High end vs. Low end Cards

Here is a list of boxes to bust. Just don't expect it to be anything high end. I think I've learned my lesson in that. After busting countless boxes of high end stuff and pulling cards that resell for $10 and $15 I've decided to buy only the lower end boxes. Why you ask? Well think about it this way, say you spend $150 on a box of cards and pull a no name player that sells for $10. How does that make you feel? Want to lie down on the couch and talk about it?
Now say you spend $50 on a box of cards and pull a no name player that sells for $10. See the difference?
Sure there is always a chance that you might pull something great that sells for ten times the amount of a box. How rare is that? If I was going to be that lucky, I'd rather play the mega million everyday. The payout would be much much much more.
Now say you do pull a nice card out of a high end product. And it re sells for twice the amount of a box. ( I say twice because nowadays even a nice autographed card won't sell for much) You are basically getting your money back and another box with two base cards. But say you spend only $50 and get a card that sells for $100. Not only are you making your money back you will probably get 143 base cards including inserts. Get the big picture yet. You pay less but end up getting more.
Now I understand that not everybody is out to collect cards. Some people want to make money out of the hobby. But for the true collectors out there, think before you burn your money.

Baseball card: To Collect or Not to Collect

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So I hear the baseball card collectors complaining.

“The hobby is not what it used to be.”

First they are complaining that companies are overproducing cards. Now they

complain they are producing too many one of ones. So which one is it? They say that the baseball card hobby is no longer for the kids.

While I have to agree to some extent I also have to disagree. There is plenty of cheap baseball cards aimed for the young collectors. Topps produces boxes of cards that retails from forty to fifty dollars. Upper deck also produces cards in almost the same range. While both companies make boxes of cards that retails for up to hundreds of dollars they also make boxes with harder hits that retails much cheaper.

           Prices of cards seem to be too much? I have seen cards from 1970’s sell in the range of one dollar to twenty dollars. Carlton Fisk, Robin Yount, George Brett, Nolan Ryan the list goes on and on. Then there is the graded beauty of these cards. A PSA 10 of any of these superstars will set you back a grand or two.

           There are always people that have that nostalgia of looking at their old baseball card collections. The cards are all in order neatly tucked into a binder hidden away in a dark corner so the sunlight won’t damage it. They have the sets made from Topps dating back to the 1950’s all the way to the 1990’s. These are the same collectors that started at a young age. They bought the cards for the bubble gum. They didn’t care about the cards, it was mommy and daddy that taught them the value of keeping their possessions in good condition. Or perhaps it was their mom that tossed out those thousands of dollars worth of cards in which case. I feel for you.

Then there are the player collectors. Perhaps you grew up idolizing Cal Ripken? A player collector will have thousands of cards of Cal Ripken. There will be one of ones that are impossible to get, but that is what collecting is all about. It’s a challenge, if we had everything handed to us and all we had to do was open our wallets and pay for it, what fun would would that be? That would be like paying the water bill. Doesn’t sound too fun does it?

What will the collectors complain of next? Oh I’m pretty sure they will find something to complain about. So what should the collectors of today buy? Anything they like to buy. I have seen people collect their childhood heroes and I have seen people collect a one of\one autographed card with a swatch of jersey that has five colors on it. As any arguments and complaints, we have to look at both sides. Just remember, you collect what makes you happy.