Can you relate?

67standup

Many of the items on my wantlist don't come to auction too often. As a result, I start bidding to stay active with my collection. That is, without the searching, buying, cataloging, trips to the Post Office, waiting for those packages, etc. looking at my collection only brings so much excitement. Did I really need to purchase seven 1964 Yaz Standups in a six month period? Also, the creative me starts taking over, e.g., maybe I can put together a T206 set sans the key cards. I thought about this as I read the post about starting a Fisk basic set.

1420sports

I can relate 100%, and it is hard to stay my collecting course. Recently I sold some cards that just did not fit into my current ventures, and I was able to generate some money to buy cards for the sets I am working on. Every now and then I will read a post or see a card on eBay that makes me think .... and this is what I enjoy about collecting. It is easy to turn on a dime and head another way.

CON40

Right on! Even though I am a Ryan guy, my collecting style is akin to meandering down a country road picking up road apples.

magellan

I'm the same way , have 20 some different searches saved in eBay faves but when someone shows a link to something different I always consider it. The link to the Hires card in a post from yesterday got a snipe on one of that sellers auctions from me.

Is that your 67 Yaz that hasn't met reserve yet at $403 ish 67standup? More than I want to spend but I'd love one of those at some point.

You start some very thought provoking threads on the hobby. Thanks !

Dave

Bighurt4

I am completely with you guys. There are so many players I loved/loved to watch play and I want to collect them. There are also a couple of sets I love but they are cost prohibitive. Unfortunately, realism hasn't yet infected my collecting habits.

Brent

Scumbi

Staying focused is the most difficult part of collecting cards. Collecting one set can make you crazy especially when you get to the last few cards So, you start another set when you sell off some doubles. Then, you figure it can't hurt to have a rookie Jackie Robinson. Before you know it, you have most of Jackie's cards so you figure you might as well finish the basic set. Then, somebody puts up three rare Robinsons on Ebay and you're on the way to the master set. In the meantime, you've finally come close to finishing the second set bought with doubles. You reach that wall again and you figure one little set like a Red Heart set would compliment your other cards and give your collection an added dimension while you wait for the last couple of cards from the other two sets. Finally, you start upgrading all your sets and individual player cards because 7s just make more sense than 6s. This is where bankruptcy and not being able to buy the kids Christmas presents becomes a harsh reality. You want to sell. You need to sell. But, which one of your babies is it going to be?

My collection goes in so many directions I can't even claim to have a rationale. Sometimes I'm amazed that I bought some of the cards I now hold. I cannot figure out why for the life of me I wanted that card. I'm trying to sort them out, but I think I've learned so much, I need to start over. There's a whole different group of cards I'd rather have. Plus, shipping fees could have bought me a boat already.

Help!

S.

ChicagoGlen

Tell me about it. I go from buying 1954 topps cards, to buying a 1992 Bowman PSA 10 of Fisk. What am I thinking? I think it just breaks up the monotony of always searching for the same things.

jimtb

I guess we are all bit with same collecting bug. Trying to stay focused on one or two key sets is so tough. Everything being available on ebay doesn't help either. I've spent WAY too much money on "cool ideas for a set" that have been set aside for the next cool idea.
Jim

pc

<< <i>Staying focused is the most difficult part of collecting cards. S. >>



i say staying solvent.

ZodiacMindwarp

I am so obsessed with the one set I am working on that I cannot fathom how anybody could work on more than one set at a time. I salute you guys. I tried to track some prices on the next set I had planned to start but that got to be too much for me so I stopped doing that.

Fuzz

Once a collector, always a collector. Staying focused on a small area is pretty much impossible because what draws you to one piece of card board will invariably draw you to another.
Two ideas I use:
1 - I take vacations from collecting. And I mean a lot of them. It renews my interest for the next push. I usually focus half my year or more on other hobbies so this card thing in terms of collecting is only part time.
2- At least one of my hobbies is dirt cheap. So after a big hit at the Mastro auction or the like, when you have spent a year's salary in the last month, I switch to the cheap hobby for a month or two. That way, I'm still getting the fix and spending less than ten percent of my normal amount.
Fuzz

SKINSFAN

just trying to keep up with the fuzz man is my hobby

shouldabeena10

Just trying to keep up with Fuzz's and Skinsfan's dupe sets is my hobby!

wolfbear

I'm with shouldabeena10 on this one.

Our lot in life is but to scramble for the crumbs
that SKINSFAN and fuzz have left in their mighty wake after satisfing their voracious appetites for cards.

As to being tempted to wander from your primary collecting goals : Consider the rarity.
If you can pick something up just as easily a year from now, then you really don't need to buy it today.

A vacation from card collecting from time to time ?
With my luck, the cards I've spent years searching for would finally surface during my break ...

shouldabeena10

"Skinsfan's ... mighty wake!"



I think I saw previews for that movie; with the big wave crashing up against the statue of liberty. If you look really close, you can see where his speedo's must have slipped off ... and they're hanging from Ms. Liberty's torch.