Fast Five: Strategies to find bargains in today's hobby

Fast Five is a quick list that might offer a basic starting point for a themed collection or new focus -- five things that could be fun for a beginner or a new way to add something to your stash if you're a grizzled veteran.

This time? Five strategies to find bargains in today's hobby.

COLLECT LAST YEAR & PAST YEARS ...
Dabbling in the new stuff is fun, of course, but it can get pricey these days with an influx of new buyers with possibly deeper pockets than the typical collectors going all Galactus, gobbling up everything in the world out there in the retail wild and plenty elsewhere. Some are flippers, some are rippers ... but both are affecting the prices and volumes of boxes available -- and they don't necessarily make the results inside better. (That's still where luck can be in play.) But one way to fight with them if you're not a Silver Surfer might be to shop with recent past years in mind -- not just the newest rookies. Finding past-year bargains isn't as easy as it once was price-wise, either, but dabbling with boxes where others aren't can still have good results if you know what you're looking for and scout checklists and odds. The Dash Deals section and Bargain Breaks are two places where I'd look while keeping in mind the basic adage that should apply with cardboard ... buy low, sell high. This also leads into my second tip ...

Keep reading for four more making up the list this time.

BUY IN BULK ... 
If you do some volume on the right stuff on the cheap and get lucky you can come out ahead. It's tough to do that all the time with new stuff people are fighting over (that raises prices), but it's possible with those and elsewhere if you do some research. Buying low has potential and there's a reason you can buy in bulk lots over in the store -- it's another way to do the buy-low, sell-high part. Some releases can surprise if you give them a look and actually consider what's potentially inside. The Parks & Recreation packs above? Sure, they're retail ... but autographs and memorabilia cards are in there. (One lot I saw recently posted in the forum had two autos ... just like a lot I did here a few years ago.) The Heritage packs above? They can have autographs, Relics, printing plates and more ... and there are retail exclusives not found in the un-findable hobby boxes that are long gone and ripped. Sure, home runs won't happen every time ... but they can happen.

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DABBLE WITH BUYING COLLECTIONS ...
They don't always end with crazy results, but dabbling with buying small collections is something that collectors should consider -- you never know when you might find something you might not expect. Above is a sampling of an album (collection) of 2015 Topps Chrome WWE cards that I recently picked up for the price of a hobby box or two back when these arrived -- so it wasn't super cheap but it paid off. It had some guaranteed inclusions that I knew about to get me to bite -- a good auto and a number of hits. There also were Refractors and other cards that I knew about after asking what was inside beyond the basic listing. I had a gut feeling that the binder might have a lot of Refractors I didn't see inside given how easy they were to find that year (one per pack) and that they weren't shown. The Rock and Alexa Bliss Refractors above alone might pay for the entire album these days. (The Bliss may may for all of it and more after I grade it ... it's clean.) Beyond those, this one was a winner ... and I'll mention the auto and show off some of the hits in a future Buzz Buys piece. This isn't the only time in the last couple years where taking a deeper dive into small lots has paid off for me ... and it can happen in all sports if you do some looking. They may not be there the first time you check, but if you're consistent it could and should happen with some persistence. There are a lot of buyers and sellers these days ... some just wanting to move stuff no matter what.

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LOOK THAT OTHER WAY RIGHT NOW ...
The popular and pricey stuff of right now has its merits but if you've been around for a long time in the collecting realm then you might know how times like these might look years later when a lot of people have ripped, a lot of people have plenty of stuff and seemingly all of them got cards graded and have their slabs stacked sky-high. For the elite popular players in the sports world, no problem. For others maybe not as popular now as they were then?  Well, you know ... firesales can happen, especially if there are a lot available. While this introductory thought may apply to my next category, I think it can apply with types of releases out there as well as with players. My point? Diversify your collection and widen your tastes ... unless you simply can't. I recently grabbed this $30 1990 Pacific Total Recall set since it has some good names on cards I didn't really give much thought to in the past. It's not that I think it's going to rocket to the moon -- I don't -- but I think some of the key stars' cards here showing them (Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sharon Stone, maybe a couple others) might be make for good slabs. Why? Availability (you can't find these super-easily), grading quality (high-grade won't be a given) and volume -- only four cards from this product are even in the PSA pop report right now. All are Schwarzenegger's main card. These won't grade easily and they won't be graded soon with those sub prices these days but I like stuff like this a lot for risk-reward and potential pay-off compared to cards that have been slabbed thousands of times. Those cards will, of course, have a lot more potential buyers vs. these but you can name your price on unique stuff other sellers don't have stacked.

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PLAY THE GRADING GAME ... BUT NOT LIKE EVERYBODY ELSE
As I mentioned earlier, looking a different direction with grading can be beneficial just like what you pick up -- and it doesn't have to be dramatically different, either. Just take a look a little over there compared to where a lot of people are slabbing. Why? Having something interesting and unique in your hands can be just as important as something of good quality grade-wise. My example here is a little dramatic -- you can still grade unique cards with good results if the grades come back high and it's an easy way to make money to grab stuff you want. My kick lately? Amassing high-grade magazines from sports -- as well as pop culture -- that just seem different, interesting or important. This 1986 issue of Starlog magazine shows Academy Award winner Jennifer Connelly on a cover showcasing Jim Henson's 1986 film Labyrinth. It starred her, David Bowie and a boatload of puppets (as you can probably guess here). Is this a super-pricey mag? No, not really, but finding high-grade copies of past mags can be challenging -- and this one is ultimately going to end up in a slab. Connelly had a handful of roles before this but it arguably launched her into the mainstream -- and if it wasn't for a modeling career where she was on the cover of Seventeen magazine (she was a model before acting) a few months before this, I might have been able to say it's her first cover. (It may not be ... but it's possible.) Rookie Card? Nah. Rookie Cover? Nah. But interesting piece that could prompt more interest from buyers that one might think? Perhaps ... and that's a big part of any item in a slab.

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What would you want to see in a future Fast Five? Let Buzz know on Twitter or email.

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