$2500 to get started

[Leon]

You might at least consider looking way back at early vintage. It is a lot of fun and most of the times not only holds its value but it can increase nicely too. Lot's of Philly to collect too. This card has a value of around $250.00.

[1stBowman]

Originally Posted by KhalDrogo

Two cases of 2018 Update Hobby and the best 2011 Trout card you can find.

Good each/way bet there. Some speculative, some blue stock.

[1989FF]

Originally Posted by Archimedes

Maybe a stupid question, but what are "redemption cards?"

When they packed out the cards, a card was not yet made so they offer a redemption card for said card. Problem is they expire, can take years to fulfill or sometimes they never make the card and will give you a replacement at their choosing.

[Cubsfanp]

for $2500 i might consider starting with looking on craigslist to see if people have a collection for sale. You could start out with some nice finds to have time to look through, but you have to know what to look for.

[unclemonkey]

Originally Posted by mouschi

Welcome, Archimedes! Here is what I would do.

If I had $2,500 and was just starting out based upon what I know now, I would find what I love (there are many facets - vintage, rookies, graded, premium relics, ttm, player collecting, set collecting, etc.) and learn as much about the market on them before I spent a dime.

The truth of the matter is that you can make a good amount of money in virtually any avenue of this hobby ... well, aside from being a casual buster of wax, that is!

Once you find what you are passionate about and know the market, your $2,500 will go a lot further, and can be intentionally put toward something you are passionate about, without the guilt of blowing it on something you care little about / overpay for.

This may sound like I'm making an assumption that you want to make money and become a dealer, but I think everyone in this hobby wants to spend wisely. If you are married, it would also be good to show your wife that you are making wise purchases and eventually make money. That is what I call stress-free collecting

Good luck in whatever you do!

Probably should buy this guys book too... ^^^^^^

[epatmythes]

So, you're just getting back in after a 25 year hiatus and have $2500 to spend... this is what I'd do knowing how good the last 2 years of rookies have been with a little prospecting for the future as your boy ages...

First and foremost - 2011 Topps Update Mike Trout PSA 10 ~$550
Buy "the" card from when you last collected - 1989 Upper Deck Ken Griffey Jr. PSA 10 ~$450

That, knocks $1K right off the bat and get's you started nicely. Now, let's rip...

1 Hobby Jumbo box of 2018 Bowman Draft ~$225
2 Hobby boxes of 2018 Topps Heritage High Number ~$190
3 Hobby boxes of 2018 Topps Update Series ~$180
3 Hobby boxes of 2017 Topps Chrome ~$320

That takes care of another $915. So, you've got $585 left to spend.

So, not knowing how old your son is... If he was born before 2017, take $250 of the remaining money and buy the best RC you can from the year he was born. Otherwise, make a higher end splurge purchase, either a hobby box of 2018 Topps Museum Collection (~$230) or 2018 Topps Triple Threads ($~240).

With the remaining ~$335, use that money to get the best cards you pulled from the boxes professionally graded by either PSA or BGS.

Cheers, good luck & happy collecting!

[Archimedes]

Originally Posted by epatmythes

So, you're just getting back in after a 25 year hiatus and have $2500 to spend... this is what I'd do knowing how good the last 2 years of rookies have been with a little prospecting for the future as your boy ages...

First and foremost - 2011 Topps Update Mike Trout PSA 10 ~$550
Buy "the" card from when you last collected - 1989 Upper Deck Ken Griffey Jr. PSA 10 ~$450

That, knocks $1K right off the bat and get's you started nicely. Now, let's rip...

1 Hobby Jumbo box of 2018 Bowman Draft ~$225
2 Hobby boxes of 2018 Topps Heritage High Number ~$190
3 Hobby boxes of 2018 Topps Update Series ~$180
3 Hobby boxes of 2017 Topps Chrome ~$320

That takes care of another $915. So, you've got $585 left to spend.

So, not knowing how old your son is... If he was born before 2017, take $250 of the remaining money and buy the best RC you can from the year he was born. Otherwise, make a higher end splurge purchase, either a hobby box of 2018 Topps Museum Collection (~$230) or 2018 Topps Triple Threads ($~240).

With the remaining ~$335, use that money to get the best cards you pulled from the boxes professionally graded by either PSA or BGS.

Cheers, good luck & happy collecting!

This is a very specific, methodical, and useful recommendation. Thanks for taking the time to respond. My son was born in 2018, so the 2018 Topps Museum Collection or Triple Threads would be appropriate.

[ALBASKETBALL]

Originally Posted by epatmythes

So, you're just getting back in after a 25 year hiatus and have $2500 to spend... this is what I'd do knowing how good the last 2 years of rookies have been with a little prospecting for the future as your boy ages...

First and foremost - 2011 Topps Update Mike Trout PSA 10 ~$550
Buy "the" card from when you last collected - 1989 Upper Deck Ken Griffey Jr. PSA 10 ~$450

Spending $1000 on a Trout/Griffey PSA 10 RC would be my best advice as these are both iconic cards that can be the foundation of your collection moving forward.

Use this thread for reference if you would like to substitute Trout/Griffey for another player:
https://www.blowoutforums.com/showthread.php?t=1099263

[ThoseBackPages]

Originally Posted by epatmythes

So, you're just getting back in after a 25 year hiatus and have $2500 to spend... this is what I'd do knowing how good the last 2 years of rookies have been with a little prospecting for the future as your boy ages...

First and foremost - 2011 Topps Update Mike Trout PSA 10 ~$550
Buy "the" card from when you last collected - 1989 Upper Deck Ken Griffey Jr. PSA 10 ~$450

this is FANTASTIC advice!

buy the Trout NOW though, as baseball fever is near
the Griffey can wait until there is an eBay sale/coupon

[Archimedes]

Originally Posted by epatmythes

First and foremost - 2011 Topps Update Mike Trout PSA 10 ~$550

A quick search suggests that it's hard to find a 2011 Topps Update Mike Trout PSA 10 for ~$550?? Maybe a card shop would be better than eBay?

[epatmythes]

Originally Posted by Archimedes

A quick search suggests that it's hard to find a 2011 Topps Update Mike Trout PSA 10 for ~$550?? Maybe a card shop would be better than eBay?

Looks like they're making their upswing a little early this season. Before Christmas and up until approximately 2 weeks ago, that was the going rate... appears to be more in the $650-700 range now.

Shop, cardshow, Facebook group(s), or even the B/S/T forum here might be a better route than eBay ATM. If this upswing is real though, the longer you wait, the more you'll pay...

[Archimedes]

Originally Posted by epatmythes

If this upswing is real though, the longer you wait, the more you'll pay...

I suppose that's one of life's eternal quandaries!

[dio]

mantle/clemente/mays/aaron rookie the highest grade you can afford.

[parkerj33]

Buy Heritage....since you are coming back it will be the easiest to understand and enjoy. I have heard over the years from literally hundreds of people that re-energized their collecting bug by accidentally discovering heritage and opening packs - since Heritage offers the most authentic recreation of old-school collecting (short of buying old packs and opening them which is usually pricey!). 2019 heritage is releasign at end of february and mimics the 1970 design. Also plenty of older years heritage still available on the usual outlets (opened and unopened).

Full disclosure - I am biased and perhaps self-serving as i collect AND deal in heritage almost exclusively.

To get a taste of the newer stuff, you can't go wrong with Topps Flagship (aka series 1) releasing next week and also Bowman / Bowman Chrome (april timeframe).

[Bowman1951]

It looks like you've gotten many, many answers and there is very little more that I can add.

Just know I mimic your situation in almost every way....although I got back into the hobby in my late 30's because I was upset I didn't have any actual "hobbies" and it wasn't to share with any children because I didn't have any yet at the time.

So I started doing the same kind of research as you, what do *I* want to collect? I've got the income to do it now and I could literally start anywhere. I didn't have much understanding of the modern card market in 2017, in fact, it overwhelmed me a bit. There are so many more products than when we were kids.....and then there is the parallels, the numbering, the autos. It can be extremely dizzying for a newcomer.

But I DID always love vintage and was enamored by it, even though I owned very few cards prior to 1970 when I was a kid, only my father had a handful of them. So I got focused, what is the one iconic set that looks the greatest? Realizing that the Mantle and Mays rookies were in the 1951 Bowman set, I literally created a whole online persona and began collecting it once again.

I then discovered grading and how important it was for vintage so I decided to build a 1951 Bowman set. I'm a little over the quarter of the way done after a year and I've loved every minute of it. I've gotten into modern cards as well and now at least have an 8th grade level of understanding of that market, the more I read here the more I learn.

You'll probably want to get into modern packs with your kid, I totally get that. Ripping packs is an addicting little by-product of this industry. But just don't forget about the roots of the hobby and funnel the energy of what your grandfather may have collected, that's all I ask......even if it ends up being less than 5% of your collection.

[Beppler88]

Originally Posted by Archimedes

In case it helps, I'll give a little more context because I've been thinking about it during the past few days.

I'm a Philly guy and a big Philly sports fan. I love the Phillies and Eagles... perhaps too much!

So, from a vintage perspective, I'd love to get Phillies from the 1980 and 2008 championship years. I'd also love Eagles from 2018.

In the junk era, Frank Thomas was my target, so I wouldn't mind keeping that going.

In terms of current cards, I'd love Aaron Nola, Rhys Hoskins, and Carson Wentz. Harper and Machado are still unknowns, but Trout should be a modern-day target for me. I have no doubt that he'll be a Phillie someday and his hometown is close to where I live (funny enough, there's an LCS there).

Arch -- what you want to do -- the weekend of Mar 1, 2 and 3 is the 'Philly Show', a card show out at the Valley Forge casino. It's $8 to get in. Take only a little bit of your cash, but walk around and check out what you like. Plus, they have Eagles & Phillies stuff everywhere. They bus in Eagles players to sign auto's. Brian Dawkins might as well have a permanent room at the hotel.

There are usually three vendors selling boxes. Steel City is usually there. Often right behind Steel City is a guy named Steve Dickler who sells the same stuff as Steel City, but about $15 cheaper. You could spend 3 hours at the show, maybe $300, and at the end of the day have a much broader sense of what you might like.

-- Italian Marketing section of Philly

[dictoresno]

a few PSA 8 1993 SP Jeters while they are still between $300-400

[Geoff G]

Get a case of 18 Bowman’s best and a case of heritage high number and have some fun


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[whyconform]

...just buy what you like!

I don't know if you're looking to kill that 2500 in 1-2 purchases or drag it out over some time.

Just don't fall for high ebay buy it nows, or card show asking prices. Do some research on what things sell for at auction. take advantage of ebay bucks, combined shipping, etc.

Not all of us are in it for profit. I'm a collector....yes, some things went down in value (I'm an autograph collector, so mostly the modern guys as they sign a ton a year), but some have gone up....(older guys like Ruth/cobb/etc)

[bberns]

Buy less < 5 cards. I've spent about $25K since getting back into the hobby a year ago and my biggest regret is that I didn't focus on 10 or so cards.

[Gustomania]

IMO, I would start slow with your childhood hero or favorite player 25 years ago and build a basic Psa graded set. Who was your favorite player?

See how u feel after that.....I wouldn't advise busting wax aside from maybe 1 or 2 hobby boxes and get its out of your system so u understand why it's a losing proposition.

[abcd1234]

No ripping ever again... Just buy singles, autos, etc.

If I had $2500, I would diversify a little. Not buy super high end cards but as many worthy/cool cards as possible. I've always liked on card autos and signed baseballs.

One Modern player to remember when buying...Derek Jeter
One vintage player to remember when buying...Mickey Mantle

They just happened to play for the Yankees but there is a lot of history with that one team. Man, I'd even buy some older team sets of the yankees.

[Archimedes]

Originally Posted by Beppler88

Arch -- what you want to do -- the weekend of Mar 1, 2 and 3 is the 'Philly Show', a card show out at the Valley Forge casino. It's $8 to get in. Take only a little bit of your cash, but walk around and check out what you like. Plus, they have Eagles & Phillies stuff everywhere. They bus in Eagles players to sign auto's. Brian Dawkins might as well have a permanent room at the hotel.

There are usually three vendors selling boxes. Steel City is usually there. Often right behind Steel City is a guy named Steve Dickler who sells the same stuff as Steel City, but about $15 cheaper. You could spend 3 hours at the show, maybe $300, and at the end of the day have a much broader sense of what you might like.

-- Italian Marketing section of Philly

Thanks a lot! I didn't know about the show, but I'll definitely be there. I appreciate the heads-up!

[Archimedes]

Originally Posted by whyconform

...just buy what you like!

I appreciate your response, but I don't necessarily know if it's great advice. I doubt I'll make a profit in this hobby, but I'd like to at least be able to sell some cards to buy others. In other words, to recycle my capital. So, I need to buy what others like and what holds value. Otherwise, assuming I'm buying boxes of product that isn't widely liked, I'm just stuck!

[Archimedes]

Originally Posted by bberns

Buy less < 5 cards. I've spent about $25K since getting back into the hobby a year ago and my biggest regret is that I didn't focus on 10 or so cards.

But wouldn't this be boring? You've could've just gone out and bought the cards. Then what?