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Analyzing the Peaks and Valleys of Collecting

mouschimouschi Posts: 687 ✭✭✭✭
edited February 18, 2017 9:33PM in Trading Cards & Memorabilia Forum

If you are a player or team collector, it is my hope you can identify with this. Heck, you could probably copy/paste this in Word and do a find/replace of my guy with yours and it would still be applicable.

I wanted to take little time this evening and muse about the peaks and valleys of collecting. It has so many highs and lows. It consists of friends, enemies and frenemies. You win a new "trophy" card, and show it off for all to see, or you can spend the rest of the evening pining about the card you missed out on that may never be seen again. And then another card comes along ...

A while back, I posted a goofy graphic I made of me holding the sign below ...

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People kept showing me cards, yet all of them that I was shown, I already had. One guy made this graphic:

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I got a huge kick out of that. It's a LIE, people - don't believe it! :) While it is true that adding things to my collection is getting harder and harder, there is a TON of stuff out there I don't yet have.

Take, this past month for instance. In roughly a month, I have added over 100 new items to my collection! These aren't just cards i clicked from ebay. Some have their own personal side stories that go back several months. Some have come from a former die-hard collector, one from a trade with a forum moderator. Heck, one was even pulled from a pack on camera at the MLB Network Studio with Lauren Shehadi. Thanks again, Anthony! (Anthony is the guy who pulled it.)

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(Here is a link to the video: https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10154086445751695&id=57166781694 )

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Each piece has its own origin / backstory.

The 92 Topps A.S. buyback shown above wouldn't mean NEARLY as much to me had it not been shown on camera, and given to me by Anthony for free. It just may prove to be my favorite 2017 Topps buyback card because of it!

Perhaps it is the origin / backstory that we have created which cause many collectors to say they wouldn't accept $100 for a card in their collection, yet would not have paid nearly that for one if it weren't already in their possession. As irrational as it sounds, I am one of those people.

Here are the rest of the 100+ additions that are on my desk, awaiting their fate to be archived on my website and integrated into my collection.

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Included in this lot are fun / obscure / controversial items, as well as things that other people probably wouldn't even care about. Here are a few:

1993 Upper Deck Triple Crown card from a 1993 Mead notebook

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The original acetate proof used in the making of the card shown below

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Severely mis-cut cards from uncut sheets - Origin/backstory: Someone was selling sheets of 1986 Star with blank backs. I wanted to add a blank back set to my collection, so I purchased a sheet perhaps a year ago or so. I had to return it, because the sheet was bent like crazy. I ended up purchasing another, and guess what? It too, was bent like crazy. The seller had another sheet and sent it to me. Yup. Bent. A lot. Recently, I took a bent Studio Heritage sheet and got some crazy mis-cut cards out of it. A lot of people LOVED them as much as I did, so I figured why not do that to the Star sheets? One with Jose on top and bottom; one with Mattingly on top and one with Joyner on top.

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Some hard to find beautiful autographed & patch cards:

2016 Tek Red Storm #/5 Autograph

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2017 Topps Wood Autograph Parallel #/10

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2016 Topps Archives Signature Series Buyback #/2

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2004 SP Game Used World Series Patch #/50 (with Devil Rays patch) - Origin/Backstory: I pestered a poor guy for a LONG time for this card who ended up ignoring me, so I backed off. Then it showed up in someone else's collection who was selling. Had this not happened, the card wouldn't mean nearly as much as it does.

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2016 Topps Pressed Into Service - Origin/Backstory: When a picture of this card first surfaced in 2015 I believe, someone on the forums said Topps probably made this just for me. I LOVE the card. I have the base, the gu/auto #/10 and the auto #/25. For some reason, this card has alluded me for about a year now, in spite of it being #/50. I literally could have had this card 2-3 times already, and finally have been able to land it.

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Adding over 100 items in a month is quite frankly something far beyond what I thought I would ever be able to add to my collection in such a short amount of time at this stage of the game. It will likely never happen again. You'd think this would be a mountain-top experience, yet what am I focused on?

The cards that got away, or are lingering.

How can this be? The stuff I've picked up is great - I absolutely love what I've added, yet it is so hard to get over the card that I JUST missed because I wasn't there are the right time, or because I couldn't convince the owner to deal it away, no matter the cost.

I think I have found the reason why the cards that I miss out on tend to mean more to me than the cards I land. This may be the same to you as well, I don't know - If you are like me, when you win a card you really want, it feels AWESOME. It is an absolute rush!

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Can you connect with this? I'd like to expand on the last part of this graph. It isn't that I am indifferent about the card that had me on cloud nine a few days earlier; it is more that the excitement has turned into satisfaction, and the excitement is immediately transferred into finding the next deal. I liken it to watching James Harden dunking on Lebron. Awesome? Yeah, but there is no time to celebrate like there is when Trout hits a game winning home run.

The thrill of finding a card is huge. Waiting it out / negotiating for it can possibly take some of the wind out of your sails, as it could either take one conversation for 18 months. Striking the deal is such a massive rush, quickly followed by impatience for the card to be delivered. For me, I take a pic of it & write about it, show it off and display it on my desk. After a while, I add it to my website and guess where it goes? In one of the white boxes I have.

We are now back at the level of wanting to get the next deal done. It is like going harrrrrrd for a piece of gold, and when you finally have gotten that gold nugget, you hold it up for all to see.

Then like Scrooge McDuck, you toss it into a sea of other gold you have accumulated. Here is my sea of gold ....

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While the appreciation remains, the excitement level is lost. It is just another piece of cardboard in one of the white boxes. This is human nature, of course. I mean, we can't maintain a high level of excitement about virtually anything forever.

So where does that leave us with the gold nuggets that we just couldn't get our hands on? It lingers in our heads as something that is untouchable, so if another pops up, it becomes an obsession. I think there is a well known quote out there that says just as much. Something along the lines of "rejection breeds obsession". Sometimes it doesn't work out like that, but many times it does.

On another interesting note, I find that the MORE pieces I get in bulk, the harder it is to get excited. I've picked up some huge cards over the past three years for my collection. I've nearly bought out about four collections, and there were some great pieces, but it was almost like getting an absolute overkill of goodness in too short of a time. These pieces were collected by their previous owners over the period of up to decades. Some may have been on a checklist for years, and finally picked up 10 years later after tough negotiations with a dealer at the table of a card show. The origin / backstory is somewhat lost when dealing in bulk.

One of the first big collections I picked up had a 1986 Donruss Highlights white letter variation in it. After nearly three years, I am just now able to fully appreciate how big of a card it is. My appreciation level for it probably would have been much higher had I picked it up if one had ever hit ebay. It would have cost me a lot more, but the appreciation would have been much more prevalent.

Can you connect with any of this? Part of the reason I write is to document the enjoyment I have gotten out of these cards before I archive them on the website and file them away in my collection. I am constantly on the hunt for ways to achieve contentment and appreciation for what I have while continually trying to add more. I think that is very important for all of us, in anything we do.

Who all feels the same way, or has more to add?

Tanner Jones, Author of Confessions of a Baseball Card Addict - Now Available on Amazon!

Comments

  • mrpeanut39mrpeanut39 Posts: 841 ✭✭✭

    I always enjoy your posts, but when you include the lovely Lauren Shehadi, it can't be any better.

    "I think the guy must be practicing voodoo or something. Check out his eyes. Rico's crazier than a peach orchard sow." -- Whitey Herzog, Spring Training 1973
  • mouschimouschi Posts: 687 ✭✭✭✭

    @mrpeanut39 said:
    I always enjoy your posts, but when you include the lovely Lauren Shehadi, it can't be any better.

    She is one of those gals, who, I think was given an unfair advantage in life. If anything, people have last names that can be made fun of. Hers sounds like "she's a hottie".

    Tanner Jones, Author of Confessions of a Baseball Card Addict - Now Available on Amazon!
  • mouschimouschi Posts: 687 ✭✭✭✭

    As an addendum to my writing, I'd like to point out there are SOME cards that transcend the others to where I am still highly excited about them. The 88 Topps Cloth and 89 Leaf Blue Chips are two of them :)

    Tanner Jones, Author of Confessions of a Baseball Card Addict - Now Available on Amazon!
  • TheMickTheMick Posts: 217 ✭✭✭

    You probably get asked this a lot but I was curious, why are you heavy into collecting Jose Canseco? He was a cheater on the field and a jerk off the field.

  • mouschimouschi Posts: 687 ✭✭✭✭

    @TheMick said:
    You probably get asked this a lot but I was curious, why are you heavy into collecting Jose Canseco? He was a cheater on the field and a jerk off the field.

    I used to get asked it a lot, and with prejudiced perplexity as well. I will go to bat for Jose here, (no pun intended!)

    Growing up, Jose was the best baseball player on the planet. Nobody captivated an audience quite like Jose did when he swung the bat. He was the hero for my A's many times - he didn't just hit home runs; he swung violently and hit absolute bombs. Memorable at bats and the excitement attached stuck with me far more than a 20 win season from a pitching stud, or a 200 hit season from a .300+ batter. He was my reason for getting into this game I love so much, and he did what I loved baseball most for: The long ball.

    Am I going to say he was the best player in the history of the game? Of course not. But he was the most excited to watch for me. Personally, I don't heavily discount him or any other player for steroids usage as much as many others do. Hitters did it and pitchers too. If the hitters didn't, then they'd be over-matched by the roiding pitchers, I guess. Again, not that it makes it right, but it does make it (for me) quite a bit of a non-issue. That was the era, and it is now a part of baseball history.

    As for being a jerk off the field, maybe he was to some people, but I am not one of them. I'm not sure if you have read my story or not, but here is a link in case you have not: http://tanmanbaseballfan.com/2015/05/chasing-canseco-best-day-ever-2.html - this was published in Beckett. It is a LOOONG read (which is how I roll) but in summary, he invited me and my family to his house, we spent the afternoon with him and plain & simple, he was awesome to us. He was so nice to me, my wife and son - I will be forever grateful to him for that day. To top it off, he texted me months later just to check in to see how I was and how my family was doing. I know some of his close friends and they all say he is misunderstood a lot & is a very kind / giving person. I can attest to that!

    Who knows though? Perhaps as a kid in his early 20's, he didn't know how to talk or handle the spotlight, and was rude to people, I'm not sure. He was 23 years old his 40/40 season. Ha - I'm so lucky I wasn't in the spotlight at that age :)

    Anyway, that is the long and the long of it :) My values and his probably do not line up too terribly well, but he was an exciting player at a critical time in my life. I am not here to be his apologist and say he did everything the right way, is a saint, etc. Heck, I'm not even ALL IN about the person (though I do think highly of him for how he treated us). I am all in about the cards! The player and the cards intersect perfectly with my writing and custom card making to become this wonderfully horrific cardboard obsession. I spend too much time, too much effort and too much money - but I love it more than I have loved any hobby ever before.

    Tanner Jones, Author of Confessions of a Baseball Card Addict - Now Available on Amazon!
  • Jose should get a ton of credit for nearly single-handedly saving the game of baseball. For nearly 2 decades team owners and management had collaborated to create and foster an atmosphere throughout baseball in which steroids was heavily promoted all in the name of marketing itself better. The more home runs the more people in the stands. Build up hype around breaking legendary records and you might just beat out the NBA and the NFL. They played this game much like professional wrestling in the 80's where people would throw out accusations of wrestling being fake and the wrestling industry would spin it and then deny deny deny.

    When Jose released his book it was damning to the point of utter embarrassment. The owners and players took the obvious route and played ignorant but it helped create an atmosphere to which baseball could return back to it's true form.

    While Jose no doubt played his part in the problem of steroids, he in no way could be considered the pioneer of using steroids. Those guys no doubt retired long before they had the chance of being caught (cough Nolan Ryan cough)

  • very cool post, thanks for sharing!!

    just curious, do you collect his key game tickets (debut, milestones, etc)?

  • mouschimouschi Posts: 687 ✭✭✭✭

    @pauldrolkees said:
    very cool post, thanks for sharing!!

    just curious, do you collect his key game tickets (debut, milestones, etc)?

    Nothing has really come up that I've seen that I've pulled the trigger on, but if something did come up, I just might go for it! I do have a few tickets though. I even have some comp tickets that were Jose's that he never gave out to anyone. Kind of cool I think :)

    Tanner Jones, Author of Confessions of a Baseball Card Addict - Now Available on Amazon!
  • baseballfanbaseballfan Posts: 5,450 ✭✭✭

    sent you a PM, I think at least, with a couple cards I have you may need.

    great collection

    Fred

    collecting RAW Topps baseball cards 1952 Highs to 1972. looking for collector grade (somewhere between psa 4-7 condition). let me know what you have, I'll take it, I want to finish sets, I must have something you can use for trade.

    looking for Topps 71-72 hi's-62-53-54-55-59, I have these sets started

  • jmmiller777jmmiller777 Posts: 1,324 ✭✭✭

    Thanks for a good read and an interesting take on one of the Bash Brothers. He was good, but I think the idea of him ratting out his fellow players and friends just didn't sit well with me. I have some oddball stuff from the late 80's put away in my "ton's" of memorabilia and junk. Three items come to mind, Baseball Card Magazine, possibly still sealed, a small approx 4X6 "Salute" magazine from the military exchanges, and a newspaper style TV guide from the San Antonio express News (approx 6X8 or a little smaller). I may also have an unopened bag of Mother's Cookies with his card inside, not sure (possibly 1990). I might have a few other unique items. Since they fall outside of the normal stuff, they may be hard to find or undesirable. Of course, finding these items through dozens of containers would be a fun chore for a rainy weekend. If these sound interesting to you, let me know. Also, I used to snag cellos and racks with stars on them too.
    Thanks again
    john

    CURRENT PROJECTS IN WORK:
    To be honest, no direction, but...
    1966-69 Topps EX+
    1975 minis NrMt Kelloggs PSA 9
    All Topps Heritage-Master Sets
    image
  • 1980scollector1980scollector Posts: 2,036 ✭✭✭
    edited March 2, 2017 7:09AM

    We all have issues. We all make mistakes. That is what makes Canseco, Tyson and Tiger interesting athletes to me. I got to meet Tyson and get "in the ring" with him. He was great and kind. i

    ** Working on the following sets-2013 Spectra Football Hall of Fame 50th Anniversary Autograph set, 2015 Spectra Football Illustrious Legends Autograph set, 2014-15 Hall of Fame Heroes autograph set. **
  • CakesCakes Posts: 3,450 ✭✭✭✭✭

    While I liked Jose there is just no way he was the best player on the planet, Barry Bonds was.

    Successful coin BST transactions with Gerard and segoja.

    Successful card BST transactions with cbcnow, brogurt, gstarling, Bravesfan 007, and rajah 424.
  • mouschimouschi Posts: 687 ✭✭✭✭

    @jmmiller777 said:
    Thanks for a good read and an interesting take on one of the Bash Brothers. He was good, but I think the idea of him ratting out his fellow players and friends just didn't sit well with me. I have some oddball stuff from the late 80's put away in my "ton's" of memorabilia and junk. Three items come to mind, Baseball Card Magazine, possibly still sealed, a small approx 4X6 "Salute" magazine from the military exchanges, and a newspaper style TV guide from the San Antonio express News (approx 6X8 or a little smaller). I may also have an unopened bag of Mother's Cookies with his card inside, not sure (possibly 1990). I might have a few other unique items. Since they fall outside of the normal stuff, they may be hard to find or undesirable. Of course, finding these items through dozens of containers would be a fun chore for a rainy weekend. If these sound interesting to you, let me know. Also, I used to snag cellos and racks with stars on them too.
    Thanks again
    john

    Thanks John! I do actually have an interest in some cello/rack packs as shown at www.tanmanbaseballfan.com/most-wanted - I'm mainly into cards to be honest.

    @1980scollector said:
    We all have issues. We all make mistakes. That is what makes Canseco, Tyson and Tiger interesting athletes to me. I got to meet Tyson and get "in the ring" with him. He was great and kind. i

    Well said and very cool!

    @Cakes said:
    While I liked Jose there is just no way he was the best player on the planet, Barry Bonds was.

    I would like to clarify, I never meant to say that he was the greatest all time ... just that he was the best when I was growing up :)

    Tanner Jones, Author of Confessions of a Baseball Card Addict - Now Available on Amazon!
  • CakesCakes Posts: 3,450 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I hear yah, he was your favorite, I liked him too.

    Bonds was the best player in the steroid era. He did everything Jose could do just better.

    Successful coin BST transactions with Gerard and segoja.

    Successful card BST transactions with cbcnow, brogurt, gstarling, Bravesfan 007, and rajah 424.
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