Are you alone ?

robstar

Aside from message boards, does anyone here have anyone in their everyday lives that they can share their love of this great hobby? I mean people that really understand your passion for your cards. Perhaps a co-worker or a client. I do not mean family members who pretend to give a rats A$$ and if they knew what you really spent on cards would try to have you committed.

As you have probably guessed by now, I don't

Thank God for these and other message boards. Can you imagine our hobby
without them.

Whats your situation??


Rob....

stevek

Yes, these boards are great. Not just for cards but for sports and other topics. I think this internet thing has a chance to catch on someday - might not just be a passing fad

Stone193

Oh yeah babe!

My wife thinks I'm certified and my assistants at work run in the other direction the minute I'm on the internet!!

Since moving to San Antonio, I'm pretty much alone here - none of my friends collect anything.

CU and boards like it have helped a lot of us enjoy collecting way more!

Good question Rob
mike

Peetie

No one around here to share with, except my son. He loves to open the packs and find a Pujols!

My wife doesn't know how much is spent on them. Then again, maybe she does and looks the other way. She is awfully good to me.

Mark

softparade

At first my better half definately thought I was crazy as I started my 1978 Topps set, and this set commands a hell of alot less cash then true vintage in PSA 9. She LOVES when I drag her to the computer to read thread like these. She is so happy that I am not alone in the world! I think it comforts her to know that my lunacy is a shared sickness

SDSportsFan

No one for me, except the owner of our local cardshop.


Steve

lawnmowerman

No one for me either. My wife and the guy that works for me think I'm crazy. I think that to sometimes but I look at it like this; I dont drink, smoke, do drugs or anything else like that, so I gotta spend my money on something. At least its something I enjoy and it wont end up shortening my life or causing me health problems!

baseballfanatic

No one but me, but everyone I have ever known already knew that they would have to take a back seat or at least share the co-pilots chair......

goudeygold

chicago. I have a very good friend who is working on a 100% PSA graded 34 goudey set. I'm working on 36 and 38 Goudeys, so we hit the shows and keep an eye out for eachother on ebay. works out pretty damn good, except when we get to 707 and shoeless joes booths where we have to look at what we need, but are simply unwilling to get bent over to get. it is a true test of patience...

GG

Tipem

Goudeygold,



Have you tried approaching Joe ? He is a great guy and probably would be willing to work with you if you got to know him(probably even share a beer from that cooler he has stashed under his table).


Vic

RipublicaninMass

<< <i> At least its something I enjoy and it wont end up shortening my life or causing me health problems! >>


Oh no? Have you ever tried to outbid reareverandsporttrindleberg, or qualityfhorseracing? (2 crazy folks paying 500% of SMR for 55 topps commons) You must not have a nemisis on ebay? lol

All kidding aside, my girlfriend thought I was nuts 'til she pulled a Tejada bat, and then a Williams bat from a few blasters of 05 heritage. Other than that I am mostly alone

KOBEcollector

My older brother and i ( i am 35 and he is 45 ) have spent most of our lifetime either talking about sports or about cards . We worked together for about 20 years so i saw him just about everyday and it was great bs'ing about either our teams ( both Cowboy,Mets and N.Y Ranger fans ) or about cards

We both have put together nice collections over the years but his by far is the better of the two. We both always joke about this one experience we had at a card show back in 84 or 85 . Being a big Met fan of course Strawberry was my guy at the time. We were close to leaving the show so we both wanted to buy a couple more things before we left . My brother picks up two 84 Fleer Update sets while yours truly drops down the big bucks on that rare 84 STAR Darryl Strawberry set . What a fool i was back then . Of course i probablly thought i got the better of the deal too.

My brother moved down to Florida about a year and a half ago ( i live in Jersey ) so obviously the time we spend talking about cards has diminished quite a bit but at least i can always pick up the phone and give him a call whenever i want to chat about cards or sports.


P.S does PSA grade " STAR " cards ?

MajorDanby

as a kid, i always dreamt of going to a show where there are no sellers...but traders. I remember taking a "class" in middle school....the topic was baseball cards. The "teacher" would hold trade days every friday. every kid in the class would bring their cards and would try to trade them off for ones they wanted. some would sell, most would trade. ive always longed for a type of forum like that. card shows are all about dealers selling their cards way above market value. they are not interested in trading unless they can make a profit. i would rather deal with people who actually want the cards for their own personal collections rather than for monetary value.

I went to a tristar show once and got to talking to a fellow collector roaming the tables. i told him i tried selling some of my cards to a dealer and got a really bad low ball offer. he had the same experience. we went to a table and showed off our cards. i traded away a 64 aaron psa 7 and a 54 williams gai 6 for a 67 mays psa 8 and cash.

detroitfan2

Thankfully, my dad is completely addicted to the hobby. Everyone else (mom, sister, wife, etc) understands, but they don't share the passion. Interesting thread though. I never thought about the fact that probably 100% of the people I go to church with, work with, or live near have no clue what PSA is or what a 2005 Heritage card looks like.

On the other hand, maybe someone does? Did anyone ever discover another collector who they were surprised by?

Mac53

Since I work at the computer here in my den, outside of my family, 99% of my social interaction is via electrons (I've never even seen my supervisor face-to-face). So, I don't know anyone who is into the hobby to any serious level. Then again, I wasn't into it at any serious level until about 7 months ago. I have really enjoyed reading the posts on this board, though. It's nice to see a group that places honesty on the top of the list and that loves the hobby so much. And my wife told me months ago to stop buying baseball cards. After 24 years, I've got a few chits to cash in.

julen23

I originally started collecting cards w/ 1 of my childhood friends (I graduated high school with, played my first tee ball team on, yadda yadda yadda). His dad had a bunch of 53-57 Topps baseball and 1954 Red Hearts that he had collected as a kid. The same "urban legendi-ish" story, but his dad had left a bunch of cards in a shoe box at his grandmother's house and found them like 30 years later. There are over 700 cards, which for the most part in still in sterling condition. He actually sold several of his 55 Topps back in 1990 to go to college.

This year I have introduced him to these message boards and convinced him to send all those beautiful cards in for grading. When and if he does, I will most defnitely make him share his submission.

Julen

frankhardy

My wife is fantastic! She doesn't collect, but supports my desire to be in the hobby. She will bring home packs from Wal-Mart in with the groceries for me "just because." There was a time when we needed some money to pay for some medical bills, and I considered selling my treasured Cardinals collection (every Topps and vintage Bowman among others) that I worked on for three years. She begged me not to do it and talked me out of it. She said that I would regret it. I'm very glad that I didn't sell it. We made ends meet, and I still have the cards. Again, she doesn't collect, but probably has more knowledge of the hobby than the average collector. She can grade a card nearly as good as I can!

There is also this one guy that is in his early 70's that lives about 50 minutes away from me, that has an awesome collection. I am only 30, but every time I am anywhere near his house (and if I have time), I will stop by his house and just chat about cards. He is know as "The Topps Man" around Western KY. If you need a Topps set, he is the one to get it from. It just think it's pretty neat that a 30 year old and a 70 year old can have enough in common to chat about for an hour or two!

Other than that, it these boards! Well, I do have my four year old son!!!

Stone193

<< <i>It just think it's pretty neat that a 30 year old and a 70 year old can have enough in common to chat about for an hour or two! >>


Frank
Really nice story.

And about "bridging" the generation gap - I think that's right on - our age becomes irrelevant when on the boards talking about what we collect and treasure. I'm one the elder statesman but never feel that way when I'm here talking with everyone.

mike

Knuckles

I have no family or friends interested at all.. I'll talk to my dad and my father in-law about them but they couldn't care less.

I wasn't collecting cards at the time but decided to go to a card show to see what was new with the hobby after a 9 year hiatus from the hobby. While at the show I got talking to a pair of very knowledgeable nice guys who have the biggest love for the game of hockey and passion for collecting cards that you'll ever see. They had just started selling their vintage hockey collections and had a table at the show.. As the conversation went on it somehow came up that I had my own business of designing websites.. They were very interested and I ended up making a website for them which was a fun project for me. They're very knowledgeable and I enjoy talking to them once in awhile. I've learnt a lot from them and appreciate them getting me interested in the hobby once again with their abundance of enthusiasm for collecting.

Knuckles

Frank, that's awesome.. She's a keeper. I wish my wife would bring home packs for me and at least try to take an interest. She collected Barbie Dolls (special expensive ones made by fashion designers) Even though they're Barbie's I reluctantly took interest and learnt stuff about them so she would enjoy her hobby more by being able to talk to me about them and like your wife I probably know more about my spouses hobby than the average Barbie collector.. Very scary. She since sold all 20ish of them and has only 2 left making our home more comfortable to live in.

zef204

Great Thread. I started collecting when I was young, 7 or 8 and would talk about the cards with my grandfather. I remeber while looking through and hand colated, and looking back very poorly conditioned set of 1983 topps baseball, that he had 3 categoies of ball players. "One of the Greats," "Mediocre," and "a Bum." It took me a while to learn what mediocre meant.

Needless to say I was enthralled with cards becaus they brought me(8) and my grandfather(68) together. My dad always was mad that his mom tossed his cards after he moved out because they were "damaged in the flood." He doesn't remeber their ever being a flood. My dad started collecting again in the late 80's buying and selling through Tuff Stuff. I remember one day he got a call off an ad and he was taking the order and the guy told him his name was Bob Feller. My dad said "are you THEE Bob Feller?" and he was so humble he said "I guess I am." So my dad stopped collecting into the early 90's and had around 200,000 cards left in his basement. I got into it again in 1999 when I came back from college and learned of ebay soon after! My dad just wanted to get rid of it and called in Mastro and they offered us $2000 for the collection. I later sold off all of it(minus the cards that I REALLY liked like 86F Jordan, 65 Namath, 76 Payton, and 69-70 Alcindor) for over $20,000 THANKS GUYS!

So that got me back into collecting and my dad has since gotten too forgetful to remeber how much he enjoyed this. My wife used to listen but then started making fun of me and quoting me as saying, "And this one..." I think that is kinda funny because it is so true. She understands that I truely enjoy this and I just leave her out of it now and its cool.

So I too am alone but I don't mind it. I have been re-collecting for 6 years and I love it. i was introduced to this board a few months ago and read a lot more than I post. But I enjoy what you all have to say and intend to start posting more. I do know that when I do have kids I will try and get them into the hobby because I know how valuable it was for interacting with my two older generations.

HoofHearted

There's some very touching stories to read here. It sures keeps in the mood with Memorial Day.

I've got a very understanding wife who has gone along with my compulsion to collect for the past 23+ years we've been together. She has picked up the collecting bug buying and selling her favorite-of-the-month on eBay for a little over a year now. We enjoy comparing our "chase" stories trying to fill in holes in our collections. My wife and her best friend share the same passions, but me, I'm just thankful to have found some very understanding souls here on the CU boards!

hh

ctsoxfan

My wife tries to understand the hobby - and never gets in my way when I want something. Bless her! A few of my co-workers who are big baseball fans think it is cool as well, but no one actually collects the cards - they just like to hear about mine.

yankeeno7

Growing up, my parents were the ones who got me addicted. They would go to seminars and happened to hit card shows going on at the hotels they stayed. They are the reason for a large part of my Mantles, Ford, Rose, and Clemente collection.

Now, I talk and trade cards with a friend I grew up with.

My girlfriend is pretty understanding and while I wouldnt say she is big into looking for anything, she enjoys it when I bring her home game used and auto cards of Brett Farve, Sterling Sharpe, other Packers, and Derek Jeter. I still have yet to get her a Jeter and a Favre auto cards though.

My parents and I still talk about the hobby once in a while, especially about my recent pick ups.

lostdart58

No one to share my cards with here in the Virgin Islands.

I have been thinking for a long time of running a personal ad in the local paper to see if there are others out there.

I bet there are.......

yankeeno7

That isnt a bad idea Lostdart58.
I will be moving to an area where there isnt much of anything so when I move there, Im going to try to put together a collecting club...maybe to help reduce costs of buying stuff...cards, supplies, whatever. Maybe meet once every other month to trade/buy/sell. Just an idea I have floated around and have a couple of guys interested...so we'll see....