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| Other Ways To Collect Cards: 
By Brand - Some collectors enjoy collecting a particular company. I know quite a few people who grew up buying Topps cards, for example, and continue collecting Topps cards today because of brand loyalty. This kind of collection can also be narrowed down to certain sports or certain years.
By Decade or Year - Many of us have fond memories of a particular decade, so why not collect cards from that time? This is way I personally collect - I am building a collection of complete sets from the 1980s. Another option is to collect a single year, which isn't a small task if you choose a year after 1980. By the time you find all the regular sets, boxed sets, minor league sets, and other regional/oddball sets that were produced that year, you'll have quite a list!
Yearly Champions or Leaders - A neat way to collect is to gather cards from the yearly championship teams, such as the 2005 Pittsburgh Steelers or 1969 New York Mets. Along these same lines, collectors can also gather cards from yearly league leaders. In 1991, the three NFL quarterbacks with the most passing yards were Warren Moon, Dan Marino, and Jim Kelly. Someone who collects yearly leaders would probably want to grab a card of each of these players from 1991 or 1992.
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| Other Types Of Sports Memorabilia: 
Figurines - Little statues of athletes have been around for many years. Salvino, Kenner, Gartlan USA, and Sports Impressions are companies that have produced sports figurines in recent years. Today, McFarlane is the leader in sports and non-sports figurines, producing beautiful, highly detailed, hand painted pieces that are quite affordable.
Sports Plates - The Danbury Mint, Gartlan USA, The Bradford Exchange, and Sports Impressions have produced sports plates in recent years. Most of these plates can be purchased online today for much less than their original issue prices. Superstars from Joe DiMaggio to Joe Montana have been featured on attractive plates.
Game Videos and DVDs - Officially licensed copies of historic games are available to those who wish to revisit exciting games as they happened. Games that were recorded by collectors directly off the TV are also actively traded, but it is illegal to sell these home copies.
Game Used Items - Most card collectors own at least one game used memorabilia card, but many people also collect complete bats, balls, jerseys, hats, helmets, gloves, and even tires that were used in pro sporting events. Collectors must learn how to recognize legitimate game used items, or buy from reputable sources to ensure they are not buying forged or misrepresented items.
Autographed Photos - An 8x10 photo that has been autographed by the athlete pictured in uniform is probably the most popular method of autograph collecting. While any item legitimately signed by an athlete has value, many oddball signed items are worth less than their 8x10 photo counterparts (a current football star signing a dinner menu is an example).
Cereal Boxes - A small, but dedicated number of people collect cereal boxes with sports content on the front. These collectors must decide whether to leave the boxes intact and full of cereal, or to remove the contents and flatten the boxes for easier storage.
Misc. Team or Player Items - There are too many miscellaneous sports items in existence to list all of them, and there is no limit to what a person may collect. Bottle caps, matchbooks, die-cast cars, cloth patches, pins, coins, clothing, stadium souvenirs, postcards, pens and pencils, radios, seat cushions, commemorative balls, and stamps are just a handful of the types of items a sports enthusiast may collect. Because it is impossible to collect everything, many collectors choose to concentrate on the items that feature a favorite team or player, which usually compliments the focus of their card collection.
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