The Hobby Boards

Hey guys. I am a new collector (less than a year) and I collect Jokic and the Thompson Twins. With Amen and Ausar coming into the league this year, I am trying to figure out a plan / method to collecting their rookie cards. There are so many sets, so many parallels It is though to get a grip of what I should be collecting. So I am wondering, What are your methods for collecting rookies in this era of Panini collecting?

I usually make a list of 5-10 or so "must-have" cards. I find having a focus enables you to get better cards in the end. For instance, I could buy twenty $25 cards - but if I just put all that into one card I'd end up with a much nicer $500 card or a couple $250 cards. I also set strict limits on what i'll pay for cards to keep myself from overpaying due to FOMO.

Ctcards131 wrote: ↑Tue Jun 13, 2023 11:10 am Hey guys. I am a new collector (less than a year) and I collect Jokic and the Thompson Twins. With Amen and Ausar coming into the league this year, I am trying to figure out a plan / method to collecting their rookie cards. There are so many sets, so many parallels It is though to get a grip of what I should be collecting. So I am wondering, What are your methods for collecting rookies in this era of Panini collecting?

Be prepared to wait. Panini hasn't even finished releasing last year's rookies - lots of high end products for those guys are not available yet.

And when this year's class finally gets released, don't blow your stash on the first products that come out. Those are the lowest of the low end, to put it bluntly. Even when the better sets are released, exercising patience and doing a lot of research should serve you well.

BTW, I like Amen too. Freakish finishing ability, but can he shoot?

Smalltown wrote: ↑Tue Jun 13, 2023 11:35 am I usually make a list of 5-10 or so "must-have" cards. I find having a focus enables you to get better cards in the end. For instance, I could buy twenty $25 cards - but if I just put all that into one card I'd end up with a much nicer $500 card or a couple $250 cards. I also set strict limits on what i'll pay for cards to keep myself from overpaying due to FOMO.

Yeah I didn't really know what I was doing when I started so I have a bunch of cards for players I don't care about. Trying to sell them off and take that money, for nicer Thompson cards coming up. I like that idea of saving up for 1 or 2 nicer cards more so than having 15 $20 or so cards.

NY_AL wrote: ↑Tue Jun 13, 2023 11:39 am

Ctcards131 wrote: ↑Tue Jun 13, 2023 11:10 am Hey guys. I am a new collector (less than a year) and I collect Jokic and the Thompson Twins. With Amen and Ausar coming into the league this year, I am trying to figure out a plan / method to collecting their rookie cards. There are so many sets, so many parallels It is though to get a grip of what I should be collecting. So I am wondering, What are your methods for collecting rookies in this era of Panini collecting?

Be prepared to wait. Panini hasn't even finished releasing last year's rookies - lots of high end products for those guys are not available yet.

And when this year's class finally gets released, don't blow your stash on the first products that come out. Those are the lowest of the low end, to put it bluntly. Even when the better sets are released, exercising patience and doing a lot of research should serve you well.

BTW, I like Amen too. Freakish finishing ability, but can he shoot?

His vision and passing is crazy too! I like the look of the stroke for both of them so I have hope. Ausar might have a better impact right away with more ability to play off ball and better shooting.
On another note, do you think that they upcoming patches will be game used again? I absolutely hate that the only way to get a game used rookie patch is in the crazy expensive flawless set.

I'll do the rookie set in Donruss Optic when it finally comes out at the end of the season next year but only do Optic as a Chrome replacement.
I have been picking up a TON of Chrome OTE and Chrome McDonald's All American stuff lately though as it's insanely cheap.

Hobby boxes of OTE are going for around $70-$80 per hobby box, and McDonald's All American are going for around $50-$60 per hobby box, both of which have guys being drafted this year or next year.
Right now I'm sitting on a lot of them in unopened product form:

3 OTE retail blasters
2 OTE hobby boxes
3 McDonalds retail blasters
5 McDonalds hobby boxes

The point was to start a new video series called "Versus", where I buy a box and then buy singles of that same product to see if the unopened product can even get close to the same value of my singles purchases. This also means I've picked up a ton of singles of each and focused on picking up singles and autos of the top rookies that are coming out. I haven't taken any photos yet since I haven't recorded the video yet, but will post in the Rolling Mailday thread after I do.

I don't have any expected personal collection plans for players yet, especially since I'm not loyal to a particular team. If I like a guy's personality I might decide to collect him.

I like to wait 2-3 years now... which works with Panini since the release schedules are still so behind. Also you get big discounts by waiting. The only time I go after something rookie year is if it's something very rare and I feel like the set may get more popular with time and the rarer cards/parallels may get locked up quickly into PCs.

Great advice about waiting and stuff. In case you care about this, just a reminder that until Flawless, rookie memorabilia cards are now non-associated, so not game or player worn. That matters to me, but might not to you so just a heads up.

Something I enjoyed (and am still enjoying) with Haliburton rookies is trying to grab one card from each of his rookie year releases. I picked one card from each release that I liked and pursued. Of course, I could upgrade if the opportunity presented itself or expand to pursuing a rainbow or something if that's how it worked out for me. It's landed me with a diverse Haliburton rookie collection that I really like.