cards retailer, we want to ensure everyone is supported in their sports card collecting and our team of experts are on hand to help with any questions.
As a retailer we would recommend looking at the Topps glossary to help you understand certain key terms within the industry. If you’re a new collector, it is advised to purchase low-cost packs and single cards to grasp an idea of what you have been purchasing and they don’t eat too much into your budget. As time goes on and you learn and become more familiar with the sports cards range on today’s market you will then be able to expand your collection.
High Quality Sports Cards Over Quantity
When you first start collecting you may want to have as many cards as possible within your collection. Although this may seem like the best avenue to go down, researching high quality cards that are high in value will be more rewarding in creating a valuable collection for the future. Some key points:
- Look for cards in good condition i.e. no bends, rips or creases
- Do your research to make sure cards are authentic and not fake
Once you have obtained your cards, it is strongly advised you keep your collection in card binders or card sleeves. By doing so allows for your collection to be protected and be more organised when presenting to your friends and family.
If you believe you have a card of high quality it may be worth getting the card graded with the likes of PSA (Professional Sports Authenticator). The higher the grade, the more potential value of the card. However, for a beginner collector this can be something to think about when you have started building your sports card collection.
Where to Buy Sports Cards
Always keep searching and learning about the sports cards industry. Staying up to date with new releases and hints and tips is a great way to ensure you are making the most out of your sports cards collection. Sign up to Sports Cards Direct newsletter and be invited to early offers and releases of upcoming and popular sports card launches.
