Welcome to the mysterious (and complex) world of modern sports cards.

For newcomers the modern hobby can be confusing. The sheer abundance of choices, card varieties, and collecting strategies can be both exhilarating and overwhelming. However, fear not, in this article we offer up the best advice to help you navigate the expansive realm of sports card collecting.

Whether you're a sports fan seeking to translate your passion into a collection or an aspiring sports card investor aiming to explore this growing market, these insightful tips aim to provide a bit of direction before you start your sports card journey.

While some of these may seem obvious, many new collectors neglect to heed the advice.

1. Do your research. Make sure to familiarize yourself with the different brands, sets and card types on the marketplace. The worst thing you can do is to blindly start buying packs and boxes. Even if you’re not into for the money, wasting your hard-earned dollars on worthless retail cards is never fun. Know what’s worth collecting and what’s deserves a hard pass.

2. Have a plan. Do you want to collect as a hobby/passion project, or do you want to make money? Maybe a bit of both? Do you know what players you want to collect? Based on the research you’ve done, crafting a plan and stay focused. Sure, you can just start buying cards to get your feet wet but know where you want to go and what you want to collect.

3. Create a budget: As within any hobby or activity, have a budget and stick with it. Sports cards can be an expensive hobby and it’s easy to get carried away, especially when you’re just starting out.

4. Get retail out of your system. Go through the retail phase knowing it’s a phase. Let’s face it, ripping retail packs is fun and suspenseful. It brings a bit of an adrenaline rush and dopamine hit. But remember, you’re likely losing money. Chalk this up as learning experience and know what to expect (not much). Sometimes the only way to learn is the hard way, just don’t make it the foundation of your card collecting strategy. Buying singles from places like eBay or your local LCS are a great alternatives.

5. Collect cards you like. In other words, get cards you WANT not cards you think you want. Don’t believe the hype on certain players and releases. Pick a favourite player or team and start collecting. Of course, chasing the hottest rookies is always fun, but don’t focus only on the latest hype players.

6. Always sleeve and protect rookies—especially parallels, Prizms, and Refractors. Just because you didn’t pull a Paolo, Chet, Cade, Scottie, or Mobley that doesn’t mean you got a dud. Some players take longer to develop, and some have been put in better positions to win and make an impact. Think about someone like Nikola Jokic. I am willing to bet he wasn’t a hot commodity until he was a hot commodity. The smart ones who sleeve and stashed likely have very valuable cards. Who knows maybe.

7. Stay organized: Once you start collecting its hard to stop. One day you might have 50-100 cards and the next day you’re looking at 1000s scattered across random binders, bins, and boxes. It can get overwhelming and chaotic. Document, track, and organize everything. There’s nothing worse than buying cards you already own or being unable to locate cards you want to sell.  

8. Pay attention. When I first start collecting, I was sorting cards and completely missed a Ja Morant /85 parallel card that was pulled. I knew it was a Prizm but didn’t realize it was a numbered card until a few weeks later. The back of the card is almost as important as the front, flip your card over and read! Whether you’re flipping or collecting, you never know, you might have a rare card on your hands.

9. Keep paying attention: The sports card market can change real quick. Make sure you’re staying on top of the latest hobby trends and developments. Knowing the general direction of the market will help you determine the best times to buy and sell your cards.
   

10. Remember to have fun! This doesn't have to be complicated or expensive. Remember, it's just colorful cardboard with pictures of athletes.