[KMayUSA6060]

Welcome back to the hobby, Chief! I recently got back into collecting a couple of years ago (I'm a little bit younger than you so my absence from the hobby wasn't very long). Since getting back into the hobby, my focuses and collection have drastically changed several times, and right now I'm at a point where I'm very focused on certain things and I know what I want. Here's what I recommend...

1A) Become a Microsoft Excel MASTER. Spreadsheets are a HUGE key to organization. Highly recommended.
1B) Grab supplies ahead of time. Piggybacking off of 1A, organization is key. Period. I've found myself in a predicament at the moment where I need to get reorganized, and it wears on you. Yeah, it's just collecting, but it can be a chore at times. I didn't have the supplies I needed for a while, and found myself putting off getting said supplies because I didn't want my money to go anywhere else in the hobby other than cards. So get what you think you'll need (at least for the time being) ahead of time, so you're not worrying about it down the road.

2) Save/Follow eBay searches. Take the everyday hassle of typing in searches each day, worried you'll miss a good deal, and just save/follow the search. Not sure how familiar you are with eBay, but they will then email you new results for that search each day.

3) Card shows are great. I ignored them for years, stupidly, but have recently discovered the beauty of them. Not only are there plenty of great deals to be had (usually), but the relationships you develop go a long way. Half of this hobby is the people you meet and interact with.

4) Buy the card, not the grade. Some grades may seem low for a beautiful card. PSA 1's and SGC 10/1's can be beautifully centered with a nice surface, but have rough corners or something. Don't let the grade scared you away from a good deal.

5) Be unique. Yeah, collect as many Braves as you want, but throw some twists in there. For example, I have a PC of 1 card from every year Topps made cards. The twist? Each card has a unique fact behind it.

Look forward to seeing you around on the board!


P.S. To limit clutter in a collection, keep it focused. An example is I'm getting ready to sell my modern-day reprint/remake cards for Hall of Famers that I have their playing-days/original card (I hope you followed the very poor wording).