Are you a hoarder?

DrLou

I've watched TV shows about hoarding (TLC and AE) There are a bunch of people on these shows that collect various items which become sentimental to them and they simply can't get rid of them...and it starts to destroy their lives. So I guess what I am asking is: do you think being a card collector in any way means there is a "hoarder" element to your personality? Have you ever been so attached to your cards that the thought of getting rid of them is impossible to consider?

iahawks55000000

As a child, I kept anything that would seem to have some historical value in the future. From Kraft Mac and Cheese baseball card boxes, to old Sports Illustrated, to newspapers of important sporting events. Of course, most of it is worthless, but I would not get rid of it. However, I contain my mess to one large closet, the people on that show go well beyond that.

DrLou

I can't believe it! The thought I had to start this thread is on TLC and then moments after typing I just saw the therapist convinced the guy to throw away his baseball cards I kid you not! They were probably 80's to Modern in which case the therapist was right...but if not, I think the therapist may have just thrown out bunch of valuable stuff. He did say the cards were from his parents and he is around 50+ so the the cards were probably vintage

nam812

Are you really this bored Pat?

itzagoner

Hoardie and the Blowfish.

DrLou

Hoardie and the Blowfish. --For some reason that just made me laugh!

Aric

What gets me about those hoarder shows is they get these people to throw away all these things they feel are "valuable". What they need to do is combine a hoarder show with one of those trash-to-treasure shows where someone goes in to these piles of trash and find valuables that they actually sell, like a big garage sale. Now that would be entertainment.

Well maybe not.

Bigjohn69

combine hoarders with the pickers and survivor and i think i might watch that show, maybe have the guys from the pawn shop as refs, lolol,,,bj

DrLou

Hi BJ. Not trying to drive TV ratings on any of these shows just want to know if card collecting and "hoarding" have any strong connection

PhilG

I suppose I am a hoarder. But the 93 Finest refractors do seem to have some value.

dizzle

<< <i>Hi BJ. Not trying to drive TV ratings on any of these shows just want to know if card collecting and "hoarding" have any strong connection >>



Lol... yeah collecting cards has a strong conection to hoarding.. I'm gonna guess most card collectors crap on their kitchen floor cause the bathrooms stuffed with garbage to the ceiling and they have a couple dead cats cats under piles of raw garbage in their living room..

UlyssesExtravaganza

I think there is often an overlap between hoarding and collecting. Maybe not for a guy who wants a handful of high grade cards but if the basement is hard to navigate maybe. An inability to get rid of things and a desire to keep all your junk wax commons are probably pretty similar. I think Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and collecting (specifically set registry building) have a strong link as well. I think hoarding might be in the OCD family but can't say for sure. I think collecting cards/coins/antiques/etc. is the OCD hobby of choice. Obsess on something and then fulfill compulsion by purchasing. Reset. Repeat.

larryallen73

I have become less of a collector as I try to de-clutter my life. I hate having the stuff pile up. It's stuff that I probably haven't looked at it 5 or 10 years. It just sits in a box. Why? Also, no offense, but seeing some of the huge collections on this board has made me want to get rid of my stuff because it scares me to see what some people do to their houses and/or families when they are blinded by their OCD obsession.

DeutscherGeist

Interesting Topic. I saw that show on hoarding too.

There is a broad spectrum of hoarding and it only becomes a disorder when your home is filled to the ceiling. I think most collectors have some degree of hoarding, obsessive compulsive and perfectionist tendencies more so than the average population.

During the "Depression", you never threw anything away because you never know if you were going to need it later. It was a survival induced hoarding. Things like tin foil could be used over again. Old newspapers may one day keep you warm as fuel for the fire. Some odd nuts, screws, washers and bolts may help you mend a chain link fence. You had to improvise as a way of survival. You could not buy new stuff. People that were creative, could improvise and kept everything did better during the "Depression."

There are different motivations to hoarding: survival, sentimental value to items, aversion to waste, etc.

RonBurgundy

No, I'm not like Tiger.

italianstallionyankees

<< <i>I can't believe it! The thought I had to start this thread is on TLC and then moments after typing I just saw the therapist convinced the guy to throw away his baseball cards I kid you not! They were probably 80's to Modern in which case the therapist was right...but if not, I think the therapist may have just thrown out bunch of valuable stuff. He did say the cards were from his parents and he is around 50+ so the the cards were probably vintage >>




This makes me feel sad for the guy if these cards were his parents cards... lets say if their was indeed some late 50's commons or 60's commons , or a mantle or two or maybe 30 Mantles and they are now sitting in a landfill. Why not donate the cards to a Childrens Cancer foundation or have a big yard sale??? This just is crazy on the therapists part.. I wish we can dispose of him/her properly!!

Ryan

Garabaldi

When i was young I used to keep Magazine, newspapers, cards and anything else that I thought could be worth something. Now, I just throw it all away.

larryallen73

When i was young I used to keep Magazine, newspapers, cards and anything else that I thought could be worth something. Now, I just throw it all away.

Me too.

Stone193

I'm a pack rat which sounds similar to a "hoarder" - I have to be convinced to throw anything out.

I'm tryin to change that - starting with the stuff in the garage.

On the hobby side - I've learned to collect "with a focus" which will tend to keep me from buying things and tryin to "corner the market" on everything.

I have very little interest in anything made today since it will tend to lack originality and uniqueness. We've pretty much been GU'ed to death with cards and even signed cards to some extent.

One thing I do believe - in general - those who have a hobby may tend to be more fulfilled individuals - as they age - compared to those without outside diversions - it just "seems" to be healthier?

leadoff4

I think if you're a card collector you'd have to be considered at least somewhat of a hoarder just by the pure nature of the hobby itself.

Stone193

<< <i>I think if you're a card collector you'd have to be considered at least somewhat of a hoarder just by the pure nature of the hobby itself. >>

I would agree to this but with a certain qualification.

Some people who wind up collecting are "hoarders BEFORE the fact" - it's their nature - and have collections.

The "hoarder" or "pack rat" is a specific subset of collectors.

Some people fall into collecting by accident - someone gives them a pink elephant and 312 elephants later, they have a "hoard" of elephants. But have no unconscious desire to hoard anything.

Does this make sense?

DeutscherGeist

Mike,

Nice to see you! Yes, I agree, a hoarder is a specific subset of a collector.

I don't throw things out that easily either, but I can be reasoned with. Sometimes things are sentimental to me, other times I think it may come in handy one day, and still other situations makes me feel its a waste just to dump it and not environmentally friendly.

Just today, I brought a bunch of recycleable bottles and cans to the local recycling center. They also take scrap metal like old brake rotors, pipes, etc. The scrap metal option is attractive because I rather have things put in circulation than in a landfill.

I don't ever want to have so much stuff that it consumes my space. This is why I never started collecting Baseball card sets. I only have a handful of sets and that's enough for me.

I do have pack rat/hoarder tendencies, but I am also constantly going through my stuff to see what I really value and what I can donate, give away, sell, recycle and in rare cases, put in the trash (something must really be worthless for me to put it there). I also very much like things organized, clean and well arranged, so it puts me in conflict with my pack rat tendencies (Perhaps its what keeps me balanced).

In my baseball card collection, my star cards take up more space than my commons--it means that I do not hang on to so many commons. I never bought too many packs in the past and focused on singles mostly.

On any given week, I have all kinds of stuff for sale on craigslist just because I need to get stuff moving out of the garage and closets and make room.

divecchia

I'm only a focused collector, not a hoarder.

I believe most hoarders collect everything with the only rhyme or reason being that some day they will need or use it. Most of the time the stuff just piles up and most of it is forgotten or goes unused.

Donato

Kneel

Hoarder? Yes, I am a card hoarder

I can't stop it, I need help!