NBA/NFL Trading Cards Advice?

You're like 15-20 years too late. However if you clearly want to do it as something to COLLECT then it's a great time. I wouldn't mess with dishing out money for new packs/boxes, I would just search ebay to find the ones you really want.

I can spend $100 and satisfy my needs buying autos and jersey patch cards... IIRC some boxes of cards are more then $100 and you only get 2 or 3 good cards that you may be able to sell for $5 each. Totally not worth it with the boxes.

 

TexasStake beat me to it, my advice was going to be to time travel back to the 90's.

 

If you want to get into to trading cards, the first thing I would do is decide what I want to achieve with my collection. There are infinite possibilities here. For example, maybe you want to assemble the 1970s topps roster of the Houston Oliers. So you go out trying to find the best examples of those cards.

My advice is to get into trading cards for 1 reason that has nothing to do with gambling, which is what the industry has come to right now. If your goal is to by a 5.00 pack of cards in the hopes of getting a rare card, you might as well spend your time buying lottery tickets.

But the industry can be much more rewarding if you look to it as a hobby, which is what it was meant for in the first place. It will be a much more rewarding experience for you if you learn some of the history of trading cards.

Something else you can do, go talk to a sports cards dealer who has been in the industry for a while and ask him what he likes about certain cards, what things does he collect and why. He might give you some ideas.

 

Collect cards only for fun - NOT for investment.

 

You should be able to find some help here. http://www.blowoutcards.com/forums/