Jumping back in with both feet

[Carltopia]

Hello. New to this site, but long time sports card collector. I'm 50 now, but started collecting back in the 70's. Stopped collecting avidly in the late 90s, but still added some cards in the early 2000s. Haven't purchased any new cards in some time, but just recently started to review my collection and trying to organize and catalog it all over again after losing my Card Collector data on an old PC that crapped out on me.

Looking to start focusing my collecting habits a little more than when I was buying as much of everything I could afford back in the 80s and 90s. Once I know what I have and what I want to collect, would be open to possibly trading. Also looking into getting some of my more valuable cards graded and would love to hear from anyone that has done this before so I can get familiar with the process and what to expect.

Looking forward to being a part of this community. Thanks!

 

[captkirk42]

Welcome to the Zone.

Your story is a familiar one. It seems that many of us born from The '50s to '70s collected as young tots (during the Topps is the only game in town era) and then sometime during the "Junk Wax" era took a hiatus. Upon returning we find everything about the "hobby" changed. The cardboard being made today can hardly be called cardboard anymore.

I tend to avoid the graded stuff. When I first saw/heard about grading companies I didn't like the idea of the cards being entombed in plastic. From the financial end It costs to much to send in beloved cards to be graded (often returned at a disappointingly lower grade than anticipated.) It also takes a different kind of storage. Well actually just different size storage.

A good online cataloging/tracking site is the trading card database (tradingcarddb.com). If you prefer to keep stuff offline, I don't know what the best commercial software is.

 

[Carltopia]

Thanks! I recently registered and started cataloging my cards on the Trading Card Database. Seems to be working well so far. The pricing is sporadic, and I'm sure not completely up to date, but I'm using it more so that I know what I actually have in case somebody wants to make a trade. I haven't found any software that's out there that could possibly take the place of Card Collector. I contemplated joining Beckett and cataloging there so I had up to date prices, but it seems really expensive and meant more for dealers and hardcore hobbyists, rather than casual hobbyist like me.

As for grading, I've gone back and forth quite a bit. It seems pretty cost prohibitive, but for certain cards I own (especially autographed items I pulled from packs), I want to potentially increase the market value of the card if I choose to sell it (some I have no plans to). We'll see. I might visit a show that PSA is at and see how that all goes with some sample cards. I don't mind the card being encased, but would definitely have to get some different storage options.

Thanks for the response.

 

[franklinguy52]

Welcome to the site, if you have any questions feel free to ask. I collect pretty much everything but the Cincinnati Reds are my top priority so let me know what you have and what you are looking for.

 

[Mike]

Welcome aboard, @Carltopia!