Where Does a Beginner Start in Sports Trading Cards?

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In the world of Sports Trading Cards, it can get overwhelming fast because of the different variations, companies, and grading companies. Do you get LaMelo Ball in a white jersey from Prizm Draft Picks or invest in his more expensive autographed card featured in a pro-Hornets Jersey? Let me help

College Uniforms are more attractive for personal collections, it's such a niche market that only die-hard college fans ONLY need that specific card.

Let's learn from my first mistake...

My first trading card purchase EVER was a Panini Prizm Draft Picks blaster box off of Amazon for about $80. Why not? The product featured a very strong and marketable upcoming 2020 draft class in beautiful Prizm variations with, what I thought, was considered the first real rookie cards. Boy was I WRONG. I pulled a LaMelo Ball Pink Ice variation, nice pull my guy!

If I decided to have sold the Pink glazed, rookie of the year destined piece of cardboard, I could have brought in anywhere between $100-$140 on eBay in May. Return on Investment as automatic as Curry's jump shot. But, me being the newbie, I decided to hold it because the value could only increase... right? After winning Rookie of the year, I sold the piece of cardboard for a whopping $17.50... One more time, seventeen dollars and fifty cents...

Let's now have a look at one of my (actually, girlfriends horseshoe of hands pull) more recent, profitable, LaMelo Ball pulls out of a Prizm NBA Mega Box with players featured in pro Uniforms.

I'll just say it, $420 in a 10-day, 49 bid, 1600 view auction from a box that was negotiated down to $125. It is a short-print. It is a Silver Prizm variation. But from a beginner's point of view, the pink variation looks more appealing than this base-looking silver card with a bit of a holographic kick to it with the right lighting. But why?

Simply Put. College Uniforms are more attractive for personal collections, it's such a niche market that only die-hard college fans with a collectors value.

Don't believe me? Let's have a look at some trading cards that actually have players in a college uniform versus pro uniform.

Justin Herbert: Optic Variation vs /99 University of Oregon RPA

Sold for $320 on July 11th, 2021

Sold for $260.99 on July 7th, 2021