Card Collecting Tips 
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Teams
Many collectors narrow their choices to their favorite teams. Consider first getting all of the players issued in one or more of your favorite years. For instance, in 1971, there were 27 different Pirates issued at a catalogue list price in mint condition of around $200; and for vg a quarter of that. (More than half of that would be for the Roberto Clemente card). Some zealous collectors opt for the challenge of collecting all of the players from a particular team issued from 1948 in the Topps and Bowman sets – cutting off wherever they feel comfortable (in the mid 80s, 90s, or even going through the present). There are checklist books to help find the numbers you need.
Specific Players
Other collectors choose to collect cards only of their favorite players. That can be "pricey" if your favorite was Mickey Mantle. But many others can be relatively inexpensive. If you go for Mantle or Aaron or some of the other stars, consider collecting lower grade cards or just a few – then adding as you have more resources. You can find checklists of some of the more prominent players. I have also had customers collect all of the Jewish players they could find; all of players with last names beginning with a "z" and one who had a penchant for strange names like Eli Grba and Memo Luna. I have had recent interest from collectors searching for cards of those players who broke the color barrier in major league baseball. Everybody knows about Jackie Robinson, but what about Sam Jethroe, Pumpsie Green and Bob Trice.
Type Cards
A favorite for many is to collect cards from as many different sets and eras as possible. Show off your colorful cards from Milk Dud boxes, cardboard inserts from meat packages, and others from dog food, clothing and candy companies and an endless variety of other manufacturers. A typical collection might include an Old Judge card from the 1880s,(some of which include a batter swinging at a ball suspended from a very visible string); several different cigarette cards from around 1910, caramel cards from the 1920s, strip cards, Goudey, Diamond Star and more obscure issues from the 1930s, the Play Ball sets from 1939 to 1941; Leaf, and early Topps and Bowman cards and any of the dozens of regional cards (Johnston Cookies, Rodeo and Glendale Meats, Meats, Remar Bread, Smith's Clothing, Sugardale Meats, and others).
Rookie Cards
When card shows materialized in the early 1970s, no distinction was given to stars, much less rookie cards. Generally, a 1960 Topps card sold for five or ten cents, regardless of whether the player was Willie McCovey or Willie Tasby. When dealers discovered that the demand for the star cards far outstripped their availability, they attached higher prices to them. Years later, that same phenomenon began to occur with the first year cards of key players. These "rookie cards" – which can now find homes in their own printed "rookie" card rigid top loaders – are an appealing collectible for many. Prices are invariably higher for both first and second year cards of most star players.
Condition/Grading
What about card condition? I have found that there are as many collectors interested in lower graded cards – very good and even poor to fair - as there are those who limit their collections to excellent to mint and higher. Your buying power increases markedly if you choose to collect lower graded cards – 25 percent or less the prices of near mint cards -- and your selection is probably greater. There is a market, a strong one, some would argue, for cards with rounded corners and creases. Just make sure you are not paying top condition prices for them. Many people want a piece of history – someone they identified with perhaps as a young fan – and don't care at all that the condition is not pristine.
Grading of cards is subjective, even by those who charge a significant amount of money to grade them professionally. If your interest is only in investing, you might want to consider that option. Be aware, however, that professionally graded cards generally sell for higher prices than you find in catalogues. There is no guarantee that if you elect to sell graded cards you have purchased that you will be able to recoup the money you paid. The advantage is that they have been graded by a third party, which can lend credibility if someone is buying sight unseen.
Displaying/Storing
How can I display or store my cards? One of the joys of collecting is to show your treasurers to friends. Put your good cards in plastic card holders. Smaller sets can go in the eight or nine-pocket protective pages and then in albums. If you have single signed baseballs, consider buying a holder than enables you to display a card of the player as well. I found the best way to display a collection of framed autographs, cards, bats, a run of World Series programs, cards, and other unusual items was to build a "mini-museum" in my basement. It's an ideal place to bring groups of school children through and introduce them to the wonders of sports memorabilia collecting. If such space is not available, consider building shelving in a bedroom , or, if you have space, devoting the entire "extra" room to your collection.
Card Values
What about card values? Since the mid-1970s, catalogues and books have been published that have assigned values to cards. These are revised as often as monthly and reflect trends in the hobby. Most dealers and collectors use either Beckett or Sports Collectors Digest publications to price cards. As the publishers note, however, they are just guides and often do not reflect true scarcity or regional demand. Yankees and Dodgers material is normally more expensive and difficult to obtain. Other cards listed at relatively low prices are simply hard to find. Most card prices today are considerably more affordable than they were at the peak of the collecting boom several years ago. Does this mean it's a good time to buy? No one can be sure but many 1980s and 1990s complete sets seem eminently reasonable compared to prices that were once double and triple what they are today. Some, like the 1985 Topps complete set featuring Mark McGwire's Olympic card, have gone way back up in value.
Old versus New Cards
Should I buy old or new cards? When the card market turned down in the late 1980s and 1990s – exacerbated by the baseball strike of 1994 – cards issued prior to 1980 held their value far better than newer products. One of the major concerns for many was the abundance of sets and the quantity of cards produced at the height of the card craze. It was often difficult to decide on what cards or sets to buy. In the "old" days of the 40s, 50s and the 60s, for instance, sets were smaller in number (the 1948 Bowman set was only 48 cards and the 1960 Topps set was 572 cards); and far fewer were produced. For many of those years, there was only one national card manufacturer, although other companies occasionally produced "regional" issues. Thanks to moms who trashed thousands and thousands of cards, fewer collections survived. The same is true, of course, for cards that go back into the 1930s and to the wonderful era of the tobacco cards in the early 1900s. Consequently, a growing number of collectors elect to focus on cards of Jackie Robinson, Hank Aaron, Mickey Mantle and other stars and common players from the "older" days.
Whatever way you choose to collect, have fun and enjoy the memories.
About Gar Miller
Gar Miller was one of the hobby's pioneers, collecting as a youth in the 1940s and '50s, and trading with hobby legends while he was still in school. He was featured in the 1950s editions of "Who's Who in Card Collecting", and continued his fascination with cards and memorabilia as an adult. He was an active participant in the earliest card shows around the country and, in 1973, wrote the first "How to Collect" book, which included one of the first price guides published. He traveled the nation in search of collections long before the practice became popular, and has been the subject of more than 50 newspaper and magazine articles over the last three decades. Ripley's "Believe it or Not" acknowledged his collection in the 28th series booklet in 1978.
Gar Miller can be contacted by email at garland4@comcast.net