Anyone Go From Big Buster-Singles Buyer?

[arod305]

Have been doing a lot of thinking about my collecting habits. And tbh I really don't collect anything. I bust a good amount of wax, prob 500-1200 worth depending on the month. I sell absolutely everything I pull. I was lucky enough to pull an RGIII Gold ref auto and a Tannehill Red Ref auto out of this years chrome and after those pulls nothing seems too exciting anymore. I use to love prospecting in baseball, but I don't have time to follow those guys for a couple years. My passion is NFL football, more specifically KC Chiefs:rolleyes:.. Anyhow I was just wondering if anyone has ever made a successful transition from big buster to just buying singles? Not saying I won't buy a few boxes here and there, but just thinking of 2012 contenders at 140 a box and pretty much any football product. If you dont hit Luck, RG, or now Russell you lose money.

[Chaz]

I spent close to 15k busting wax last year and stopped and decided to just buy singles and my PC player. Advice is to start a PC of an up and coming player and spend all the money you would have spent busting wax and buy all of the PC players cards

[mindbinge]

I got sick of getting shorted hits, getting redemptions that never get filled, crappy customer service, $100 - $500 boxes with $20 worth of crap in them, and all the rest of the issues you can name that are negative about this "hobby"...I've quit buying anything but stuff for my Bradshaw collection and every now and then some HOF type stuff...other than that i've thrown in the towel.

[aja3217]

I quit busting a while ago, and really only player collect/team collect now. It's been much easier on my wallet, but I do feel that my LCS thinks I'm too picky. My Manning and Luck collection have really grown since I quit buying boxes.

[Drdduet]

I quit major busting in 2006--have been buying singles ever since. I don't sell much so I accumulated tons of stuff from the early 90's to 2006. Now it's singles for me. The internet has made it relatively easy to be picky and buy tough cards, only limiting factor is $. It's much easier and cheaper to be a singles buyer if you have a collecting focus, but in all reality there are few things as fun as busting packs--but the return on investment these days is very poor. For me with the money I spend on cards, I'm better off buying singles. If I bust packs it's because I got a good deal.

[bradical]

I use to buy 24 to 48 loose boxes of product through the course of year if I really was interested in it, especially if big chase cards were left in the product. Typically now, I just buy a few boxes up front and press my luck, and everything else is singles.

I ran out of room for all of the commons, and hate having them around. I have seen my profits soar each year since I stopped mass breaking.

[Clarka3]

i started out busting tons each month (by my budget standards) and really only bust a box here and there now. I do a monthly break club so I get to have some of the excitement of opening boxes each month, and the rest of my money goes towards singles.

as others have stated, i get tired of paying 100+ on boxes only to get scrubs.

[ajscards101]

I'm done with buying boxes. Sticking to singles now. Unless it is the occasional topps chrome rack pack or blaster, I don't rip anything now.

[srslychris]

No more boxes for me, I'll continue to do group breaks to get the thrill. It's honestly even hard to focus on collecting on one player anymore with the amount of parallels in each product.

[peeweeherman]

You would be better off going to your local gas station and buying scratch off's with all the money you spend on boxes/cases.

I can almost certainly say,with what you spend on opening boxes/case i can out perform you 80% of the time,buying singles.

[TheHelmutt]

I never busted much in the first place, but I now haven't opened a hobby box since 2010 Contenders. I miss it like crazy, but each product out there has major hits that you can usually buy outright for the total price of 2 or 3 boxes, regardless of the brand. When you take that into consideration, the odds of getting that exact card you want in any random 3 boxes is slim.

With that said though, don't stop ripping cases because I need your singles :)

[Clarka3]

i forget who kept doing it, but they would take the price of a box, and buy singles to match the price and breakdown of the box (minus a ton of the base). Their "break" always looked better than 90% of the breaks posted.

I might have to try that with a box of contenders. I plan on buying one, and i'll set 150 (or whatever the price is) aside to do exactly what that guy did :p

[blake03svtf]

Thats fine and all to keep from having a bust of a box, but the point *most* people buy a box is to find that one card that sells for double, triple, 10x their purchase price.

Now if you just like cards and to collect while not trying to hit home runs and make money, Singles are the way to go.

[jubei777]

i'm progressing there. i used to do a lot of wax and have started to just pick up more singles and less boxes. the new products just aren't that good anymore (IMO) and the market is great for picking up singles if you're willing to wait for them to cool down.

[arod305]

Thats fine and all to keep from having a bust of a box, but the point *most* people buy a box is to find that one card that sells for double, triple, 10x their purchase price.

Now if you just like cards and to collect while not trying to hit home runs and make money, Singles are the way to go.

This is my problem exactly, always think I am gonna pull a 1k card

[BearsFaninCltNC]

i went from singles buyer to wax buyer. have bought more topps cases since last summer then I have ever bought. Have yet to pull RGIII or luck! I think I am headed back to singles buyer myself! Too much lower end stuff in these products for me! When you bought close to 10 cases you should get 1 sweet hit, but no thanks to Topps! I have a glorius egnew and childs collection!

[Drdduet]

i forget who kept doing it, but they would take the price of a box, and buy singles to match the price and breakdown of the box (minus a ton of the base). Their "break" always looked better than 90% of the breaks posted.

I might have to try that with a box of contenders. I plan on buying one, and i'll set 150 (or whatever the price is) aside to do exactly what that guy did :p

That sounds interesting. Perhaps I'll go big with it--buy a case of 2005 exquisite, and then spend the same amount on whatever I get the case for (about $1800 I presume) on 2005 exquisites of top, popular players and then bust the case and compare. Sounds like fun.

[ssbledsoe]

I break boxes from time to time. But, I do it under the following circumstances: it's at a good price, a product I like, and I'm ok if I get little to nothing in return. That's it. Otherwise, I grab singles. Even with singles, I've slowed down/limited the singles I chase. Selling on eBay is too much of a PITA.

[VintageCards4Me]

You would be better off going to your local gas station and buying scratch off's with all the money you spend on boxes/cases.

I can almost certainly say,with what you spend on opening boxes/case i can out perform you 80% of the time,buying singles.

Yes on scratch lottery! I have found that I like to go to the local casino and play the penny slots over cracking... The thing for me is the work you have to do to recoup "some" of your money... It doesnt seem right you get hosed and then have to do work after getting screwed by listing packing and shipping.

I used to open quite a bit but have decided I am going to do the one and only product I love... thats Contenders.....

I set the goal last year on Exquisite that I was going to buy cards from that set and spend the exact same money that I would on a box.... I had a Randall Cobb & Colin Auto- a Locker Ponder Book Auto- and a Jerry Rice Shadowbox Auto... I still had money to spend... Wax is fun no doubt but its a waste of money to me and I no longer love it. I think of the hundreds I spend on boxes and packs and start thinking about the nice family vacation I could have or things I could have bought for my kids..... I quit in 2008 for a year and I will now quit for good minus my yearly Contenders break....

[blevins26]

I'm about 50/50 on my spending right now between busing wax and buying singles.

Wax is about the chase so I try to get a couple boxes a month.

Singles, for me, has become more about 'art' than anything. It has to be a card that I want to display in my house for years to come. Usually that means it's an on card auto with a clean design of one of my favorite players.

What a lot of people don't point out is that even singles buying is pointless if you don't have a direction--player PC/team PC/building a certain set/subset.

I've also found that selling can be fun too, especially when I sell a bunch of cheap cards and use the money to buy 1 AMAZING card.

[nabzy28]

Switched about 3 years back. I grew so tired of losing out on almost every box break that I just sat down and really looked at it. I easily realized I could purchase a Joe Montana and Joe Namath autograph for less than the price of a $100 box. There's no way in hell you'll pull any 2 on-card, HOFer autos like that from any box of new product. It was an easy switch and now I have one hell of an on-card HOFer NFL autograph collection. I just bid a certain amount when particular cards of my favorites show up and, if I win, fantastic. If not, no big deal, I just wait for the next opportunity. I've got about a dozen of the '01 Topps RC Reprint autos of Jim Brown. Managed to build up to 3 of the 2001 Legends Unitas auto. A bunch of Montana UD Legends autos.... and a bunch more. Hell, I am pretty sure I missed out on 2 '01 Legends montana autos that ended in the last few days because I wasn't paying attention. One at around $53 and one just under $50. An absolute joke that people will pay multiples of that for rookies who won't get in the NFL HOF without a ticket.... but hey, keep it going! I love adding to my collection at rock bottom prices. :)

[yankeesfan24]

I never used to be much of a big box buster, but used to bust around 20 boxes a year between 2008 and 2010. Since then, I might have busted 4 boxes total. So much better off to buy singles.

[Vincesanity]

I've almost completely stopped buying wax, I like blowouts promos but besides that Id rather buy singles. Half is because the value/production is terrible and the other half is hoping other collectors do the same and we can one day make a big enough difference to put a dent into the card companies. Perhaps in 5 years good products and good service will return.