There are an estimated 60,000,000 Sports Fans in America, and 3,000,000 Collectors whose passion for sports has gotten them hooked to Buy and/or Sell Sports Cards, Autographs, Collectibles and Memorabilia on a monthly basis. Sports Cards & Collectibles are the most actively traded item on the Internet and with over $5,000,000,000 sold every year. Collecting Sports Cards & Sports Memorabilia Items are both fun and addicting with the potential to make a profit on your investment.

As a new member to the Sports Cards & Collectibles scene, knowing what to collect and finding the best way to go about it can be a daunting task indeed. There are so many variables to collecting that it makes it difficult to pinpoint a right or wrong way to collect. There are really two criteria to collecting. There is collecting for investment and profit, or collecting for enjoyment. Below is a brief outline of both methods. A good rule of thumb is to always collect what you like. Values of items fluctuate, sometimes for no good reason whatsoever, so collect the sports and the players that you like, and you will always come out ahead.

For starters, pick the sport you like. Let’s go with Basketball. Similar to buying blue-chip stocks like IBM, Microsoft, GE, etc., the best players to collect for investment are often already established stars. Their values do not change too much; therefore, like a blue-chip stock, they will consistently retain their value. Shaquille O’Neal’s 1992-93 Stadium Club Rookie Card #247 Basketball Card has held at $15.00 for a long time. After an MVP Award and three championships, not much should affect his value.

For the purpose of making a quick profit, young stars Rookie Cards players do very well. Investing in youth can be profitable because the focus of their progression is on a game-to-game basis. For example, rookie Amare Stoudemire’s 2002-03 SP Game Used Rookie Basketball Card was trading at $40-$50 last December. After tallying 38 points/14 rebounds in one game, this card was trading from $85-$100 only a month later. The reverse is the same for players that were high draft picks and did not meet those lofty expectations.

Do you follow specific players? If you like Wayne Gretzky, it might not matter what year or manufacturer the item you collect is, as long as it is a Wayne Gretzky Hockey Card or Collectibles item.

Do you like one sport far more than the others? If you are a big Football fan, maybe you want all of this year’s football rookie cards. Maybe you want any football card of former MVPs or Rookies of the Year?

Do you have a favorite retired player? Maybe you grew up in Los Angeles watching Magic Johnson or Jerry West? Perhaps you were in New York and cheered on Earl “The Pearl” Monroe or Patrick Ewing?

Do you love a particular team? Are you a huge fan of the Yankee pinstripes? Do you love those Yanks from Babe Ruth to Mickey Mantle and from Reggie Jackson to Derek Jeter? Are you finding yourself cheering for Jason Giambi when he was traded to the Yanks?

Keep your enjoyment of Sports Card & Autograph collecting going by investing your time and money into the sports, players and teams that brought you that excitement in the first place. There are no real secrets to collecting. Do what feels right to you and enjoy yourself along the way. At NAXCOM.com we pride ourselves on being the “World’s Best On-Line Sports & Collectibles Exchange.” Please contact us at anytime and enjoy the hobby.

With every hobby there is a “Blue-Book” or Price Guide that helps you determine what the industry values each item at. Monthly Sports Card publications such as Beckett and Tuff Stuff are the guides the industry uses to determine prices. On NAXCOM.com you can see what the last sale price occurred at, the high and low price and competing seller prices, and buyer offers.

With Millions of Sports Cards, Autographs, and Sports Collectible choices on NAXCOM.com, there are many different options available. Within the Sports Card & Collectibles Industry there are four key types of trading cards that collectors like to buy.

1. RC - Rookie Cards (These are the first cards ever made of a player, these are the cards that go up when a player is hot and go down when a player is not.)

2. Autographed Cards (These are cards that are randomly inserted into packs that the manufacturer had signed by the player.)

3. Autographed/Signed Memorabilia (These are signed 8x10 photos, Jerseys, Balls, etc. that a player signed at a show, private signing, etc. – See Authentication below for more help.)

4. Memorabilia/Relic Cards (These are cards that the manufacturer took an actual Game-Used Item, such as a Jersey, Bat, etc – The manufacturer then took pieces of the item and had it embedded in cards. This makes it very affordable for collectors to own a piece of their favorite players items without having to shell out hundreds if not thousands of dollars.)

Autograph Authentication: Authenticity was a huge problem and still is. However buyers now have options to buy guaranteed authentic items. Within the Autograph arena, third-party companies that witness the signing of an item, use a hologram, DNA code, or a tamper-proof sticker to guarantee that they witnessed the signing of an item are fairly commonplace. The sticker then has a serial # that matches up with a serial # on a Certificate of Authenticity (COA). Some reputable companies are:

1. PSA/DNA
2. Upper Deck Authenticated (UDA)
3. Steiner Sports
4. Tri-Star Productions
5. Global DNA
6. NAXCOM.com
7. Major League Baseball, Inc.

These companies, along with a handful of others, are guaranteed authentic sports autographs. While there are many legitimate COA’s in the industry, many remain very unreliable. Items authenticated by third-party companies are typically much more expensive then Sports Autographs without a guaranteed third-party.

Authentication of Sports Cards: Counterfeit and tampered cards similar to autographs were also once a huge problem, but once again buyers now have options. Third-party companies now have services where a collector can send their sports cards to have authenticated with a grade of the condition of the card. Sports Card Grading companies typically use a 1 – 10 grading scale; and encase the card with a label of the item and the grade a professional grading service has determined that item to be. There are roughly 36 professional Sports Card Grading companies in the business, but there are only four that are considered reliable by NAXCOM standards:

1. PSA (Professional Sports Authenticator)
2. Beckett (BGS – for Modern Cards, BVG – for Vintage)
3. SGC (Sportscard Guarantee Company)
4. Global Authentication (GAI)

Other companies such as PRO, USA, BCCG and others are used, just not as widely within the industry, and often carry a lower value.

There are many other items to collect other than Sports Cards and Autographed Memorabilia. Items such as:

Wax Boxes and Packs are the most common purchased item and are the most fun. Here you can open up packs (typically 12 to 24 packs per box) and see what you find. Many expensive treasures can be found in Wax Boxes including rare signed cards, rookie cards, memorabilia/relic cards, etc. After opening packs, many like to put together Complete Sets whereby you put together every card in the manufacturer's individual product line from that year. Other items that are popular to collect are Action Figures of players like Bobble Heads, McFarlane Figurines and Starting Line-Ups

1999 BOWMAN CHROME – This set is chock-full of modern stars and several up-and-comers too. This is a great series of cards due to the fact that there are current stars that have immediate value, (Rookie Baseball Cards of Alfonso Soriano, Pat Burrell, Tim Hudson and Mark Mulder) yet there are plenty of other rookie baseball cards that have great investment potential (Rookie Baseball Cards Adam Dunn, Austin Kearns, Corey Patterson and Sean Burroughs). The randomly inserted refractors bring a hefty premium as well.

1992 BOWMAN - This Baseball Card set is one of the most popular issues of the entire decade. This set boasts some of the best cards of several perennial All-Stars (Pedro Martinez, Chipper Jones, Mike Piazza, Carlos Delgado and Manny Ramirez Baseball Cards). There are dozens of other rookie baseball cards valued at about $5.00 each. (Troy Percival, Garrett Anderson, Mariano Rivera, Derek Lowe, Cliff Floyd and Trevor Hoffman Rookie Baseball Cards) This is a very affordable way to get numerous early issues of some of the games greatest players.

1997 BOWMAN CHROME Baseball Cards– Similar to the 1999 baseball card set, this one boasts a few immediate heavy hitters (Lance Berkman, Miguel Tejada, Eric Chavez and Kerry Wood Rookie Baseball Cards) and great rookie baseball cards and potential mega-stars. (Aramis Ramirez, Roy Halladay, Jacque Jones and Adrian Beltre) There are the regular issues of these baseball cards as well as the International version. Both come with scarce refractor parallels too.

1986-1987 FLEER Basketball Card Set– Arguably this is the greatest basketball card set ever made. Headlining this set is Michael Jordan’s Rookie Basketball Card. Fellow future Hall of Famers, Charles Barkley, Hakeem Olajuwon, Karl Malone, Clyde Drexler, Dominique Wilkins, Isiah Thomas and James Worthy also have their rookie basketball cards in Fleer’s 1st installment of basketball trading cards along with some other legends named Magic, Larry, Kareem and Dr. J. The hidden gems here are perhaps the 11 All-Star Stickers that adorn this basketball set. These basketball card stickers are nearly impossible to find in a pure mint condition and are priced accordingly.

1996-1997 TOPPS CHROME Basketball Card Set – Fittingly, a decade after the 1st Fleer basketball card set, Topps Chrome Basketball Card Set entered the Basketball card market with perhaps its best set to date. Helped by the NBA’s best draft in years, Kobe Bryant, Allen Iverson, Antoine Walker, Ray Allen, Jermaine O’Neal, Stephon Marbury and Steve Nash all have their best basketball rookie cards here. Hard to find refractors and difficult centering make this a "condition-sensitive" set.

1998-1999 SP AUTHENTIC Basketball Card Set - A great set of the league’s next batch of superstars. The 1st basketball card set that had numbered the amount of basketball rookie cards available. Only 3,500 of each card were made. Vince Carter’s immediate popularity was what first caused this set to skyrocket. It was the later emergence of Dirk Nowitzki, Paul Pierce and Antwaan Jamison basketball rookie cards that has helped it sustain its market dominance.

1999 PLAYOFF CONTENDERS SSD Football Card Set– This is a key set from a nearly unparalleled football rookie card class. All football card rookies this year came numbered and autographed. Key football rookie cards include Kurt Warner, Ricky Williams, Donovan McNabb, Daunte Culpepper, Edgerrin James, Jeff Garcia and Tim Couch. Truly an amazing set of football rookie cards that should hold their values for years to come.

2001 SP AUTHENTIC Football Card Set - The new breed of NFL Superstars are here and making an impact immediately. Michael Vick will be a yearly MVP Candidate. Deuce McAllister, LaDanian Tomlinson and Anthony Thomas are three of the leagues best running backs. This football card set has plenty of potential and room to grow as all of their young stars continue to amazingly get better.

1998 SP AUTHENTIC – Individually numbered football rookie cards make their way into Football Cards. Randy Moss was unstoppable as a rookie and Peyton Manning, Ahman Green, Charles Woodson and Brian Griese get better each year. This was a breakthrough set for modern Football Card Collectors and opened the door for similar football card sets in the coming years.

1990-1991 OPC PREMIER Hockey Card Set- The O-Pee-Chee Company decided to launch a premium hockey card product at just the right time. Nearly 10 future Hall of Famer’s Hockey rookie cards can be found within this set. Rob Blake, Sergei Federov, Jaromir Jagr, Mike Modano, Jeremy Roenick and many others, make this one of Hockey’s best card sets of the past 20 years.

1980-1981 O-PEE-CHEE Hockey Card Set– A truly classic Hockey Card vintage set. Hockey Wax Boxes may be difficult to locate but the Hockey single cards are not too hard to find. Wayne Gretzky’s 2nd year hockey card is joined by the Rookie Hockey Cards of legendary players like Mark Messier, Ray Bourque and Mike Gartner. A great starting point for any Hockey Card collector.

1997-1998 U.D. BLACK DIAMOND Hockey Card Set– For more modern Hockey Card Collectors, this set demonstrates the best of the young talent currently playing in the NHL. Patrick Elias and Alex Tanguay have already won the Stanley Cup. Vincent Lecavalier and Daniel Sedin are obvious stars for years to come.

WHO DO I COLLECT?

BASEBALL CARDS

BARRY BONDS Baseball Cards– Arguably the best player to ever play this game. He will put certain records places where no one will reach for a very long time. His patience at the plate is unmatched.

MARK PRIOR Baseball Cards– Arguably one of the best young hurlers in the Baseball. Averaging over a stikeout/inning, Prior has some of the best stuff we have seen since Sandy Koufax.

ALEX RODRIGUEZ Baseball Cards- There probably is not a better all around player in the league. After signing a new deal with the New York Yankees to play third base, his oppertunity for baseball immortality got better. A prolific hitter and multiple Gold Glove winner (not to mention an MVP, a batting title, and a member of the 40/40 club), A-Rod is a sure fire first ballot Hall of Famer.

ALBERT PUJOLS Baseball Cards- What is so impressive about this 24 year old is that after 3 1/2 years in the majors, the league has not found a way to get him out. He is patient and selective at the plate and has good power to all fields. A true threat to win the Triple Crown in the years to come. Probably the best young hitter in the league. Statiscally speaking, Albert Pujols' first three seasons are the best baseball has ever seen.

BASKETBALL CARDS

LeBRON JAMES Basketball Cards– An 18 year old with focus and love for the game. People everywhere are clammoring about this kid. Even with all eyes on him, he produced better than anyone could have expected. LeBron James Rookie Basketball Cards continue going sky-high!

TRACY McGRADY Basketball Cards– Perhaps the best scorer in the league. Like LeBron, jumping straight from high school, McGrady is dominating at a pace well ahead of the curve.

CARMELO ANTHONY Basketball Cards– 'Melo' has put together a rookie season of superlatives. After leading his Syracuse Orangemen to the NCAA Hoops Title in 2003, he has his new team, the Denver Nugguts, on the brink of stardom. Averaging twenty points and
six boards per game, Carmelo has proven to the card collecting world that he was well worth the #3 pick in the draft.

FOOTBALL CARDS

MICHAEL VICK Football Cards- Every few years, a player comes around that revolutionizes the way that his position is played. Michael Vick may be this player. His quickness and footwork is reminiscent of Barry Sanders, and his mobility within the pocket reminds many of Steve Young.

PEYTON MANNING Football Cards- Since joining the Indianapolis Colts in 1998, Peyton has been amongst the league leaders in TD's and passing yards. He has had the most yards and was second in TD's in 2003. At 28 years of age, Manning is at the peak of his NFL career and should continue to put up league-leading stats for many more seasons. Between his family name, his rifle for an arm, and his poise under pressure, Peyton Manning will be hanging a football jersey in Canton Ohio in the distant future.

PRIEST HOLMES Football Cards– Since joining the Kansas City Chiefs in 2001, Priest Holmes has been the most dominating power back in football. Although, he is a diminutive 5'9", he has a huge lower body that powered him to more than 4500 yards on the ground, 1900 receiving yards and 73 touchdowns in that time frame. Assuming he has a few more healthy seasons, Priest Holmes will be known as a Hall of Famer and a dominant NFL back.