Helping an Unsubscriber with Card Collecting Advice!
A quick blast of sports card collecting advice hoping to help an unhappy Hobbyist!
We don’t like readers going away unhappy, so we tried one last gasp of sports card collecting advice to help a recent unsubscriber!
Each Happy Hobby Sports Card Newsletter For Collectors has a handful of great sports card subjects, helping sports card collectors working with limited budgets!
This Week’s Newsletter Highlights!
⚾🏈🏀 HELPING AN UNSUBSCRIBER WITH CARD COLLECTING ADVICE!
⚾ SPORTS CARD TRIVIA!
As an Amazon Associate and a member of the eBay Partner Network, I earn commissions from qualifying purchases. Here’s a link to my Amazon storefront where I link to all my favorite card-collecting supplies. Thank you for supporting our affiliations by making purchases through us! Also, all sports card images come courtesy of BuySportsCards.com.
⚾🏈🏀 HELPING AN UNSUBSCRIBER WITH CARD COLLECTING ADVICE!
Earlier this week, a gentleman unsubscribed from our Happy Hobby Sports Cards Newsletter, then sent me an email saying he likes the YouTube channel, but he wasn’t a fan of the newsletter. He said he emailed me and didn’t get a response, and that he’s looking for guidance to help increase his income for retirement. He also mentioned he tried to contact several other YouTube folks with no responses.
I felt bad for the guy, and I empathized how he felt lost out there. I emailed him a quick breakdown of advice I give new sports card collectors, which I’m turning into this week’s newsletter!
I’d also like to mention, though, to all the other subscribers, rather than just email me on the side, make a comment on the newsletter or video, and let everyone offer some advice! This is a Happy Hobby, full of people who love to talk about cards! Post a question in the chat! Post a comment on the newsletter! You’ll get plenty of other Happy Hobbyists ready to chat!
Here’s the advice I offered off the top of my head – and I hope it helps some other new collectors out there who are growing frustrated in this hobby!
Drive-By Sports Card Collecting Advice (Not Financial Advice!)
My suggestion for those wanting their cards to help supplement their retirement is:
Buy graded vintage rookie cards.
Buy the best grade you can afford.
If it’s not a rookie card — buy the earliest card you can afford.
Specifically, buy cards of the greats: Hank Aaron, Roberto Clemente, Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, Jim Brown, Walter Payton, Tom Brady, Jerry Rice, Michael Jordan, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, Larry Bird/Magic Johnson, Wayne Gretzky, Bobby Orr and Mario Lemieux.
Happy Hobby?
Collectors need to remember to take some time to enjoy their cards.
Display them.
Study them.
Research them.
Consider your hobby happiness as your dividends!
Cardboard Savings Account
Imagine the money you spend on good cards (not ripping or breaking) as money deposited into a tiny Cardboard Bank. Our collection is small (unlike a house), mobile (unlike property) and tangible (unlike a mutual fund).
When you need to withdraw some money from your Cardboard Savings Account, you can sell a card!
Cards are interesting. They’re fun. If you don’t enjoy card collecting – put your money into something else!
How To Improve Your Collection’s Value
An “Investor’s Grade” is a card with a grade one number above the decade. That means a PSA 8 of a card from the ’70, and a PSA 6 of a card from the ‘50s.
Always buy the most centered card of that grade you can find.
Protect Your Collection (Your Money!)
Buy a fire bag and a fire safe. When you leave town and want to protect your expensive cards, place them into a fire bag, then place that into the fire safe.
Why Vintage Instead of Modern or Ultra-Modern?
The hobby is adding more collectors than it’s losing right now, and Fanatics is about to market like never before. Collectors are complaining loud and clear about this possible monopoly, yet they all continue to hang around, because your hobby doesn’t have to run through Fanatics if you don’t want it to.
While many new collectors look to ripping new product and joining breaks, the natural progression of a card collector is to start back-filling and buying cards from their youth. Then they start branching out into other eras, including the ‘50s and ‘60s, and eventually pre-war vintage and tobacco cards. While all collectors might never get to this stage, vintage is always cool.
Vintage cards get collected by more people than just collectors — other investors, antique dealers, random sports fans that collect stuff for their teams only, etc.
Plus, Hank Aaron isn’t going to get arrested for assault and Jim Brown isn’t going to tear his ACL.
Let us know what you think about our card collecting world and share some of your sage advice in the comments below!
⚾ BASEBALL CARD TRIVIA!
Send me the answer to this question – you could win this free card from me: 1996 Topps Mickey Mantle Commemorate No. 7!
For the first time since 1995, Topps produced a No. 7 card that had a non-Yankees player on it — what was the year and card?
Email your answer to gonoscards@gmail.com and you can win this1996 Topps Mickey Mantle Commemorate No. 7 card! Rather than take the first person who answers it right, I’m going to do a random drawing of all the people who answer this question before midnight, Friday, Aug. 22. The winner will be announced in the Aug. 28 newsletter.
From August 7 newsletter: Error cards are often prized by collectors for their rarity and quirkiness. What unusual mistake happened on Aurelio Rodriguez's 1969 Topps card? Prize: 2021 Topps Chrome Alec Bohm 35th Anniversary 86BC-14. Answer this question before midnight, Friday, Aug. 15. The winner will be announced in the Aug. 21 newsletter.
From July 31 newsletter: What card is considered the first football card ever – from 1888, picturing a Yale college football player? The Answer: 1888 N162 Goodwin Champions Harry Beecher. Prize: 1990 Score Joe Montana Hot Gun #1 card. The winner: Martina Fasano! Congrats, Martina!
Coming Next Week!
⚾ I CAUGHT A (MIKE) TROUT!⚾WHAT IT TOOK TO HAUL IN THE BEST RC OF 2010s!
🏈⚾🏀 SPORTS CARD TRIVIA!
***Important Card-Collecting Articles on DavidGonos.com***
Connect with David Gonos on:
Email me: mailto:gonoscards@gmail.com
Have a #HappyHobby!
Podcast Music: "I dunno" by grapes - 2008 - Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution (3.0)
Here are my thoughts on cards and money/value:
1. Avoid modern cards, specifically modern rookies. Why? The odds of a modern rookie actually making it to the HOF are slim to none, maybe 1-2 from each rookie class has a shot, and that is being generous with the odds. What that means is that each year/release when we come up with out Top 10 rookies to collect or buy, 9 of them will not make it. From a money standpoint, that means if you invest $20 to get a nice numbered RC of each of the top 10, you could only count on one of them to hit it big, meaning that card would need to increase in value to over $200 to just potentially break even. You could also hope to pull a unicorn card out of unopened box, but most likely that will barely cover the cost of the box, or other boxes you bought and missed out on.
2. Prospect Cards: This has potential to make some profit, if you can identify a guy who is 18 and has the talent and potential that noone else sees and will be the next guy to hit the MLB at 21 years old. If you are good at identifying and researching stats, you may be good at picking who will make it, but again the odds are against you. But, at least with prospect cards there is a chance to flip them for profit each time the prospect makes the jump from one level to the next.
3. Vintage HOF cards (graded): Graded vintage cards of HOF and or Rookies are to me like investing in bonds. They will hold their value over the long run, unlike the categories above, but after the return to the hobby in 2020 of many, they have been marked up in price already so it is hard to find one you can buy and get it for a steal. Winning an auction is still possible, but these are still good to buy and hold, they should not decrease but dont expect crazy increases already.
4. Vintage HOF cards (ungraded): This may be the best way to make some money, but it is risky. An ungraded or raw vintage HOF card can often be found for cheaper than its graded sibling. The money potential comes in if you can spot a card in great condition (centered, sharp corners, etc.) and buy it, you can potentially get it graded and sell for a profit. You need to be very good at identifying good looking cards from reputable sellers and understand how much you are paying for it raw as compared to how much it sells for at the grade you are hoping to get. The delta needs to be well worth the cost of shipping grading. The big risk here is that the cards is in the condition you think it is based on just photos and that the grader sees it as you do, which if you have seen David and I submit cards for grading, it appears to be luck of the draw.