Teddy Ballgame: Baseball Card Blog: Who, What, & How I Collect

In the hobby, there is a variety of collectors and card buyers. Depending on the style of collector you are, it will also alter your approach to purchasing.
Few Examples of Styles of Collectors:

Team Collectors

Player Collector

Achievement Collectors (500HR, 30/30, etc.)

HOF Collectors

Prospect Collectors

Auto/Relic Collector

I wanted to take time to share Who I personally collect, What products I buy and What I'm expecting from them, and then How I organize my cards.
See some of my collection here:
I have uploaded my some of my cards to my Sports Card Album:
http://sportscardalbum.com/u/teddyballgame

Who I PC

#1 Nolan Ryan - Super PC
I will purchase and pursue any and all Nolan Ryan Cards out there. Nolan is my Super PC. I'm fighting a losing battle on this one because there are currently 10,590 cards totaling $284,216. Nevertheless, I still try to pick up any Nolan that I do not currently have.

#2 Jose Canseco & Ted Williams - PC
I PC both Canseco and Ted. I do not have near as many of these cards as I do my Nolans, but will still grab any I find.
#3 Vintage & 80's, 90's RC

The rookie card still excites me. When I was a kid, autos and relics didn't exist. What we all wanted was the Rookie. It was the chase for finding the RC for the player who was hot or just made it to the big leagues. I still collect RC's just like it was the 80's and will always buy an extra notable RC no matter how many I have.

#4 Rangers
I keep a binder of All Topps Flagship Rangers. I am currently pursuing every single Rangers base card that was released since 1972, I'm about 20% there.
#5 Campain/Political
I love political cards: Presidential Predictors, inserts, political events, Americana, etc.
I am very non-partisan when it comes to cards, I will collect anything. The main aspect of collecting political cards that grabs me is that Baseball is such a huge part of American culture, past & present. It is America's pastime, and regardless of current & future popularity it is, as they say, as American as Apple Pie.

#6 Vintage
I love older cards. Anything Pre-1980 is something I will pick up. I really prefer spending money here as opposed to spending money on new boxes. My older card collection is not huge, but it is probably the quickest growing part of my collection.

What Products I Buy

I think I'm an easy sell for card companies. I'm not a high dollar guy. My goal with buying boxes isn't to find the Mega Hit and then flip it on the internet for a small chunk of change. I buy boxes because I believe the product is fun, I like the look of the base card, I like the parallel or inserts, and I hope to get a few fun cards out of it.
My expectations are fairly low when I buy a box:

I'm not expecting a huge hit

I'm not planning to resell the cards

I'm not gambling

I want a few fun parallels, some cool inserts, a chunk of good looking base, and a few hits.

Buying a box to me is to get a taste of the product. If I love the product and it was fun to break, I'll buy another box. If there are specific cards I want to pursue, I will find and buy them on comc.com or ebay.com
For me, buying & ripping a box is about the fun and experience. Here are recent products I think are fun and enjoy ripping: Allen & Ginter, Gypsy Queen, Heritage, Lineage, Flagship, Opening Day, Bowman DPP, Chrome, Platinum, Panini Cooperstown, Americana, Golden Age.
The majority of my card purchases are buying a specific card. If I didn't get a card I was really hoping to get in a box, I'll buy it. I'd rather spend a few bucks on the card, than buying pack after pack trying to pull the one I was wanting.