How do you keep a focus on your collection?

Futureman

Right now I'm collecting a set, and once in a while pick-up individual players that I like. The set is my primary focus, and I'm happy with the progress I've made. To keep from going after every player I'm a fan of, I've limited myself by collecting players from one team. Still, I get tempted to stray. There are other players I like, and it's tempting to collect them as well, or start on another set. I like my collection, and I can't think of any set that I would like better than the one I'm collecting, but it is still hard sometimes to keep from branching my collection off in different directions.

What are some things you do to keep a direct focus on your collection? How do you avoid the impulse buys?

[edit] Added a question mark to the title. I'm picky like that.

MorrellMan

I stay focused by defining my collection. If the definition is too constraining, then I won't stay focused. I can't just collect one set - I know I need variety. So I make sure that what I pick up outside of my main collecting set of the moment will fit into my collection, be it a card for a future set or a card for an existing set that has stalled. My collection is defined by any set I collected as kid, or wanted to collect as a kid. That has branched out to include pre-war and tobacco non-sports sets of particular interest to me.

Often I'll see a card or a set that I had not considered part of my collecting interest. I then have to ask myself (1) is this a set that belongs in my collection and (2) am I willing to commit to completing it? If the answer is yes to both then I'm off to the races.

calleocho

resistance is futile

try eating tuna for a while, that ought to save some money

WinPitcher

1 word.................PASSION

MarkLee

What set do you collect Futureman? I frequently get into impulse sprees. I have defined for myself an overall universe of 1952-1991 Topps cards. My ultimate goal would be to have complete sets for all of these years. Thats 26,860 cards including traded sets and NOT counting variations. Why those years? 1952 was Topps first real set if you don't count the 26 card Blue Backs and Red Backs of 1951. 1991 was the last year Topps printed their base cards on "real" traditional cardboard stock. For awhile I collected 90s issues and even got really into the Heritage craze in 2001. But I am afflicted with the peculiar form of OCD that is familiar to so many collectors. If I get into a set I HAVE to complete it. I saw a terrible future. Unending sets with countless numbered insert sets, blah, blah, blah. The thought of chasing all of that stuff seemed overwhelming. And besides I always liked the older "simpler" sets better anyway. I started collecting in 1978 and with a few years of sitting it out here and there have been pretty steady. When I decided to narrow my collection universe of wants, I felt a lot better about my hobby and collection. I sold off all post 1991 cards and all my 80s Donruss and Fleer. That really seemed to get me focused. Now while I will probably still never finish my collection, I at least have a "closed" universe from which to look for cards. I currently am at 13,737 cards for a little above 51%. For now I focus on getting a given year's set together. Right now I am working on 1976 Topps. In the meantime I also do little subsets. Like getting at least one card from each year. Or trying to complete a certain player.

I also have just recently began buying graded cards. I have long been against the practice of slabbing cards but am beginning to come around. For one, I do like the fact that you can verify a card is genuine. As I have seen many point out on the boards here, there are a few cards that you probably would never want to buy raw due to the number of reprints and counterfeits out there. For now I try to limit my graded cards to certain players I really like. I am not all that condition sensitive for my older sets. For anything in the 1950s PSA 5 is fine by me. For some of my favorite players from the 80s (Rose, Seaver, Brett, Bench, Concepcion) I like to try for PSA 8. I don't see myself ever paying the premiums that PSA 10s command.

Some of my rules I set to try to avoid going overboard ...

1. When my Bid/Watch list on eBay gets over 20 or so I make myself refrain from adding anything to it until it clears.
2. I never place more than one bid on an item. I get amused at the bidders who will chase a card. If the current bid is at $10 but I am willing to pay $20, I don't bid $11, I bid $20. If I get it great, if not, there will be another deal another day.
3. When my wife complains about me spending too much time at the computer bworsing eBay, I try to put it all away for a week and read some good books.

Good luck with your collection.

WinPitcher

. When my wife complains about me spending too much time at the computer bworsing eBay


When mine does I open her closet.....;-)


mark great post btw

bowdowntome

I focus my collecting to 1948-1995 Football, 1995-present RAMS cards, a few regional sets, and Diamond Matchbooks. I rarely go to any card show and leave empty-handed, there is always something to buy, I just look for the bargains and see if they apply to any of my collecting areas, rather than looking for a specific set or card and end up being disappointed.

justanoldtimer

Yeah Mark Like your post and agree with you But I stopped mine at 1980.. I just gave in lol to many sets, inserts, jerseys and subsets to deal with anymore.. When I first started selling the post 80 stuff it was hard getting rid of all of those great rookie cards, sets, inserts, jerseys, and Auto's.. Now I feel like the rat race is over and I can collect my favorite players of my youth plus work on my PSA sets 1973 50+ 9's with a few 8's and 1965 20+ with a PSA 10.. Not far enough to list on the Set reg. as my favorite players come first ..

frankhardy

Here is how I keep focused. I started about three years ago collecting all St Louis Cardinals team sets, which is my favorite team. My goal, at first, was to collect every TOPPS Cardinals card ever made from 1951 to the present. I thought it would take a lifetime. Well, I finished them all a few months ago.

So I expanded my collection to vintage Bowman and vintage odd ball cards. What this allows me to do is to stay focused on a certain area, but the area is large enough that I don't get bored. Now, I need two 49 Bowman commons (Brecheen, and Moore), and one 50 Bowman common (Howie Pollet), and I will have all vintage Bowman Cardinals. I have completed 63 Topps Peel Offs, 64 Topps Giants, 64 Topps Stand Ups, 65 Topps Embossed, 66 Topps Rub Offs, 68 Topps Game, 69 Topps Deckle Edge, 69 Topps Decals, 75 Topps Minis. I also have completed all the Post issues from 61 to 63, and Kellogg's from 70 to 83. Have I missed any more vintage oddball? I know that I have. I would like to acquire the only Cardinal from the 1968 Topps 3D, Curt Flood, but I undertand that it is very rare, and will set me back a week's paycheck.

Now, along with the vintage Bowman, I am working on cheap sets like modern Fleer and Donruss. I have them all displayed nicely in albums and organized by year and number.

I guess I said all of that to say this, if you have a favorite team, it is fun to collect every team set that you can, and it allow you to stay focused.

Buccaneer

I can't stay focused, which is why I am building multiple sets. I, too, love variety and that's why I started a PSA Sampler Set. But right now I am kinda burned out, which is ironic because after selling on eBay for 2 months now, I have a good chunk of change to spend...I just don't feel like doing any major purchasing right now. Also this downtime has caused me to reflect on what really I want to do and that's why I am thinking of selling off my non-AS 1961s and not do the Sampler Set. What I need to do is to break it all down to short term goals, which is probably why I am doing well on completing the 61 All-Stars set. Just rambling...

helionaut

I keep focus by changing focus. I imagine the people who are able to focus on a very narrow area have a lot of other things going on in their lives. I don't, so I try to constrain my hobbies to 5-10 different areas that I rotate through with varying passion at varying intervals. There are times when I'm obsessed with completing my 1975 Topps set, and there are loads of cards I need on ebay. There are times when there are loads of cards I need available but I just get sick of it. So I switch to my player collections. Or my HOF GU and Auto collections. Or do some RC prospecting. Or comics. Then I get sick of those and the 75s look appealing again. Every month or so, I get bored with everything and something new comes out and I think I'll go after it. Since Thanksgiving I've started and dropped Bowman Heritage Mahogany Parallels, an SP Prospects complete set with autos, Ultimate Collection Platinum #/10 parallels, and trying to get one of every player with a Sweet Spot autograph. Luckily, these new endeavors last only a day or two so I don't get in too deep, and I'm often left holding some cards that I do like anyway (like the Sweet Spot autos) or have been able to flip for a profit or at least break even (Mahoganies are hot right now). Basically, if I'm about to start a new project, I ask myself if I'll still like it in 3 days, and usually the answer is no.

larryallen73

Good thread. I don't think you can avoid over-spending. It's part of the fun! For me, I keep changing focuses. For awhile I was trying to get rookie cards of all hall of famers. Got all the easy ones (1960 on) and lost interest (as I don't have the dough to buy all the older ones). Then started buying 1970's hof cards (the cards of my youth). Then moved to 60's. At all times I also buy Larry Allen, Dodgers of the 70's and Rod Carew oddballs. Enough variety for me. Have fun.

Southsider

I recently adjusted my collecting focus. Orginally, I was focusing on Chicago teams for the 4 major sports. But then, I started getting sidetracked by other cards within each sport. Ohh, wouldn't a Gretzky rookie be cool to own, or how about a Chamberlain RC, etc. So, I finally decided to sell off almost all of my baseball, basketball, and hockey cards and focus just on my favorite sport, Football. With the Chicago Bears being my primary collecting focus and HOF RC's second.

lostdart58

I have three EBAY "Searches" for the three sets i collect.................as far as I know there is nothing else for sale on EBAY.


Focus...focus.....focus............

What were we talking about??

TheThrill22

Staying focused can be tough. After 30 years of collecting, I've been focused on O Pee Chee baseball the last couple of years. Along with that, I focus on a few favorite players (Will Clark, Tom Seaver, Jeremy Roenick, Patrick Roy). Collecting/putting together sets used to be fun but its kind of tough now to pick out a set from a given year due to the number of options presented.

softparade

I realized real quick that I needed to focus in what I collect. I can't spend and spend so I have focused on 1978 Topps baseball and 2005 Topps Heritage. The 78's are my primary focus with Heritage consuming me at the moment. I will collect NOTHING else until my 78's are done and then move on. I don't like being all over the place with my collection and being this focused gives me a sense of direction which I like . Patience is the key

NickM

I don't even really try.

I have certain sets that I'm always looking to complete and regularly searching for (both vintage and modern), but there's also player collecting, dealers I regularly check because they have neat oddball stuff, bargain hunting among auctions closing soon, working on my HOF sets, the sets I occasionally search for, searching a seller's other auctions (almost a given if there's combined shipping available),and when it comes to shows, it's primarily about bargain hunting.

Nick

boggs301012

Honestly 2 words ...Drive and passion


I just noticed Steve beat me to passion!!!

fsjeter

Aside from the occasional Heritage purchase, I stay focused by concentrating on the sets in my sig line. There is enough there to keep me busy. I know I can find something in any one of those sets at almost anytime. I've found that if my focus was too narrow and I was at a point when it wasn't easy to find anything within that focus, it created an opportunity to stray. If my focus is a little more broad (like the 7 sets I am working on), I can always find a card I need for my sets, so I stay on focus.

Scott

Futureman

MarkLee, I collect the 1997 Upper Deck Legends autograph set. It's more than half way completed, but it still feels like I have a way to go. I was looking through it the other day, and that kind of got me re-commited to the set. I get side tracked like southsider, thinking about how cool it would be to have some card. Then I wind up without much direction, and a bunch of cards that were more impulse buys instead of focused. I still like them, but I want to stay on track. Since I was a kid in the late 80's and early 90's, I can buy the cards I wanted when I was little because I have more money than my weekly allowance paid, and the cards are much cheaper from when they peaked. Still, that nickle and dimes the focus of my collection.