I was in a similar boat towards the end of 2017 but for different reasons. After using the hobby to self-fund about 90% of my purchases in 2017, December rolled around and I was simply tired of rolling cards in and out just to afford another higher-end card to flip a few months down the road. I...
Depends what kind of collector you are.
Traditional/set builder-stick to sets like Upper Deck Series 1 and 2, maybe SP Authentic.
Autograph/memorabilia collector: Shoot for products like UD Ice, Black Diamond, SP Game Used
Super-duper high end--just blow 2000 on a few boxes of the Cup and...
Doesn't get much better than McDavid and Eichel. That's a huge haul.
Upper Deck base hockey reminds me of Topps Heritage. The SPs bring big bucks, especially the rookies.
I have dupes of the following. Only issue--I have the set x 2 at this point so I'd rather just sell. Can do the lot for 5 delivered, let me know.
519
706
711
717
724
Heritage High Variations are selling very well. The big rookies are selling for almost twice what they were at release (photo variations and color swaps, anyway).