Official OS Sports Card Collecting Thread

[ubernoob]

I just threw official in there for fun.

So I started to really enjoy the new cards coming out. We all know how it hit the bust period in the late80s-mid/late 90s. There were hundreds upon hundreds of base sets, and oversaturation pretty much killed any value from that period.

Today's offerings are pretty decent though, with Topps and Bowman being pretty much the only licensed game in town.

There are some unlicensed sets (Panini National Treasures) comes to mind that do a pretty good job, but they are high end and for the "hit hunters".

So, my collecting friends, post your prized possessions, sets that you want/are looking for and basically anything else. We can gather here to discuss.

I'll start off. Just building my collection from scratch starting about a week ago... and I already have "made" more than I have paid for them. I will start off with my nicest card.

The Trout Auto/Relic w/ a 4-color patch and #18/25

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Followed by a Castro that is #03/10 and a Snider that is #02/10 (both are mini-card relics based on the 1975 Topps set)

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Now I present to you: My most boring $50 card.

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Also pulled this today. According to some people on eBay it's anywhere from 60-100. God bless short prints.

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[baumy300]

Re: Official OS Sports Card Collecting Thread

I know people have tried making sports card threads in the past, but I really hope this one sticks!

You have some nice, high end cards there. That Trout one is phenomenal.

When I get time, I'll throw in pics of mine.

Last week I bought an unopened box of 1996 Topps and pulled two Mantle refractors.

But seriously amazing cards.

[ubernoob]

Re: Official OS Sports Card Collecting Thread

I know people have tried making sports card threads in the past, but I really hope this one sticks!

You have some nice, high end cards there. That Trout one is phenomenal.

When I get time, I'll throw in pics of mine.

Last week I bought an unopened box of 1996 Topps and pulled two Mantle refractors.

But seriously amazing cards.

Damn that's a super nice pull. I was talking to the guy down at the shop today for a good half hour and he was telling a bunch of stories. Was really cool to listen to.

Are those the Mantle refractors that are based on the 1952 card set?

I got this in the same box that I got the Castro.

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On card auto based on the '52 set.

I really liked the 2011 Topps Lineage set, I have a full base set of that. This years newest product (just released yesterday I think) is the 2013 Topps Heritage based on the 1964 Topps set. Next years will be based on the '65. I do like the way that they are going back and paying tribute to those designs -- they're classic.

Can't wait to see what others here have.

[cubsfan203]

Re: Official OS Sports Card Collecting Thread

I haven't collected cards in a long time, but I enjoyed it. I'm the guy that absolutely never pulls anything good from packs. One time I did pull a highway robbery though. I bought a Geovany Soto card on eBay a long time ago on ebay for like $5. Then he got all hot and popular with the Cubs and I sold it for around $85. Obviously that card is pretty much worthless now.

When I have the time and money, I'd like to invest in some vintage cards again. I really want a Cy Young or someone of that caliber from the original T206 set.

[Blzer]

Re: Official OS Sports Card Collecting Thread

I used to collect baseball cards from about 8 - 12 years old. I still have all of them in albums and such. I'll take pictures of my binders later. I don't have more than most "baseball card collectors" I'm sure, but I sure impressed myself back when.

[ubernoob]

Re: Official OS Sports Card Collecting Thread

I haven't collected cards in a long time, but I enjoyed it. I'm the guy that absolutely never pulls anything good from packs. One time I did pull a highway robbery though. I bought a Geovany Soto card on eBay a long time ago on ebay for like $5. Then he got all hot and popular with the Cubs and I sold it for around $85. Obviously that card is pretty much worthless now.

When I have the time and money, I'd like to invest in some vintage cards again. I really want a Cy Young or someone of that caliber from the original T206 set.

I'm the same way as you with packs. This time around, I'm sticking to hobby boxes. Blowoutcards.com has pretty good prices on them on the internet. I've gotten some decent pulls (the Trout) from there, so it's not like the search the cases/boxes and give you the crappy ones.

Also, I'm starting to delve a bit into group breaks (where it's x amount of higher end cases, and you pay for a slot). They break like 1-3 cases of cards, which has a total cost in the thousands of dollars - but the cost is split up between 30 people who are each (either randomly assigned or pick a team, depending on how the break is run.)

I'll let you guys know how those go for me - it seems a fairly popular thing to do now. You take a risk, but that risk is limited in dollars. I think I paid a tish over $100 for 3 slots in a break of 2012 Panini National Treasures, which has some amazing cards in it.

I think my tax refund is going towards saving for a case of 2013 Topps Tribute though - that looks like a very high-risk / extremely high-reward potential. Not something I can just buy on a whim though.

As for the vintage sets... I've been thinking about also saving for at least a low-numbered set of the 1952 Topps. The cash for the high numbered set is out of my price range for now, but it could definitely be something worked on over time.

[baumy300]

Re: Official OS Sports Card Collecting Thread

Damn that's a super nice pull. I was talking to the guy down at the shop today for a good half hour and he was telling a bunch of stories. Was really cool to listen to.

Are those the Mantle refractors that are based on the 1952 card set?

I got this in the same box that I got the Castro.

Spoiler

On card auto based on the '52 set.

I really liked the 2011 Topps Lineage set, I have a full base set of that. This years newest product (just released yesterday I think) is the 2013 Topps Heritage based on the 1964 Topps set. Next years will be based on the '65. I do like the way that they are going back and paying tribute to those designs -- they're classic.

Can't wait to see what others here have.

Nice auto man.

The Mantle set is actually based on a number of different years Topps produced his cards. So it's cool they are both reprint refractors from different years.

Unlike you, I don't have as many new high end cards. I have spent my time (and money) buying all of the old hobby boxes or packs I could never find or afford as a kid. For example, I am buying a box of 1997 Topps Finest basbeball next because that was my favorite baseball set ever.

I also bought numerous boxes of 1997 Metal Universe baseball and football because in my opinion they were the most gorgeous cards ever created.

We should start doing box breaks on here dude

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Someday when I feel lucky I'll break a box of Triple Threads here

[ubernoob]

Re: Official OS Sports Card Collecting Thread

I'd be down for case breaks here. I'd like to keep it to a relatively small # per (so that it's not like 1 person with 1 team). Saving up and splitting the cost between like 5 people (with 6 teams each) would be a good way to go as well.

I do like the Triple Threads, but I have my eye on that 1 case of Tribute I may be able to get this year.

The cards I posted so far are pretty much all the cards I have worth noting - I literally just started collecting last week-ish. Got really lucky on a couple boxes.

[cubsfan203]

Re: Official OS Sports Card Collecting Thread

Do you collect anything in particular? Or just cards you like? The last time I got back into cards I started collecting Lou Brock. I still have like 10-15 different autograph cards, a ton of game used, and a rookie card of his graded PSA 6 sitting around somewhere.

That's the main reason I stopped though. It was hard to focus on one thing, there were just so many different things I wanted to do that it became too much. Now I look at cards as an investment, and the only ones that I see as worth it are vintage cards and Hall of Fame rookie cards.

[ubernoob]

Do you collect anything in particular? Or just cards you like? The last time I got back into cards I started collecting Lou Brock. I still have like 10-15 different autograph cards, a ton of game used, and a rookie card of his graded PSA 6 sitting around somewhere.

That's the main reason I stopped though. It was hard to focus on one thing, there were just so many different things I wanted to do that it became too much. Now I look at cards as an investment, and the only ones that I see as worth it are vintage cards and Hall of Fame rookie cards.

I'm diversifying a bit. Part of me is looking at cards as an investment and part of me is looking for enjoyment, so I will be doing a bit of both.

For instance, Aoki is one of my favorite players in the majors and I've made it a goal of mine to have a nice collection of his by years end. I also really liked the 2011 Topps Lineage set, so I bought 3 boxes of it. They're all (at least semi) sorted and I have a complete base set boxed up. They have 2 different unnumbered parallels for all 200 cards in the base set so I'd like to get those in good shape as well, for fun. Not sure you'll find too many people investing in Aoki stuff unless its for some weird set they're making.

As for the investment side, that's more about my love of baseball. Jumping in now with nothing to fall back on, its basically a little scouting exercise about picking who you think will have good long careers and building up a collection of them from there. There's always the old vintage card route there as well but those are much more stable, price wise so what you pay for them is most likely what you'd make by selling them.

[24]

Re: Official OS Sports Card Collecting Thread

I have been collecting for close to 12 years now. While I no longer buy as much as I used to I still make the occasional purchase. Here is the pride and joy of my collection. My ultimate Goal is to get one card from every season he played.

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[Redacted01]

Re: Official OS Sports Card Collecting Thread

I've got somewhere in the neighborhood of 15-20,000 cards... problem is, most are from the dark ages of the late 80's/early 90's. I'd be content if I could just get back what I invested in them. For now, they sit packed up in the closet. I do have some good ones in there, though, like rookie cards for Brett Favre, Ken Griffey, Jr., Randy Johnson, Jaomir Jagr, and who knows what else.

[jmik58]

Re: Official OS Sports Card Collecting Thread

Ah, the ol' sports cards. I'm a little sore to this topic as I spent most of my childhood collecting them, only to see my collection value disappear thanks to the wave of autographed and memorabilia cards.

I still look up some prospects from time to time and grab a few, but I don't as much anymore.

I think the best one I ever grabbed was a Felix Hernandez auto rookie card with a jersey patch or something like that. It's been that long since I've looked

[ubernoob]

I have been collecting for close to 12 years now. While I no longer buy as much as I used to I still make the occasional purchase. Here is the pride and joy of my collection. My ultimate Goal is to get one card from every season he played.

Spoiler

Nice Mantles.

By the way, after doing a bit of poking around... If you do happen to pick up the new Topps Heritage and get some cards with a black back... Keep them. They aren't #d, but they are a parallel to the set. They will only go up in value as people try to complete it, and early estimates put it as somewhere between 64-75 cards have the black backs for each card in the base set. I have 2 so far, so I'm trying to figure out more on these Venezuelans,

[PhilliesFan13]

Re: Official OS Sports Card Collecting Thread

I only collect the basic Topps sets. No Heritage or Chrome. I started watching baseball again back in late 2006, so over the past year I have bought the 2007-2011 Topps factory sets, and starting with 2012 I have been buying jumbo boxes for each series. I do an album for each year and for the update series I put two years together in an album since each set of those is only 330 cards. For example. 2007-2008 update series in one album, 2009-2010 in one album, and 2011-2012 in one album. I have a nice little system going and I enjoy it.

I've been on ebay for the past month buying all the short print variations that I didn't pull from the jumbo boxes myself. I am almost close to done the short prints for 2012 and the first series of 2013. I also like to collect certain insert cards that are part of Topps in the jumbo boxes.

I never used to collect like this when I was a kid. ubernoob, that Harper short print card you bought for $50 is one that I need. Haha. Couldn't bring myself to pay $50 for it though. The only card I have been considering paying a good amount of money for lately is the Skip Schumaker short print of the rally squirrel crossing home plate. That card has been making some people on ebay some nice cash.

This is going to be a great thread!