Net54baseball.com Forums - Refractors, inserts, parallels, 1 of X, etc input appreciated

Just starting to buy modern cards (post-90ish), have filled in about every base card there is for most HOFers, hoops and baseball and football.

Any advice on what angle to start with, more than "Buy LeBron PSA 10s" lol? Any particular individual sets, characteristics, etc that make it an especially good buy? My goal is to have some really cool cards to look at, and a card that increases in price over a relatively long time (10+ years likely, no real intent to buy and sell, flip, etc). I *do* want to have legit financial blue sky, but I also know it will likely be someone else in my family tree selling it later.

I prefer to buy raw cards, so any tips on what to look for or avoid will be helpful because I truly have never bought a refractor, for instance. I do buy graded cards now, after holding out for about 25 years, so if the advice is you just have to pay the extra for them to "CERTAIN" it's authentic, that's ok, too.

Looking to have a game plan before clicking "buy" and really appreciate any input from folks who might have a lot more experience buying these. Budget is flexible. $10 and $25 cards are great, $50 to $100 also great, if there's Brady or Kobe cardboard gold for $250, $500 I can also go there, just not nearly as often. I do like making my mortgage payment. Priorities, and all.

Thanks for any help here!
Chuck