I wanted to know what has been the best route that people have taken in terms of collecting.
From what I’ve read up on, and seen in videos, it seems that the best thing you can do as a collector is collect the biggest cards your looking for, first?
From what I understand, it’s because the biggest card is going to go up in price while you’re trying to collect the smaller cards, so by the time you get try to get the biggest card, it’s REALLY expensive or at a point where it’s hard to part with for those that do have it.
So, yeah, looking for some information on the many experiences people have had, and what has worked out best for them. Also, it’s good to know what hasn’t worked well so I’d like to know what to avoid doing too!
As for what I’m trying to collect, my main big goal is to have a PSA 10 of my top 100 pokemon.
As for my short term goals, I’m just trying to get my favorite cards of my top 10.
Hm probably the best thing to do is once you have a goal, purchase what is available that helps you progress towards the goal if it is within a price range that you can afford and are comfortable paying.
For real though, there is no right answer. Some people go for cheaper cards first, some go expensive first, some are opportunistic and only buy when there’s a deal. All options are right
I’d start small. Collect those top ten cards you mentioned and see what joy they bring you. If condition and grade are what you’re seeking, start with an affordable option. See what you enjoy about owning the cards.
I’ve found in my collecting experience that sometimes the journey meant more to me than owning the card.
I would start collecting with what you really like, get an idea of the whole process. Don’t worry too much about buying the bigger or smaller cards first, even if the bigger card grew in value chances are the smaller cards grew aswell, prices are always relative.
In a way you are right that the prices are going up in the long term but that doesn’t mean you should blow all your spare money each month on overpaying for a single PSA 10.
Collect what you like but always try to buy at value and adjust for your budget so your money is going further. E.g you like Neo Genesis but don’t have thousands to spend on PSA 10s so go for raw cards or lower grades. You can always trade your way up later.
Back in the day I used to bid on auctions for joblots on ebay, keep the ones I wanted and sell the rest using the profit to buy more. Would also buy cards I liked as singles then moved onto sealed packs and graded cards to keep in my collection. Nowadays I don’t really see any good deals as joblots because there’s just too many people bidding on them. Now I basically just buy anything I like at a good price and add it to my collection whilst listing some other things that I have doubles of at optimistic prices.
If I was starting out just now then I would probably try and take advantage of the influx of PSA cards coming in 2021 which is almost certainly going to leave a lot of cheap slabs on ebay as all the flippers and people that need the money back rush to get rid of them.
I don’t think OP is asking what he should collect, but rather how he should go about collecting what he likes.
I think you’re right in general, but every card is different in terms of supply and potential growth (or in some cases, retrace). I would start by getting an idea of what the general supply is of the cards you want to collect and do some research about them to better prioritize them. I think it’s a good idea to start with the rarer cards, but if they don’t show up often, move down to the less rare/cheaper cards with a backup plan for acquiring the rarer cards when the opportunity arises. This could be in the form of either setting aside money for that opportunity, or a plan to sell other acquisitions you’ve made along the way (e.g. lower graded copies, the more common 10s, etc.) to afford the rarer card. This way, you can still be adding to your collection and it’s possible that they’ll also increase in value over time to help you buy your grail card when the time comes.
Of course, spend responsibly and within your means, and enjoy the journey!
So it really depends because everyone has a different collecting focus and therefore the resources/time needed are going to vary. It also heavily depends on how serious you are about this hobby and collecting, do you want to drop hundreds/thousands of dollars on something you’re not sure you’ll see through?
That being said, the most important part is understanding what you want to collect and frankly that takes time. I think it’s absolutely normal for collecting interests to shift so when I started I tried to buy a little bit of everything. That way I got exposed to a lot of different parts of the hobby and I could figure out what I enjoyed. I’ve found in the past that if I just jumped fully into 1 aspect of a hobby, I’d later on regret it a bit because the initial draw of it wore off and something I discovered later on is what I truly enjoyed. Once I figure out what I’m looking to collect long term my approach has always been to go for the cards that are either the most expensive, the most rare, or some combination of the two. By and large I don’t really care about price since most of what I want is relatively attainable for me, instead rarity is much more of a concern. Some cards that I like to collect don’t pop up too often so securing it when they do is key.
In other words I’d suggest starting small and building up to the bigger stuff. It’s easy to be 0-100 in a hobby at first but if you’re buying big ticket items you’re really hoping to be in the hobby long term and that takes some time to figure out. Don’t rush it and let the initial craze wear off before you commit to buying anything huge. That was my approach and I’m pretty happy with it.
I opted not to go biggest first and go severely spanked for it. Other times I’m sure it works the other way. Markets are dynamic and you need to assess the tradeoff of current pricing between the things you’re looking at coupled with how difficult it will be to get them. There were basically a bunch of the 1st Ed base holos that were near impossible to find a seller for, and then recently they’ve flooded the market. People will realize later this may have been one of the only reasonable chances to pick them up, but right now it looks easy to get them, I mean they are in every pwcc block! Gold stars too!
There probably isn’t a clear cut answer here, do some research, compare your wants and then make your best guess as to what is aligned better currently
I went the route of only going after deals in the beginning. Rather than focusing on one card, I went after one set or a group of sets from an era. I was always looking for ways to break even while holding as many cards as possible towards my long term collection goal. After a few years I ended up with complete sets that I never originally set out to collect, but liquidating them helped me immensely toward my long term goal. And I’ve gotten to enjoy those cards for a long time.
There are many “dos” that vary depending upon your goals, your comfort level, your capital, the market (which always translates to hindsight in terms of which decisions were “best at the time”), your knowledge base, your instincts (which people usually underestimate and is informed by knowledge/research) and how many options you are able to utilize at any given time. In this respect, I find it most helpful to use a “don’t” list.
For eg, don’t overpay for non-graded cards. In my experience, I’ve lost as many as I’ve won buying through online photos, and so on average it makes sense to buy graded even if you want to crack them out for binders. That being said, neither should you overestimate a grading company’s ability to accurately grade all the cards they have graded, or underestimate the differences between “how” grading companies grade. Don’t underestimate the usefulness in learning how to evaluate cards or a card’s grade on your own. Grades have a huge impact on value spending and stretching your resources.
Don’t blindly follow market trends. The world is full of success stories in which an individual ignored or opposed prevailing majority opinion. Few things make me more nervous than when the greater collecting majority shares an opinion I happen to hold on cards, sets or trends. Going against the grain at times and having some counterintuitive actions can lead to surprising, unexpected, and extremely satisfying results. As in poker, it’s better to be lucky than good, and as long as outcomes are influenced by factors outside our control, luck favors the bold.
Don’t try and time the market. Make your best decisions and move on.
Don’t be afraid to make mistakes, because you will. Don’t take the generosity of others for granted, or fail to evaluate when the self interest of other collectors may be at work when seeking their advice. Lastly, don’t forget the massive amount of work and time investment others have made to build this awesome community. Scott and Gary and a few others here should never have to buy their own drinks ever again as far as I’m concerned.
What hasn’t worked was I originally started out opening every collection box that came out… Waste of time, money, and horrible pulls.
What did work was easily finding 9/10 canidates of Rainbow Rares I easily bought cheap as singles. As well as whatever other modern cards I wanted. Opening packs is not the way to go unless you have a unlimited budget or don’t care about what cards you get.
As far as vintage. I did great but also missed a ton of opportunities but at the end of the day I’m very happy. I skipped graded cards when I was building my collection. I bought a light played to near mint copy of every 1st edition holo. I also went thru with collecting every era. WOTC, Ex era, Diamond and Pearl/heart gold era, Black and White, X and Y, Sun and Moon, as well as Sword and Shield.
Now that my binder collections are complete for the most part I’m going after more graded cards. It’s easier spending big amounts on one card now that I have all the other ungraded cards I wanted.
This was all written from strictly a collectors perspective. Financially it might have been better buying only graded cards.
I’m no expert, but if I had to give advice about collecting to my “old self”, I’d definitely tell myself: have very clear goals and complete them one at a time.
For example, four years ago I decided that I wanted to collect an Evolutions complete set, but I hadn’t made a decision about language. So I bought an English booster box but then I saw that Korean boxes were cheaper and decided to complete the set with Korean cards. In the end, I realised that Korean cards didn’t have the same appeal for me and that I didn’t like a set with mixed languages, so I had to buy more English cards to finally complete the set in English. The result: I completed the set and I was very happy about that, but I spent much more money than if I had set clear rules language-wise from the beginning.
Also, I started too many sets at once so 4 years later I’m STILL trying to complete old goals, which annoys me a bit cause I can’t really enjoy new things that are released as I’m still busy with things from 4 years ago.
So those would be my two top pieces of advice for my old self, and for you if it helps you
Totally agree with Alicia here. It’s easy to get distracted because there are always so many new things that might interest you whether it’s modern or some older cards you never knew existed. I would research a ton to find out what things you really love and then set clear goals and focus on completing them. I know it’s easier said than done, but that’s my two cents!
I’ve been back in the collecting scene about a year now and the one thing I’ve told myself is appreciate what you’ve got. You’ll see $100k cards everyday on social media but you dont have to have those cards to enjoy the hobby. A PSA 8 can bring you the same joy a PSA 10 can. Dont put yourself in a bad financial spot to flex money you dont have. The expensive stuff will come if thats what you want to collect.
Modern pokemon has put out some awesome art works that go under the radar because of vintage.
Collect what you enjoy and remember it’s your collection it doesn’t matter what others think about it as long as you like it.
Welcome to the hobby! Keep us posted on what you find/collect
I would suggest make a written list (not mental) and write down your willingness to pay for each card and see what you can find. This is a good way to assess your value vs. market value and find the best deal for yourself. It also helps prioritize and not get distracted by a ‘shiny’ card your randomly stumble upon.
