Sports Cards : Getting back into the hobby

A year is a long time in the world of collecting.......

After what has been a long time away from posting on this blog (with a house move, wedding and baby all happening in the last year) I’m back and into the wonderful world of collectibles once again.

Oddly enough in this time my collecting focus has shifted slightly from the world of comics (although that’s still an area I am involved in) to that of sports cards.

‘Wait? Sports cards - you mean that over saturated market of worthless cardboard’ I hear you cry?


You couldn’t be any further wrong.....

Being a parent is genuinely one of the most rewarding life experiences you can ever have, and in the early throws of this new role you have to be set for night feeds and sleepless nights. Being a night owl this was something I was more than equipped to do. It was on one of these late night sessions that I happened to stumble across some live NBA games on tv and a passion from 25 years ago was reignited.


Watching the games it immediately reminded me of the trading card hobby that dominated my youth, so needless to say I started browsing the NBA, NFL and MLB sports trading card market for a bit of nostalgia but what I found was something completely different.

It’s safe to say the landscape from the mass produced card sets of the 90’s has moved into high end products dominated by the addictive chase of signatures and low numbered print runs of legends and future stars of the sporting world.

There is a real buzz around hot rookies with limited cards changing hands for thousands of dollars. Some boxes of cards cost hundred of dollars containing one pack with just 5 cards but the potential inside them make them worth taking a chance on.

Many of the boxes on sale are out of reach for Joe Public to simply purchase so this is where the fun hobby element of box breaks comes into force. A box break is simply where you buy a team or place in a live opening of a box streamed on Facebook or YouTube and cards pulled for the team you have (or are drawn against) are then yours. Of course certain teams / players can be more pricey than others but that’s down to you as an individual to choose what money you wish to put into it.

Another avenue to go down is the purchasing cards for your collection route via channels such as eBay, Facebook, COMC and Beckett Marketplace. This is where if you decide to collect a certain player or want to try and invest on a player or set you can track down what you need - again some cards are worth much more than others almost immediately whilst others grow or drop in value over time.

With the way technology has advanced cards (much like the comic market) also have grading options so like slabbing a comic book you can also protect your cards by getting them graded via market leaders like PSA and Beckett.

Added to this are the ‘instant’ channels with Topps and Panini offering limited prints and ‘24 hours to purchase’ cards before they are taken off sale forever - some of which are signed by the superstars just adding to the demand.

Redemptions are also now common place in packs where you may find a card you need to redeem a code on. You then wait whilst the card company produce the card or get it signed by the relevant sports star.

The market - it’s safe to say - needs to be studied before diving right in but it’s certainly fascinating.

So with all this being added to this site now will be sports cards posts.

I genuinely believe the market has room to grow further and the buzz of tracking down various cards to add to your set or watching what you have brought into become the ‘hot ticket’ is great fun.
The nostalgia factor will undoubtably play a part in the rise and much like that late night I had a few months ago which hooked me back in others will stumble across it and look to collect once again whilst bringing a whole young generation into the hobby too as their parents get them into the wonderful world of cards.

I will post some of what I’ve been collecting in the coming weeks but for now if you enjoyed this post or are already part of this fascinating market let me know in the comments.