Getting into Tiger Woods Cards
So, yeah, Tiger Woods golf cards. It kinda just happened, you know? Wasn’t really planning it. I think I was cleaning out some old boxes, found a few random sports cards from way back. Nothing special. But it got me thinking about Tiger, how big he was back then. Absolute machine on the course.
Naturally, I got curious. Jumped online, just typed it in. Man, was that a rabbit hole. Saw there were tons of cards, especially those Upper Deck ones from the early 2000s. Looked kinda cool. So, I figured, why not try and grab a few?
The Hunt Begins
Started simple. Just looking on those big auction sites. Picked up a couple of base cards, nothing fancy, just to get a feel for it. Cost next to nothing. Then I saw the prices for some of the others. Rookie cards, autographs, memorabilia cards with bits of shirt in them. Wild stuff. Realized pretty quick I couldn’t just grab everything.
Had to figure out what I actually wanted to chase. Decided to focus mostly on his early Upper Deck stuff, like from 2001. Seemed like the most iconic ones to me. Less focus on the super rare, graded stuff because, let’s be honest, that gets expensive fast and feels kinda stressful.
- First step: Just browsing online listings, mostly eBay.
- Next: Bought a few cheap common cards.
- Then: Started looking for specific cards, like the main 2001 Upper Deck rookie (#1).
- Also: Checked out local card shops, but golf cards weren’t always easy to find there. Mostly baseball and basketball.
It wasn’t always smooth sailing. Bought a few cards that looked great online, but when they showed up, the corners were dinged, or there was a scratch I didn’t see. Learned pretty fast you gotta check the pictures really close, maybe even ask the seller questions. Condition is everything with cards, turns out.
Sorting Through It All
Got a decent little stack going after a while. Nothing crazy valuable, mostly just cards I thought looked cool or represented big moments. Had to get some sleeves and top loaders, those hard plastic cases, to keep them from getting banged up. Put the better ones in those, the rest just went into a simple card box.
Found out there’s like, a million different Tiger cards. Different brands popped up over the years, SP Authentic, SP Game Used, Exquisite Collection… it never ends. You could spend forever just trying to track down variations and parallels. It’s a bit much, honestly.
Where I’m At Now
Nowadays? I don’t hunt as hard as I used to. Got the main early cards I was after. Still browse online sometimes, see what’s out there. Might pick up something if it catches my eye and the price is right, but I’m not trying to complete every set under the sun. It’s more just enjoying the ones I have, remembering watching him play.
It’s just a stack of cardboard at the end of the day, right? But it was a fun little project, digging into it, learning the ropes. Got a nice little binder with my favorites now. That’s enough for me.
