Tips On Investing In Sport Cards

*takes a sip of coffee, smiles behind the mug feeling a little better today and knowing that Christmas is only a week away*

Investing is a major part of the "New Hobby" as I call it.

Who's going to be the next big player? Who is already in a spot to turn things up to invest into in hopes of making big bucks?  Which product should be cleaned off shelves to invest in so I can flip it for more?

INVEST! INVEST! INVEST! MONEY...MONEY...MONEY!!!!! (picture Andy voicing the pig off from Toy Story)

I have never touched on my investing in this hobby so figured while the topic arose, I would.

So here are some of my HOT investment tips,

• INVEST YOUR MIND: Invest your mind into the hobby and decide which path you want to go in collecting. There are many roads to travel in what you want to collect and why you were brought into collecting. Invest your mind into what you like to collect and not follow the path of those most followed. Be yourself in the hobby by investing your mind into what you like, not what others do.
• INVEST YOUR TIME: Invest your time in your collection. Sort, trade, enjoy, and do it all over again. Investing your time into what you collect is the best investment you will make.
• INVEST IN OTHERS: Spending time with others online, if you have an LCS or store closer do that to, has been a great investment for me. I have made serious friendships over my time online and these friends have become better friends then the ones I supposedly have in real life. Not that these online friends are not real people.
• INVEST IN STORAGE: Investing in the way you store and showcase your collection will give you that happy feeling that your collection won't get ruined and gives you a way to "show off" your masterpiece.
• INVEST IN SHARING: There is no greater feeling than sharing your hobby with others and what you collect. On top of that, sharing can also mean sharing cards with others. If you have something that you don't want and you know someone else will enjoy, trade it or simply just send it to them. Putting smiles on others is a worthy investment that will make you and the other person feel amazing.
• INVEST IN CHILDREN IN THE HOBBY: The only way this hobby can continue to grow and survive is if we invest our time in the next generation. Telling them to collect to make money isn't the best approach. Share with them why you enjoy collecting. What collecting can mean to them. You know, memories, nostalgia, etc. Buy them cards, send them cards, help them learn and enjoy the hobby and all that it has to offer.

I hope these tips were handy for you. It's how I abide in the hobby every day and strongly believe in my investments. 

Oh, wait, you wanted to know about how to make money off cards by investing in the hobby and which players or products will give you that. My bad, I don't do that here. I am a collector. I collect, trade and show off sport cards. I don't buy cards to flip. I don't sell cards even. I hoard little pieces of cardboard with players pictures on them and I enjoy doing so.

I may also invest my into blogging about the hobby, Tweeting about the hobby, Facebook pages I run about the hobby and coffee that I drink while I do all of that about the hobby. I invest so much into coffee. 

*takes a sip of the investment. So worth it*

I think the closest to that kind of investing, or what others may consider investing money wise, I get is grabbing some Bowman Chrome baseball every year. That's not to buy and flip, that's simply just to add some rookie cards to my collection. I try to have one of every player.

This year I was able to land a 2020 Bowman Chrome Mega Box. This is only the second Mega Box I have ever opened. The first one was very successful with 2020 Prestige football so hoping this baseball Chrome is just as lucky.

*takes a sip, begins to rip*

 

Each box of 2020 Bowman Chrome comes with 35 cards. There are five 5-card packs of  Bowman Chrome baseball along with two 5-card packs of mojo refractors. Each of these boxes range from $45 to $60 per mega.

The base card design is just chromed up Bowman.

I pulled a Trout and Gleyber as my best base. Both are PC players so that works out perfect.

Now onto the rookies or as some may call them, investments.

Dubon

Aquino

And Robert. I was surprised to find him honestly.

 

and all of the rest

Now onto the two mojo refractor packs *takes a sip to rip again*

(Jackson is a name I have heard)

And I even pulled an autograph. Not sure if they are guaranteed but it was a nice find regardless.

 

Encarnacion autograph. On card. I don't know this player but looking at the team I can't imagine he is a very hot prospect.

*enjoyed the rip, so takes a sip*

To close, I don't want it to sound like I judge those that do choose to invest money in the hobby. That wasn't the point of this post. I just think my investments are less riskier and more rewarding for you in the long run. Take my advice or not, I will still be standing by it and be sipping on my biggest investment while I do so.

Can't Believe I Did That

 

*takes a sip of freshly brewed coffee. Mmmm that first sip tingles the tongue and awakens the body like nothing else can. Today is going to be a good day.*

Back in August, I made a mistake. I did the one thing I told myself I wouldn't do, I bought off from a flipper. It goes against everything I believe in, but I was in desperate times of needing something to open. I needed to itch the fix. With no wax retail in months and my father not finding anything to trade to me, this was the last resort. 

I felt like I had sold my soul to the devil.

At that time I really wanted to open some Prestige. Its a favorite of mine and something I had opened every year of since its production in the 90's.

My break today of 2020 Prestige, may my soul burn forever, is a Mega Box. A Mega Box has 40 cards and includes 2 autographs. There are 10 cards per pack and 4 packs per box. 

The base set is a simple design as always. This years edition features 300 base cards with 200 being veterans and 100 being rookies.

You find quite a few rookies in every Mega, at least for mine. Some of the lesser known players are actually Sp's in the base set and are 20x tougher to find than the top rookies. Some names to keep an eye out on are,  Antonio Gandy-Golden, Laviska Shenault Jr and Zack Baun.

Found some Love, but the way is Rodgers is playing it may be some time before he hits the field.

And found Justin Herbert who at the time I didn't think would be playing as well as he is.

*takes a another sip of coffee, not that I haven't been sipping the whole time but didn't want you to wonder. Moving onto the parallels*

There are always a good group of parallels to find in Prestige. For 2020 you can find the following for veterans,

BASE XTRA POINTS PARALLELS: Green, Blue, Red /249, Purple /100, Gold /75, Orange /50, Platinum /25, Black 1/1, and Printing Plates 1/1.

The rookies have different parallels which are,
ROOKIES XTRA POINTS PARALLELS: Green, Red /399, Blue /299, Purple /100, Gold /75, Orange /50, Platinum /25, Black 1/1, and Printing Plates 1/1.

Here is gold as you can see by the gold foil on the base.

Sweet! PC pull of a purple parallel /100 of Saquon

*takes another sip before moving onto inserts*

Power House! Saquon is just that when he is healthy. There are 20 cards in this insert set to collect.

Highlight Reel has 20 cards to collect. I pulled Kupp and Jacobs.

Old School has most of those legendary names you have heard in NFL history with 30 to collect.

Impressions has 20 cards of players who made the most impact for their teams immediately

*my hits are next. Always such a risk buying something like this especially when you pay above retail for it. But, here we go...sips coffee aggressively trying not to slurp it everywhere*

My first autograph was as I expected...

Who in the Sam Hill is Jaylon Johnson...oh look a defensive player as well...ugh.

The next pull though...

Not too shabby at all! Ozzie Newsome autograph /5 with HOF inscription. I won't complain about that one.

*feels good about this break. Smiles behind the mug and notices that the cup is empty. So grabbed another cup to finish up this post*

The break I would give an A+ on. Low numbered HOF autograph, Herbert rookie, two PC hits. Can't argue with this kind of success on a retail box break.

Since this one time purchase in August, I haven't ever bought from a flipper again. I simply can't support those who clean off shelves and mark it up. The more any of us buy from them, the more they will continue to do that. So let's take a stand.

Considering most of my 2020 has been spent not opening that much, especially the last few months, I finally realized I can survive without ripping that much anymore. Until at least this hobby comes back down to earth again.

However, if they start clearing off shelves of coffee, then we will have a problem.