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When do you get outta the hobby?

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AnthonyCorona

Well-known member
Oct 6, 2014
9,600
68
Modesto, CA
I've been doing some thinking and I'm really considering leaving the hobby. I have had a big drop off of interest for various reasons.
1. I use to set build but with all the SPs, variations and SSPs getting so expensive I stopped.
2. Most of the players I collect have got too expensive.
3. There seems to be a new release every week so there's just too many cards to chase.
4. Maybe with there being more info...EVERYONE is buying prospects and prices are nuts. I've tried buying bowman autos of players I've met with my daughter and the prices have seemed to get outta hand.
5. I fear a market crash. I don't really collect to make a profit but with that being said, I don't buy a card for $15 thinking it's cool if it's worthless soon. I know the economy is chugging along with no end in sight but I'm old enough to remember everything crashing seemingly overnight.

I'd appreciate opinions and I'd really like to hear about people who have felt the same way. I won't ever stop watching and loving baseball but I could see myself selling what I have and finding a new hobby.

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chief7575

Member
Feb 1, 2010
188
4
I dumped the majority of my football collection late last year and couldn't be happier for it. Like you said, there was too much coming out every other week to keep up. What's more absurd is that the guys I collect are retired! Yet they still were getting a bajillion cards made. And not cheap either - everything had to be an auto or what have you numbered /10 or /5 or less in every issue. I could't afford it, so I said the heck with it and managed to sell it off. It's been GREAT! Now I just pick up some LEGO sets from time to time for my daughter to play with and we have a ton of fun. With some of my other collections, I've already turned them into just collect what I like, so that helps too.

Greg
 

swish54_99

Well-known member
Dec 12, 2012
1,160
221
I'm going through the same thing. I started a little over a year ago of selling off my collection. For my decision, it was a lot of what you have stated already. I don't collect sets, but I agree, there's too many sets (have no idea of print runs like what helped cause the 80's card crash) and there's too much perceived scarcity of all the numbered cards. A 1/1 is not really a 1/1 when there's other colors also with a 1/1 designation....there used to be the basic /999, /499, /150, /50, etc, now it seems there's a serial numbered/color for every 50-100 increment and now it's not just different colors you also have shimmers that are numbered the same way, sepia/pink/prizm/etc refractors. I also think the auto's/gu scene has gotten out of hand and watered down too much. It's the simple supply and demand scenario. Prices are only going to go down when player X has auto's coming out every few months in new products year after year. Unless card companies are getting jerseys of these guys every few games, it doesn't make sense to me how there can be so many high end releases each year that include so many multi-colored patches in each release.

I started out just saying, would I rather have 10 $5 cards I didn't care about or 1 $50 card I did care about. That has really helped thin stuff some and get out the cards I could care less about and turn them into cards I do care more about. That thought process has morphed into a much larger scale of would I rather have 100,000 cards in a closet that can't be displayed/seen/hard to insure due to constant price fluxing or would I rather have 1 thing I really have always wanted but could never afford otherwise. I thought about saving up for a '52 Mantle but it scares the crap outta me with all the fakes out there and I don't want to sink thousands into a fake and learn a lesson the hard way. So I sat there and wondered....what else have I always wanted, but wouldn't be able to have unless I free'd up money that I already had in something else like my cards. So I've decided to save up for a classic muscle car. I've always liked them from when I was in grade school and this would be my only way to get one. I could use it daily, much easier to insure if something were to happen to me health wise or the house if there was a fire/natural disaster/burglary etc.

I also had a health scare a few years back which also had a hand in my direction. I didn't want to leave 100's of thousands of cards for my family to deal with if something happened to me. They wouldn't have a clue where to start and if a Ubaldo Jimenez card was more more valuable than my Clemente rc.

I guess I kind of rambled on a little so sorry about that, hopefully I didn't go in too many circles and actually made sense. But it sounds like we are in a very similar boat.
 

banjar

Well-known member
Mar 22, 2015
2,540
883
Lafayette, Colorado
I absolutely hear you guys on the new releases. Hundreds of new releases for retired guys every year, with gluts on top of gluts of expensive GU and autograph cards...no thanks. That's how the card companies and most collectors roll now though, so it's take it or leave it. I'll leave it.

But I'd hate to see you go Anthony! Let me just throw this out - there are so many other ways to collect that there must be a niche out there for everyone right? For my part it's my PC, now mostly focusing on the playing career. Pursuing this collection feeds my inner OCD and I don't seem to get tired of it...
 

joey12508

Well-known member
Aug 7, 2008
38,465
16,123
Winterfell
I have stopped collecting a couple of times, in the 90's and around 2002. Life gets in the way so i understand where you are at. I went from a team collector to player's collection. My guys are retired so am i. I only go after cards from there playing years and ones i can afford. Still rip a few boxes now and then.
i am never selling my Bernie PC.
 

Mighty Bombjack

Active member
Aug 7, 2008
6,115
12
Some random thoughts:

Selling can be a hobby too, one that feels good (just don't kill yourself by focusing too much on sell vs buy prices). I can tell you that I collected as a kid in the early-to-late 80's (like so many others). Stopped collecting in high school (because girls were kind of interesting). The stuff I had from that era was almost all worthless, of course, but I had a nice little stash of vintage and autographs from going to shows with my dad. I cherish that stuff and left all of it in my childhood bedroom closet when I went away for college. Then I took a job at Topps in 2001 and worked there for two years, and started amassing a small collection of new cards from the boxes that we ripped in the office. I left that job and moved to Europe, so the 2001-3 cards got thrown into my childhood bedroom closet with the 80s stuff.

When I came back to the States, I looked at my collection and had to make a decision (because I had a lot of stuff that was taking up space). My first thought was to liquidate it al, but I still had that HOF vintage and autos that I wanted to keep. Plus, the 2007 Rocktober run got me fired up. So, I decided to have those two foci: HOF autos and pack-issued autos of every player from the 2007 Rockies roster. I first found the Beckett boards and started trading for autos I didn't have. Once I drained that avenue and had fulfilled the '07 Rox collection, I started selling the other stuff to build towards the goal of amassing a serious HOF autograph collection (as well as some vintage cards of guys that I think I'll never own an auto of, e.g., a t206 Jack Chesbro). I was surprised that the selling was very, very enjoyable when it became focused on downgrading towards a niche of the hobby, a sort of hobby within a hobby.

That's my longwinded way of saying why not shift and concentrate your hobby focus, and have you thought about vintage? It is a nice change of pace from the SSSP, group breaks, ultra-factor, "one hundred different versions of the same card numbered/5" part of the contemporary card scene that seems to be burning you out.

And let me know prices on your cooler Rockies cards if are liquidating.
 

AnthonyCorona

Well-known member
Oct 6, 2014
9,600
68
Modesto, CA
I really appreciate all the feedback. Thought I might have come off a little too emo. [MENTION=12279]banjar[/MENTION] a niche PC is what I've been thinking, I thought maybe an auto or RC of every MLBer that's played in Modesto. @mightybombjack I dabbled in vintage a little but I couldn't really get into it. I love baseball history but being relatively young, the players of my youth are all junk wax guys and too easy to get. Again, I appreciate all the input everyone

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bstanwood

Well-known member
Sep 24, 2016
3,666
332
Mystic, CT
Like a lot of folks here i stopped collecting once upon a time because of money and a dislike for where the game and industry were going. I took about 7 years off and came back with a different focus.
It really just comes down to how much enjoyment you get from the hobby. I can buy a card of someone hardly anyone knows anything about and even fewer care about and not sweat the price because I want it. There are so many different ways to collect and all the niches and everything else that for me I just needed to find what I really liked and put my time and money into that.
To the original point of buying cards of guys you met when you were with your daughter being too expensive, or more than you want to pay, that does make it disappointing but if you love the game and like cards, I'd think about options that are out there because it seems like you want to tie it to memories and experiences, that makes it more important than an extra $5 sometimes I think.
 

smapdi

Well-known member
Aug 7, 2008
4,397
221
I think you get out when it's not fun, and you don't think it will be. There are any number of ways to collect, or otherwise participate in the hobby. It's not necessary for any of them to appeal to you, and when that happens, you're out, unless you're just under some sort of compulsion.

I've been trying to get into quality over quantity. I'm going to try not to start any new projects this year, open a lot fewer boxes (might have to do a Heritage) and finish at least 2 of the sets I have hanging out. One won't be too hard but will take some $, the other won't be too expensive but the cards are hard to find. But ideally I'll list a couple thousand cards for sale during ST, take that money and condense it into a nice 1951 Bowman Mantle or something.
 

WillBBC

New member
Feb 22, 2012
72
0
I was in a similar boat towards the end of 2017 but for different reasons. After using the hobby to self-fund about 90% of my purchases in 2017, December rolled around and I was simply tired of rolling cards in and out just to afford another higher-end card to flip a few months down the road. I had some great success in 2017 but I have very little desire to keep up the sales volume in 2018 so I'm going another route...not selling out completely but clearing a ton of volume in the low-to-mid end range to focus on two things. One of them will make no sense based on what I've already said.

1.) Player collecting-For the first time since Vlad Guerrero's days with the Angels I am actively collecting a single player--Patrik Laine. I will never drop 200-300 bones on any of these Upper Deck high end hockey products but will happily add Laine cards to the collection. Now that he's no longer a rookie, those high end cards can be had for under a hundred bones. Was I able to make a bit of a killing buying, grading, and flipping Austin Matthews and McDavid rookies the past two years--absolutely-but that type of market isn't always going to be there.

2.) And the one that conflicts with everything I've already said...I'm going to start buying and opening more cases. Nothing high end but I plan on opening a case or so a month and keep to a pretty strict budget. I've already pre-ordered Heritage and will be pre-ordering hockey cases in the coming weeks. If I run into a few bad cases and am out a good chunk of money, so be it. I'm fortunate enough to have room in the budget for that. It'll be more fun than a blackjack table and I the time spent with my box opening pals, including my wife and hopefully my son in a few years, is always time well spent!

I've basically been thinking out loud on a screen for 10 minutes now. If you're still with me--thanks. Don't let the industry push you out. Collect what you want to collect. If somebody has a gun to your head demanding that you spend 1800 bones on a case of redundant nonsense, you have far bigger problems!
 

AnthonyCorona

Well-known member
Oct 6, 2014
9,600
68
Modesto, CA
Again, thanks for all the replies. Some great advice and I appreciate all the similar stories.

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dano7

Well-known member
Aug 7, 2008
13,325
3,849
Roanoke, VA
Since I bought my first card at 6 and it is now 60 years later, it looks like a "till death do us part" deal for me. Of course, I have refined my collecting to Yankees and autographs, primarily.
 

AnthonyCorona

Well-known member
Oct 6, 2014
9,600
68
Modesto, CA
Since I bought my first card at 6 and it is now 60 years later, it looks like a "till death do us part" deal for me. Of course, I have refined my collecting to Yankees and autographs, primarily.
And it's a very impressive collection!

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tramers

Well-known member
Aug 7, 2008
23,286
2,287
hickory nc
800,000 cards sorted teams and in alpha order . having worked in warehouses for 38 years this wasn't hard . I have for 13 years sold at local stadium on weekends thus keeping some kids in it . Madison Bumgarner lives 10 miles away , Brian Harvey and son Hunter 15 miles away . donated 10,000 cards in teams bags to a low income elementary school this year , give boxes to Fire Dept.s . Belong to a private team collector group , sell on Ebay , trade here . Now retired and trying to move more out but still pick up others getting out .BTW ; 350 game hit foul/ hr or pitched autoed baseballs . 200 plus bats from local team- most cracked , ticket stubs , programs cards autoed .BEST = hugs from players girl friends LOL .
 

dano7

Well-known member
Aug 7, 2008
13,325
3,849
Roanoke, VA
800,000 cards sorted teams and in alpha order . having worked in warehouses for 38 years this wasn't hard . I have for 13 years sold at local stadium on weekends thus keeping some kids in it . Madison Bumgarner lives 10 miles away , Brian Harvey and son Hunter 15 miles away . donated 10,000 cards in teams bags to a low income elementary school this year , give boxes to Fire Dept.s . Belong to a private team collector group , sell on Ebay , trade here . Now retired and trying to move more out but still pick up others getting out .BTW ; 350 game hit foul/ hr or pitched autoed baseballs . 200 plus bats from local team- most cracked , ticket stubs , programs cards autoed .BEST = hugs from players girl friends LOL .

Last line is best!!! Got Michael Chavis' girlfriend to co-sign one of his cards, last year at Salem.
 

gt2590

Super Moderator
Aug 17, 2008
38,657
3,246
Near Philly
Not too much to add, your choice is your choice.

But I'd wait a while before selling. If the "itch" doesn't come back by say a month into the season, then I'd look to sell. I don't know how extensive your collection is, but I'd wait to sell the really rare, almost-impossible-to-find-again stuff, until last, if you sell them at all...
 

linuxabuser

Well-known member
Jan 16, 2011
2,364
50
Hey Anthony. I get where you're coming from. I've had similar feelings, but as a set builder and a borderline neurotic, I can't stop.

My advice to you: Delete the eBay app from your phone and take a month break. See how you feel after that.
 

AnthonyCorona

Well-known member
Oct 6, 2014
9,600
68
Modesto, CA
Guys I was thinking that maybe my collecting blues might be the fact it's not baseball season. But I do think either way, I'm downsizing a lot

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Brewer Andy

Active member
Aug 10, 2008
9,634
21
In my experience it can be liberating as heck to do a major sell off. The hard part for me is to not start collecting new things lol

To be fair, I miss a LOT of cards I used to own but don’t really regret selling more than a handful


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onionring9

Active member
Administrator
Aug 7, 2008
3,490
12
I had that same "oh come on" back in 2014 when they restarted mass producing McGwire rare auto's like they were pez. It killed a lot of the joy of collecting and personally felt like it cheapened the hunt. I started putting limits on what I really wanted. I started with my main collection being everything up to 2013 and when I do go outside I keep it concise like only going after specific runs. I'm a person that needs goals that are attainable too, it's why I never made 1/1's a priority. It's no fun to me to invest tons of energy into impossible feats like collecting every 1/1. I love adding them but they aren't part of my focus. Having long term and short term attainable goals are one of the aspects that keeps it interesting to me. Also helps to have tons of miner goals to still have some goal accomplishments as I go.
 

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