So you think you might like to collect sports cards! There are lots of reasons why this might be so. You may have a favorite player or team, and sports cards provide a way to feel closer to them. You may just generally be a fan of a particular sport - baseball, say, or NASCAR - and want to express your fandom in a tangible way. You may see it as an investment. Or you might be like me and see sports cards as a way to connect with an earlier time in your life. Any or all of these may be your motivation to collect.

Who collects cards? All kinds of people do - young and old, male and female. While truthfully the hobby appeals more to adult males, there are no restrictions. I've seen young girls and boys and older women as well as us older guys. I've seen lots of fathers and sons who collect together.

There is no single answer to this question. You'll have to decide what area, if any, you want to specialize in. There are cards produced for all kinds of sports: baseball, football, basketball, golf, NASCAR, hockey, soccer, wrestling, boxing, mixed martial arts, and no doubt a whole bunch more that I'm forgetting. You might collect cards for a favorite team. You might collect cards of a favorite player. Just keep in mind that for most well-known players, you'll never get all of his cards. For example, the very popular Derek Jeter has 13,379 cards listed in the Beckett price guide (as I write this). Mickey Mantle has 11,781. Even Babe Ruth, who has been dead for 64 years and has not played for some 77 years, has 4,182. And some of the rarer cards may cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars.

You might collect sets. A set is a complete collection of all the cards of a particular brand, year and type from a company; for example, 2010 Bowman Baseball or 2011 Topps Football.

For the last twenty years it's been very popular to collect rookie cards. Although the definition of what a rookie card is has changed over time and is not necessarily easy to define precisely, generally speaking it is the player's first licensed card from a major manufacturer that is widely distributed.

What brands should you collect? That question isn't as hard to answer as it was a few years ago because there aren't as many companies making cards in the various sports. But they make up for it by producing many different sets. You decide what you like.

How much does it cost? If you buy newly-released cards by the pack or box, you can find packs ranging in cost from a dollar or so for a pack up to (seriously) hundreds of dollars for a single pack (which might contain only four or five cards). Single cards may be had for anywhere from a nickel up to hundreds of dollars. A T206 card of Honus Wagner made in 1910 sold in 2007 for a reported $2.8 million. Another T206 Wagner (clearly of lesser quality) sold last month (April 2012) for $1.25 million. Evidently you can spend as little or as much as you want.

You can buy cards in several ways. You can buy a pack, which is a foil-wrapped (these days they are usually foil-wrapped) package containing an assortment of cards from a given set. There might be anywhere from two or three cards up to several dozen cards in a pack.

You can buy cards by the box. A box will contain a specified number of packs. There are different kinds of boxes. A hobby box is sold by a hobby shop. A retail box is sold at a retail store like Target or Wal-Mart. The hobby box will generally have more cards and more inserts than the retail box. There are also so-called blaster boxes, which are smaller retail boxes that contain just a few packs.

You can buy individual cards if you find one that you like or need.

You can sometimes buy complete sets. These are boxes that contain all of the cards of a given set (and sometimes bonus cards as well). These set boxes may be produced by the card company or they may be "hand-collated" sets that a shop or individual has put together.

Cards may be obtained in a number of ways. If you're lucky, there's a card shop in your area where you can buy the latest offerings and talk about the hobby with the owner or those folks who hang out there. Also, if luck is with you, you may have nearby shows that you can attend. These are an excellent way to find cards that you're looking for at a decent price. They are especially nice for set collectors, because there's usually a good selection of common cards that you can't easily find elsewhere. There are also large regional shows and the annual National Sports Collectors Convention. The National moves around the country and usually happens in the summer. It's huge and well worth a visit if you can make it.

Of course, much card buying and selling these days is done online via the internet. EBay is a popular destination. I also recommend the Becket marketplace.

Finally, of course, if you know other individual collectors you may be able to trade with them. Of course, many card shop owners and dealers at shows are happy to trade with you. Just remember that they have to make a profit!

Next page: Card values.