Beginners Guide to Collecting Sports Cards: 2023 Edition

For those new to the sports cards, we’ve put together a beginners guide to collecting sports cards to help you navigate through the hobby. It can be daunting at first and its best to do as much research as possible before jumping in deep. 

A Guide to Collecting Sports Cards

Collecting sports cards can be fun and some also see it as a way to invest. Be warned that the sports card market can be extremely volatile and a lot of the wild price fluctuations are based on hype.

The value of sports cards in most cases comes down to a player’s performance and their achievements so a nasty injury can drop the floor on a players price.  

Supply and demand is ultimately what leads to sports cards prices either going up or down in value. If you had put money into sports cards in early 2020, your return on investment was likely to have exploded as COVID took over and the demand for cards far outweighed supply.

As normality resumed, print runs exploded and we suddenly could resume back to our normal lives, the prices of sports cards in general fell back to Earth leaving many holding onto cards that they thought would be worthy investments.

If you were complaining a year ago about not being able to find sports cards, please don’t complain about higher print runs. Especially something like regular old Topps Baseball. This is a product to be enjoyed, not speculated on.

— Ryan Cracknell (@tradercracks) February 17, 2022

Storing Sports Cards

When collecting sports cards it’s important for beginners to know the basics to storing sports cards. Sports card thicknesses are almost universally measured in ‘points’ or ‘pt’ for short.

It’s essential to store your valuable sports card in toploaders and a 20pt sized toploader is likely going to be your most commonly used accessory in sports card collecting.

Check out our ultimate toploader size guide to find out how to best store your sports card depending on what size they are.

Reposting with football & baseball. ALL cards in a sleeve, brand new toploader, and individual team bag. Every single one. $50 for the lot shipped OBO. 95%+ RCs/inserts/hits/parallels. All cards pictured below. pic.twitter.com/cwnccYjmRy

— Braden (@MrBlastoise99) January 2, 2022

What’s a Razz?

A razz is basically a sports card raffle or a lottery and is a way to build up collecting sports cards. Similarly, a razz break is a break of a box of sports cards. You can find out more on what a razz is in our guide found here. 

Razz #2

$7 per entry | 10 spots total

Winner can select any slab/raw card, 2nd gets free spot in next $7 razz.

1. @SteveFaGoBlue
2. @954collection
3.
4. @SteveFaGoBlue
5. @comegetsome2
6.
7.
8. @MasonMcVey
9.
10. @comegetsome2@sports_sell@HobbyConnector@Hobby_Connect pic.twitter.com/XW5gs3LZKU

— Clearly Collectibles (Keaton & Austin) (@clearlycollect) August 13, 2021

Definitions & Terminology

Below is an ultimate list of abbreviations and terminology that you will come across when collecting sports cards.

A-F

Auto – short for autographs or signatures

Base – the main cards that make up a base set. They’re typically numbered on the back and are the most common

BGS – Beckett Grading Services (along with PSA) is unanimously the industry standard for grading, using a 10-point scale to quantify a card’s condition

Box – a box is made up of various amounts of packets of cards.

Break aka. Box break – What’s a Box Break? The explosion of a sports card collecting subculture

Case Break – A case is comprised of a number of boxes. Think of it in the same way you buy a case of beer

Centering –  an element of how a card is graded. A Mint condition card will have perfect centering – 50/50 ratio top-to-bottom and 50/50 left-to-right. It’s a major component of pricing variation on cards prior to grading.

Coin – when razzing a card, ‘coining’ is a way to help validate legitimacy that you own the card.

This is best done with a hand written note with your name and date placed next to the card you are razzing.

It can also be further accompanied with a ‘coin’ or other collectible.

Comps – a comparison of recent sales prices for a card(s). 130point.com is the most popular price comparison tool

FF – Friends & Family, which is a way of making PayPal payments. The other option is Goods & Services.

G-O

Grading – The examination of a card by a third-party (refer BGS and PSA) for the condition of a card which is then assigned a numerical grade matching its condition

Inserts – a type of card in a set that is non-base and a non-parallel. Usually will have its own theme, design, name or numbering sequence.

Legend – has fast become a colloquial term to refer to someone who is passionate and honest in the community.

Lot – usually refers to multiple cards that are generally up for sale, an auction or a razz

Mailday – the best day ever! When the postman delivers to good and brings your cards to your door

On Card – refers to an auto that is signed on card (and not a sticker)

One Touch – Holds cards up to 35pt thick. Has a unique design with slide-in hinge and tight magnetic closure

P-R

Patch – a card containing a piece of jersey material also known as a swatch

PC aka Personal Collection – a term used to describe a collector’s cards that they’re not likely willing to sell or trade. Usually is the focus of ones person’s collection.

Penny Sleeve – a thin plastic pocket used as a first level of card protection. Usually is inserted prior to placing into a top loader

PP – short for PayPal which is the most common online method to accept payments for sports cards

PSA – Professional Sports Authenticator (along with BGS) is unanimously the industry standard for grading, using a 10-point scale to quantify a card’s condition

Pick Your Spot – In a razz you will get to pick out of any of the available spot numbers remaining (refer to Straight Fill)

PM’d – Private Message. Someone may PM you and make you a private offer i.e. if a razz doesn’t fill or if you are selling a card. It’s important as default Facebook settings might not automatically notify you and you may not be aware of the contact 

PYT – ‘Pick Your Team’ format which is commonly used in box breaks

S-W

Raw – a card that hasn’t been graded by a company i.e. fresh out of a box/packet

Razz – Check out our guide to find more about what a razz is

RC – Rookie Cards

Soft Corner – a condition where your card displays fraying and/oror layering causing it to have a rounded corner which isn’t sharp edged

SP – Short Print which is usually referenced for low production numbered cards

SSP – Super Short Print which is referenced for extremely low production numbered cards – usually under 25

Straight Fill – In a razz spot numbers will be automatically assigned to you based in numerical order with what spots remain left (refer to Pick Your Spot)

Tipped & Shipped – a typical razz will require a neutral party to be a ‘video runner’ to randomize the razz. The party is ‘tipped’ a nominal fee for running the razz. Shipping refers to the postage cost of the card.

Top Loader – a hard plastic holder for storing single cards. Available in hard and semi-hard varieties with different thicknesses

Variation – a card that is different from the same cards in a set. Usually will vary in colour, background or lettering are a often numbered as a limited edition

W – used as a way to ‘tag’ yourself to receive updates and reminders for a certain post for a card