Collecting habits over the long term.

It used to be that I would want every single card I didn't have if it came up for auction. Sometime this year I reached a reached a point in my collection where I no longer need anything, I am content with what I have. After 6 years of collecting, the hobby has become more about enjoying what I have rather than chasing after things I don't have.

My O'Neill collection has reached a steady state, I typically acquire 2-3 new cards a month, most of the time they are low-mid end inserts and the occasional high-end autograph. At any given time, my watch list has 2-3 cards, down from 10-15 before. At shows, I scour the bargain boxes finding Yankee base cards to complete team sets and player sets. The hobby has become less expensive, more enjoyable as a result. I still try and find cards from my lists but unlike before there is no card that is a must have.I am more selective as to what I purchase and what I keep for the PC.

It maybe that I have become weathered collector realizing this is a marathon rather than a sprint. Or it maybe it's just that collecting has become less of an obsession and more of a hobby. I am not sure. Either way, I do know that my enjoyment for the hobby is still strong and has not diminished.

I am sure a lot of you have been collecting for longer than I have, some even before I was born, how have your collecting habits changed over the years?

Ravi I also made a huge decision this year in regards to my Jason Bay collection. I have decided to only collect Bay in a Pirates and Red Sox uniform. I am still a huge fan of Bay but I'm not a Mets fan in the least and I just don't have the same passion for the new cards with him in his Mets uni. it has already made collecting him a lot easier and it's more fun to hunt down cards I don't have and not worry about buying up all the new Topps cards I don't like any way.

pghbuccos said:

Ravi I also made a huge decision this year in regards to my Jason Bay collection. I have decided to only collect Bay in a Pirates and Red Sox uniform. I am still a huge fan of Bay but I'm not a Mets fan in the least and I just don't have the same passion for the new cards with him in his Mets uni. it has already made collecting him a lot easier and it's more fun to hunt down cards I don't have and not worry about buying up all the new Topps cards I don't like any way.

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Good i'll sell the Bay bat barrell i have

I have slowed down my Perk collecting. There is just more and more stuff, less and less time and money. Now I am saving for some hobby boxes, and I am getting ready for the new crop of kids to get drafted. I know that the draft isn't for a while yet, but if I can get educated now, I will be ahead of the game.

tramers said:

pghbuccos said:

Ravi I also made a huge decision this year in regards to my Jason Bay collection. I have decided to only collect Bay in a Pirates and Red Sox uniform. I am still a huge fan of Bay but I'm not a Mets fan in the least and I just don't have the same passion for the new cards with him in his Mets uni. it has already made collecting him a lot easier and it's more fun to hunt down cards I don't have and not worry about buying up all the new Topps cards I don't like any way.

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Good i'll sell the Bay bat barrell i have

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if it's from 2010 Topps make sure you sell it to Art.

on a side note those manufactured bat barrels are another reason why I am not going after anymore new cards.

I think I know what you mean, its like reaching a 'higher plane' LOL. Its nice to not have to worry about hobby hype and be able to look through your collection with satisfaction, not caring if someone else has something better...and better yet, being able to resist cards that, in your view, are too expensive!

nevermore said:

It used to be that I would want every single card I didn't have if it came up for auction. Sometime this year I reached a reached a point in my collection where I no longer need anything, I am content with what I have. After 6 years of collecting, the hobby has become more about enjoying what I have rather than chasing after things I don't have.

My O'Neill collection has reached a steady state, I typically acquire 2-3 new cards a month, most of the time they are low-mid end inserts and the occasional high-end autograph. At any given time, my watch list has 2-3 cards, down from 10-15 before. At shows, I scour the bargain boxes finding Yankee base cards to complete team sets and player sets. The hobby has become less expensive, more enjoyable as a result. I still try and find cards from my lists but unlike before there is no card that is a must have.I am more selective as to what I purchase and what I keep for the PC.

It maybe that I have become weathered collector realizing this is a marathon rather than a sprint. Or it maybe it's just that collecting has become less of an obsession and more of a hobby. I am not sure. Either way, I do know that my enjoyment for the hobby is still strong and has not diminished.

I am sure a lot of you have been collecting for longer than I have, some even before I was born, how have your collecting habits changed over the years?

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When cert. auto cards came out i frackin loved them all. I was going for the 1999 Sp signature auto set, the 1999 Cent Leg. auto set alot of rcs. Then it seemed like the production of cert. auto cards was out of control. After only 3 years of hardcore auto collecting i sold it all and stopped collecting. After i got back into it i tend to focus my collecting on auto rcs only. They can't be overproduced after the rc year is over.

Great Thread.

i think this happens to all of us at some point. For me, that point was the 2008 "R" debacle, which broke me from my prospecting addiction of many years lol

since then, ive bounced from focus to focus, some sticking more then others. but all in all, its a fun ride and i love collecting.

Now with 2011 around the bend, ive decided that im going to try to thicken out my modern graded rookie card collection with rookies that arent "HOFers" or all-stars per se, but ive enjoyed over the years for one reason or another.

as with everything, the hunt is where its at for me. but it is nice to sometimes sit back and look through the 'bucket and enjoy whats already there

nevermore said:

It used to be that I would want every single card I didn't have if it came up for auction. Sometime this year I reached a reached a point in my collection where I no longer need anything, I am content with what I have. After 6 years of collecting, the hobby has become more about enjoying what I have rather than chasing after things I don't have.

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Exactly how I feel.
I've been collecting since 1985, and two years ago, I realized I have so many cards I barely look at.
So I started actually enjoying all my cards, building sets and being a true collector.
Earlier this year, I stopped buying from eBay cold turkey, and it's amazing how much extra money I have.
I still love baseball and this hobby as much as ever, but I've learned to appreciate what I have instead of compulsively buying cards all the time.

I'm still pretty much all over the map but the focus of my PC is autograph and game used sets. But yeah... I have collecting A.D.D.

Tom

nevermore said:

It used to be that I would want every single card I didn't have if it came up for auction. Sometime this year I reached a reached a point in my collection where I no longer need anything, I am content with what I have. After 6 years of collecting, the hobby has become more about enjoying what I have rather than chasing after things I don't have.


I am sure a lot of you have been collecting for longer than I have, some even before I was born, how have your collecting habits changed over the years?

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I have thought that I was content many times, and then I usually switch up my collection. I have gone through tons of phases.

First I wanted all the rookies for star players that I watched play (griffey and canseco were my first two cards).
Then I wanted rookie hof'ers
Then I wanted the rookie reprint autos
Then I wanted one topps design of every card from 1952-1992 (40 years of topps designs)
Then I wanted the game used
Then I wanted HOF autos
THen I wanted players to fill each of several categories (500HR club, 3000hit club, best 5 players of each position - thats when i made my website.
THen I wanted PSA/DNA rookie autos of players that didnt have a rare rookie of players I watched play
Then I wanted these new patches
Then I made a few attempts at completing a set (failed miserably, got frustrated, and sold off - Topps archives autos, Goudey (tried 2 differnet years), 99 intl refractors of stars-i actually completed all but griffey...could have completed, but was outbid...sold off collection).
Then I wanted patch autos
Then I wanted History cards (cards where major records were made...that was very hard, until i found 200lb could make me cards that met my criteria)
I recently went through a phase where I started collecting inserts of star players
I recently and trying to make sense of exactly what I want, and think I am close to what I want....

I can actually almost define my collection now, and it is about complete....it took me a long time, and many changes to get to where I finally am almost content. I will actually make it an effort to define my collection and make a website to share them...it will probably be another 2 years before I complete the effort.

basically, my collection consists of 5 DIFFERENT CATEGORIES

CATEGORY 1 - VINTAGE
PRE 1980- Vintage of Players that meet one of these criteria
a) Major History or Record e.g. Walter Johnson, Cy Young, Jackie Robinson
b) super fan favorite e.g. ozzie smith, mickey mantle, Carew
c) super stats e.g. musial, gehrig,

CATEGORY 2 - PSA/DNA
1980-1995 - PSA/DNA of all the superstars (no rare rookies exist, so I want autographed rookies)

CATEGORY 3 - MODERN ROOKIES
POST 1995 - Current High End Rookies (preferably autos) that have good potential of making HOF

CATEGORY 4 - CUSTOMS
CUSTOM PATCH AUTOS DEPICTING MAJOR RECORDS or ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF THE BEST PLAYERS

CATEGORY 5 - FLUFF
A few cool and high end 90s Inserts of major stars
A few cool and high end patch autos of major stars
A few VINTAGE GU Patches
A few Tiffany Rookies
A few Minor League Rookies
A few oddballs
Fluff (can be anything unique) of major stars