Football Collectors Cards (or football trading
cards as they are commonly known) are so named because you can trade them or swap them. Packets of cards are purchased in
order to collect the basic main set. You can find and collect the special and rare 'chase cards', also known as 'insert' cards.
10 Tips for Successful
Card Collecting
1 The first thing you need is interest. The more interest you have the
better
your card collection will be. Because card collecting is fun
and interesting, you can spend hours on your collection and feel
satisfied. Plus, you will have something valuable that you can
treasure.
2 English
Premier League is probably the most interesting of all
card collecting due to the massive following, especially in Europe
& Asia and the vastly growing interest in other parts of the world.
The more collectors there are the bigger the demand for cards
becomes and therefore, the higher the value of
your cards.
3 Do your research. Study so you know who are the good players to
collect, it’s
not always the current stars. Some of the legends
are
extremely valuable
and young players who show promise can be
valuable in the future.
4 Quality or quantity? If you are coming back to collecting trading
cards after a
number of years away, you
will notice the massive
improvement
in quality. First of
all the photos on the cards all look
better. The colours
are more vibrant and attractive.
Also, the stock
the cards are
printed on is much heavier so they are more durable
and last longer.
5 Look for the special insert cards. Manufacturers have done some
amazing things so that collecting is more fun and the
value of
certain cards
escalates fairly rapidly.
The most exciting are the
limited edition
chase cards that are randomly
inserted in the
packs. Such chase
cards include chrome cards, autographed
cards, foil coated, gold edged, holograms, 24
ct Gold plated cards
with special serial
numbers and
cards that are embedded with a
piece of a players shirt. All of these cards can be extremely
valuable.
6 Having many of the cards in a collection is worthwhile, but a
collection that
has completed sets is much healthier, not to
mention more valuable.
7 If you are collecting as a way of investing your money, there are
several things you should remember. Firstly, you get what you
pay
for. This means
you are going to have to
spend some money to
make a lot. You
will want to purchase cards
from the short-run
series, the ones
that are printed in limited numbers, as they are
worth more.
8 Search out the players in their first seasons or ‘Rookies’ as they
are known in American collecting terms. They are usually
worth
more than the
players more recent
cards. Also look out for the
players from at
least 10 years ago as they can
also be worth more.
One particular autographed 'George
Best' card from the Futera
Manchester United 1997 series
recently sold for over US$1,500!
9 One
thing you may want to consider is buying a box or a number of
boxes of cards from a particular series and then holding on to the
boxes without opening them.
10 A
good way to start is to buy a few packs, or a box, do some
research on the net to find out the values of the cards you have
and then build
from there by targeting the packs and
boxes from
the series that
have rare and more expensive cards in
them. It is
a great hobby that
you should never be too old or young to keep
up with.
With the advent of the 'Internet', trading card collecting
has become big business as collectors all over the world are seeking the ordinary 'man in the street' card owners to bid for
specific numbered cards to complete their collections.
When you buy a pack or box of cards, it should tell you on the
reverse of the packet or box what the odds are of finding a Chase Card. A ratio of 1:3 means that there is one of a particular
Chase Card in approximately every third pack. Likewise, 1:1000 means there is one of a particular Chase Card in approximately
every one thousand packs. If you find one of these you could have a very valuable card indeed! – Please refer to Card
values to get an idea of the trading value of a particular card.
For millions of football fans and collectors all over the world,
the pleasure of card collecting comes from simply completing a whole set. It is a huge bonus that cards have a sell-on value.
What makes a card more collectable is the rarity of the card, the quality of its design and print plus the subject matter.
People are even buying packs and boxes of cards from teams
they do not even support! Why? So that they can make a complete collection of their favourite player!
So, if you are new to card collecting get started right here
and if you are a seasoned collector we are sure that we’ve got something that you need.
Enjoy and have fun!
|
