What was the biggest change in direction of your collecting habits?
lightningboy
Posts: 1,483 ✭✭✭
I read on here all about people with specific hobby habits/goals. Have you ever done an about face change in what you collect? Up until about 6 years ago, my collection consisted of complete baseball sets from 1973 to 1990 (time I got married and had kids). By 1998, I re entered the hobby and made my way buying, grading and selling singles of all sports and non sports. That continued for almost 14 years until I became serious about buying for "investment" purposes. I sold all of my sets and the 10's of thousands leftovers along with junk era wax boxes. I began to collect strictly unopened boxes and packs along with HOF graded rookies from the 4 major sports. My collection has dwindled by about 80,000 cards, but I love what I have. Anyone care to share?
Comments
2008 from collecting raw to collecting graded football HOFers.
Donruss unopened -> 70s Topps raw & PSA
I quit the hobby in 1997 and my collection at that time was all things Donruss and 80s Topps that I got from my local card shop. I wanted to collect 70s Topps but my LCS only had as far back as 1980.
In 2006, I got the collecting itch again and began to order Donruss unopened from some of the bigger names (Dave & Adam's Card World, Kruk).
Also 2006, I created an eBay account. This move turned out to be the game-changer for me. Suddenly those elusive 70s Topps cards were readily available in lots and partial sets, raw & PSA. I put the Donruss on hold and shifted to building my 70s Topps collection. Now I have partial raw & PSA sets going back to 1960.
buying O-Pee-Chee (OPC) baseball
In late 1983 I started to collect Ripken Jr. cards. At one time
had 1500 Topps Rk. 500 each Donruss and Fleer. Collected
other issues along with oddball stuff. Magazine covers, cups,
figurines (55 1988 SLU's ) among others. Around 2000 I just
threw in the towel. Every week something new and all the
variations, 1/1, Gold, Refractor, just got to be too much. I
quit cold turkey and haven't added 5 cards since. On other forums
there are collectors who had 5000+ different of Cal.Their pay
check must amount to more than many countries GNP. I don't
have any graded cards and if I sub them and get anything less
than a PSA 10 I've lost money. Can't donate them because the
Ripken museum closed several years ago. Maybe one day I'll
do a show or two in Baltimore. Any suggestions? I still post
on some forums and otherwise just lurk.
Changing from cards to baseball board games was the biggest departure.
Still buy new stuff - but rarely anything else except for 63F and T3 HOF which I haven't done anything with in so long - I might consider dumping the T3s.
when I was a kid, late 80's into the 90's, I collected mostly current stars and opened packs. after that I spent 15 or so years going after more vintage years, 50's to 70's. about 6 years ago, I realized i wanted all of the cards i couldnt afford when I was younger. So I have gotten lots of high grade 80's rookies (love Tiffanys) and rare 90's inserts. I guess you could call this my mid life crisis. Some guys want a Corvette, I will take a 1998 Crusade Mirror Red please!!
George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.
Finally deciding to buy graded. Avoided it as long as I could but realized I was buying lesser cards just so I could examine them out of the case. Want to say it was around 2012 or 2013. Still miss actually holding the card itself.
I started collecting in 1987-88 and stepped away in 2000-2001. I sold a good bit of my good cards but did keep a lot too. When I got back into collecting about 6 or 7 years ago I focused on BBCE authenticated baseball and football unopened boxes from the late 70s through 1989. I had complete runs of Topps, Donruss and Fleer wax and cello boxes from 1980-1989, with a few late 70s boxes thrown in, all BBCE wrapped. I also had a few basketball and hockey boxes. In the three years or so that I collected unopened I had several hundred BBCE wrapped boxes. Once I completed the collection I wanted I sold all of the boxes and started collection PSA high grade HOF cards and small sets. My first set was the 1954 Red Heart Dog Food set. My biggest set so far has been the 1964 Topps Stand-up with 77 cards.
James
I started collecting around 88. I was just a kid and didn't know what I was doing. I started by collecting Topps and Donruss sets. I would put them all in pages in binders. My mom would take me to the LCS to trade cards with the guy there since he had a really large inventory of commons. I would buy boxes of cards and pages from Costco with Christmas and birthday money. I would separate out my duplicate stars and put them in another binder. The duplicate commons would go in a monster box. Besides the sets I was a Don Mattingly fan. I think I had a few hundred cards of his when I was younger. I stopped collecting when I was in high school around 93 I think.
So a few years ago I started collecting again. I decided I would pick up where I left off and expand a little and just collect the whole run of Topps sets from 79 (my birth year) to current (all raw). Maybe a little ambitious even with the junk wax prices. I already had 89T - 92T completed. At this point I have the whole run of 79T - 92T completed and it's time to start working my way to current, but I have gotten a little side tracked.
I wanted to start collected graded cards, but I wanted something challenging that would take me a while to complete. After a lot of research I decided on 71T. I started on that set in July 2017 and I have 114/752 (15%) completed mostly 8 or above with a few exceptions. I also decided to start the Don Mattingly Basic set. I have a lot of raw cards for that set, but unfortunately I wasn't as nice to them as I should have been so they are not gems. For that set there is no reason to not have 10's across the board so I will be purchasing most of them already graded. My plan is to expand to the Master set once the Basic is done.
I most recently got side tracked with 2018 Topps Chrome. I really like all the parallels and the look of the cards. I decide to try to collect the complete set including all the non-serial parallels. I have a lot of that completed.
Maybe some day I'll get back to my run of Topps sets, or maybe not. I think my collecting habits could be classified as ADHD!!
Kris
My 1971 Topps adventure - Davis Men in Black
In 2004 I decided to finally jump into graded cards. At the time I had just late 80's and early 90's over printed "stuff". Hate to call it junk because I love some of these sets. I sold much of it off at garage sales. So, I then decided to focus my graded endeavors on my favorite all time set ... 1978 Topps. Nothing else. I was 9 years old when I first opened a pack of them. I stayed the course and the set is complete in PSA 9 or better and currently the #10 set on the PSA set registry. I am also now putting together a sweet PACK FRESH raw set mostly from my case and box busts years back. Cards that didn't cut the PSA 9 or higher criteria but all still pack fresh with razor sharp corners. So I am still "holding the cards"!
Other interests are Topps Heritage ... which I plan to dive back into after my most recent hiatus from the hobby.
ISO 1978 Topps Baseball in NM-MT High Grade Raw 3, 100, 103, 302, 347, 376, 416, 466, 481, 487, 509, 534, 540, 554, 579, 580, 622, 642, 673, 724__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ISO 1978 O-Pee-Chee in NM-MT High Grade Raw12, 21, 29, 38, 49, 65, 69, 73, 74, 81, 95, 100, 104, 110, 115, 122, 132, 133, 135, 140, 142, 151, 153, 155, 160, 161, 167, 168, 172, 179, 181, 196, 200, 204, 210, 224, 231, 240
My change in collecting interest is with the inserts. I've always liked the inserts, but cards were always by far the bigger interest.
Cards are still big number 1 and that isn't going to change, but the inserts are getting up there. I never thought I'd be interested in collecting high grade inserts, but here i am doing it.
Especially those 1960's inserts - love 'em!
I’ve just started a complete change in collecting habits. Have been collecting exclusively modern cards of the following players: Maddux, Harper, Benintendi and Bryant. I’ve decided to abandon that and move exclusively into vintage now. It’s created quite the process getting rid of those and moving into a whole new knowledge base.
.
Getting cards graded.
I have always collected raw. Most of what I buy now is raw but grading it only really started about 5 years ago.
I have always been Yankees centric though there are some others that sneak in.
Curious about the rare, mysterious and beautiful 1951 Wheaties Premium Photos?
https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/987963/1951-wheaties-premium-photos-set-registry#latest
I never have collected the inserts as an adult. But as a 5 year old, I loved getting the comics from 1970 and the coins from 1971.
Opened a wax back in 1975 at age 6 and got the fever....Chasing the #660 Aaron was all the rage. Got back into it with my own basement "store" in 1981-82 with Fernando Valenzuela mania and the first Fleer and Donruss sets. Luckily I avoided the mass production areas of the 90's and 00's and have never paid attention to modern, refractors, inserts, etc.
I enjoy ripping 70's packs, collecting 70's HOFers in PSA 8 and 9 including a few hoops, hockey and football....
For me, I only collect graded, only PSA.....just seems best way to protect for long road, whether to eventually sell or pass on to kids.....oh and I may have recently gotten the Mantle fever....
I am also basically a vintage only collector but I have to admit some of the modern stuff is really fun! And EXPENSIVE.
There are a few ‘living legends’ - LeBron, Mike Trout, Tom Brady to name a few - where the ‘investment appeal’ is simply too great to be completely ignored. I’d be lying if I didn’t fess up to nabbing a few base set PSA 10 Judge’s. No Auto or Auto inserts, mainly because I can’t afford them!
And I still can’t believe the last price tag on the 1993 Upper Deck SP Foil Jeter PSA 10. Jaw dropper.
That’s some ‘junk’!
Curious about the rare, mysterious and beautiful 1951 Wheaties Premium Photos?
https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/987963/1951-wheaties-premium-photos-set-registry#latest
I abandoned trying to collect complete vintage 50s-Early 70s BB sets a few years ago and just focused on collecting graded stars from that era, especially Clemente and Mantle. I would like my collection to be no more than 100 graded cards when I die
I feel this. I can’t imagine burdening my family with closets full of cardboard they know nothing about. But no promises..
ISO 1978 Topps Baseball in NM-MT High Grade Raw 3, 100, 103, 302, 347, 376, 416, 466, 481, 487, 509, 534, 540, 554, 579, 580, 622, 642, 673, 724__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ISO 1978 O-Pee-Chee in NM-MT High Grade Raw12, 21, 29, 38, 49, 65, 69, 73, 74, 81, 95, 100, 104, 110, 115, 122, 132, 133, 135, 140, 142, 151, 153, 155, 160, 161, 167, 168, 172, 179, 181, 196, 200, 204, 210, 224, 231, 240
I abandoned opening new boxes. That used to be the biggest joy to me in the hobby. But after ~2001 it just didn't seem worth it anymore. I still break an 80s or 90s box every couple months just for kicks, I still find a lot of joy in that.
I think the PSA registry has really helped my focus on specific goals/sets and having a more purposed buying pattern as well.
Currently Collecting:
Flickr: https://flickr.com/gp/184724292@N07/686763
Being a big hockey fan, I've always focused my collection more towards hockey cards. In college, I did very well buying low and selling high on prospects, but that died out when I graduated as I didn't have the time to research players that extensively. For the last 2 years I was buying anything and everything to expand my collection with no direction or focus at all, including cards and autographed memorabilia. If I liked a card, I bought it. I am in the process of selling most of the collection, and in the past few months have focused almost exclusively on buying Patrick Roy cards, specifically inserts and parallels/game used/autograph cards on ebay, and keeping an eye out for anything PSA 10 that comes up for base cards. I occasionally pick up some Cal Ripken Jr. cards, but that is a back burner project that may pick up in the future. As I've stated in another thread, the Roy focus has been very frustrating at times, but it's so rewarding and such a rush when something rare comes along that I can get my hands on.
Main collecting focus is Patrick Roy playing days 85/86-02/03, expect 1/1, National/All-Star stamped cards.PC Completion: 2,548/2,952; 86.31% My Patrick Roy PC Website:https://proy33collector.weebly.com
Started buying PSA graded cards 2 years ago. Before that I had a 20 year gap buying nothing.
Nic
Guides Authored - Graded Card Scanning Guide PDF | History of the PSA Label PDF
I was strictly a boxing card collector until about 2014. I collected mostly uncataloged cards of Jack Dempsey, Joe Louis, and Ali, when I could find them. Also some foreign sets both vintage and prewar. I loved ferreting out Joe Louis premiums from the '30s and '40s.
Then in 2014 I started collecting PSA 10 examples of baseball cards I either had or wished I had as a kid. Mostly 1980s stuff. That led to a massive project that I'm still chipping away at today. For the most part, I try to pull the cards I want from unopened or factory sets and self-submit the PSA 10s now. It's been the most fun I've had in the hobby in maybe forever and is much easier on the wallet.
I've also started collecting vintage basketball. Always been an area I liked and it just seems like the clock is ticking on how long that stuff is going to remain affordable.
Arthur
Two changes in my collecting. First was trying to get every Killebrew card. When that became impossible, narrowed to most of them, but couldn't find/afford inserts.
Finances have dropped and now focus on cards from his playing days in master set.
Just like ReggieCleveland mentioned earlier, started collecting 80s RCs in PSA 10 a few years. Not high in value, but for the joy of collecting and childhood memories.
Started as a kid in the early 80’s and stopped until the early 2000’s, all baseball. Around 2009 I went all in on football. I used to buy strictly PSA 7/8 grade cards and snubbied my nose up at lower grade cards to now loving the lower grade cards with nice eye appeal. I enjoy the hobby so much more now that I don’t have thousands of dollars tied up in it.
started collecting around 1988/89 buying those boxes from sams and pace in the states. then moving to the card shows and shops.. biggest change is now am on a tight medical pension and have had to cut back to buying less graded and look more through 2nd hand shops and or ebay for the best deal i can find.
Michael Jordan to sneakers to graded comics to 1951 Ringside Boxing to deceased player autographs to vintage books and now... a little bit of everything mentioned.
IG: goatcollectibles23
The biggest lesson I've learned in this hobby, and in life, is that if you have a strong conviction, you owe it to yourself to see it through. Don't sell yourself, or your investments, short. Unless the facts change. Then sell it all.
Started around 1988 and bought pack after pack and box after box of everything baseball, no rhyme or reason. Started selling off around 2002. Dabbled VERY lightly until about 2012. Since then VERY focused on strictly Orioles cards, autographs, bobbles etc and complete baseball sets from mid 70's to present. Started buying a lot more graded the last 3 years of only Orioles (50s to present) and just added an Earl Weaver autograph RC on the weekend to finish my Set of Camden Yards Statue signed PSA/DNA RCs (FRobby, Brooks, Eddie, Cal, Jim Palmer, Weaver. Also signed RCs of Orioles Greats who are not quite in the Hall such as Boog, Mussina etc.
I have collected unopened boxes/cases from all four major sports for years with a particular focus on Jordan and Gretzky. About a year ago I started feeling nostalgic and decided to rip some of my unopened stuff to see if I can pull a perfect example of every card from the 1980s in GEM MINT condition. I will still keep a bunch unopened, but am ripping things I have tons of. That was my biggest shift and it has been an absolute blast to rip packs just like when I was a kid!
Buying $5-$50 cards ungraded/graded to only buying vintage graded > $200
PC Walter Payton - Bear Down!
you are keeping it fun !!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Major_League_Baseball_players_from_Panama
Have collected for 30+ years now. Shifted to HOF/RC graded cards from the mid 80’s up. Recently, I have shifted to graded, vintage superstars from all 4 major sports and boxing (they are cheap compared to other sport stars). With PSA expanding to Japan, backlogs in grading due to interest, record prices on auctions; the hobby should continue to grow. The demand for “the best players/HOFERS” should continue to grow.
Quality over quantity
I started collecting in 1959 then stopped for a short while figuring I was getting to old for sports cards so I quit in 1962 and started chasing the girls around.One day I seen this add about baseball cards in the late 60s in one of the Sports magazine
that was selling 100 assorted cards for a $1 or so and remember getting the sparky anderson 1959 topps cards.Then later i started getting these adds selling baseball cards then one day I was driving down Harper Ave on Detroits EastSide and saw a store that had a big sign BASEBALL CARDS.I could not resist and walked in and flipped out when I seen all the books of cards he had.It happened to be Charlie Brooks store a big card promoter in Michigan.I walked out of there with a complete set of 75 Topps and about 15 packs of mini cards.From there I attended one of his hows right after that and picked up a all the 1952 Topps Tigers I could find for $10 or so.From there I was hooked and built a full collection of cards from 1948 to 1980 except the 52 Topps and the 48 Leaf.I even had a almost complete 34 Goudey Set.
In 2012 My wife became ill and to cover costs I decided to sell almost everything.She passed soon after.The Insurance covered a big portion of her expenses and I started up again however with the price twice or more of what they were when I was building sets.I am mostly into Football now as you can still buy some nice vintage at a reasonable price.I do have certain cards graded but not as much as I used too.If I can find a decent price pre 70 baseball set I will try to buy it.
This hobby has been a blessing for me as it keeps my mind off issues I do not care to think about.
1970, 1971, 1972, 1975, high graded topps baseball, and 1980 OPC and topps high graded baseball cards. Also collect anything 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates, and unopened 70's and early 80's football and baseball grocery cello packs.
IT CAN'T BE A TRUE PLAYOFF UNLESS THE BIG TEN CHAMPIONS ARE INCLUDED
I've been pondering this question for days, reading everyone's posts, and I still can't pinpoint a significant change in my collecting habits. There have been little tributaries of change over the last 35 years of collecting, but nothing altogether radically different. I've always stuck to collecting what my heart is genuinely connected to, not necessarily what the hype-train of the season insists is the next "important" thing. I've seen so many flare-ups in the hobby around certain players, sets, etc., but I've never felt compelled to alter my course to acquire those players, sets, etc. An example of this is when, about 10 years ago, I was at a card show at a local mall and I saw a 1950 Bowman Richie Ashburn. Being a Philly guy and a huge Ashburn fan, I struck a deal with the dealer for the Ashburn and the Roberts as well. I was so enamored with the 1950 Bowman design, and the Ashburn and Roberts in particular, that I decided in that moment to build the set. For the next 2 months I set out on building the set. I didn't pay attention to any kind of hype when I built the set. There was no "hobby passion" surrounding the set at the time to drive my interest. It was a pursuit fueled solely by my heart. I wanted it regardless of what anyone told me. And that's how I've always been.
Andy
My main focus used to be trying to build a 75 baseball psa complete set. Then I realized I didn't want
that much money tied up in commons when I could buy other cards I would rather have. Now have
14-15 psa graded Brett rookies. May try to do a 75 HOF set. Also collect unopened, mainly baseball rack packs with stars showing. And now collect Mahomes, started buying his rookies right after the Chiefs traded Alex Smith, and
its worked out pretty well so far. May sell some of them after the season is over.
As I got back to collecting: Mantle cards 50's-60's. Then went into Rookie cards 40-60's mainly. Nowadays as I spend more time on N54- shifting to pre-war Hofers.
Easy ~~~ Quality over quantity