At what point does your collection become an obsession?

[predatorkj]

Last week there was a news story about a house fire here in the Milwaukee area and the owner was a hoarder. When I visited my mother she mentioned the story to me. My parents never understood my collection growing up and still don't. They, like most people, only see all the money that can be squeezed out of the collection. Then later on the same evening, I got a facebook PM from an ex and she mentioned the same story to me! I clarified that 'I am a collector, not a hoarder." My collection is large but well organized and pretty much kept to one room. Her response was 'Hoarders think they are collectors.' Touche! haha

Ah yes. And do what with the money you get it from selling your collection? Point is, I've been told this a thousand times by a thousand people. I've had exactly one person mention anything I'd remotely consider. My folks think I should save up for unexpected situations and I agree somewhat with that.

But most of the time people tell me I could use the money for things. When I ask "like what?", I get such responses as : beer, dates, liposuction(which I definitely don't need but she did), a real nice car, a boat(which actually tempts me), clothes, purses, shoes, a vacation somewhere exotic, just to save, and many responded they didn't know what for.

To me, you do what you want with your money. But if you do choose to butt in and tell someone else what to do with theirs, at least make sure it's something THEY actually need or could benefit from. Telling someone they should use their money to do something because it's what you need/want/would use it for is ridiculous on every level.

As for hoarding....I'm not sure what I consider hoarding. Most of us collect at least a specific player or sport. In my case I collect complete sets and players from three sports. But I don't do doubles and I focus on obtains things that fit a certain criteria. And if I have what I want for said collection, I do not obtain anything new unless it's given to me or I don't already have it. For instance I've been picking up select autographs of certain players since I didn't have one of them already. I'm not on eBay picking up 10000 count lots by the boatload.

IMO, hoarding is pure uncontrollable amassing of anything and everything. Even if narrowed down to a specific item. Most of us, while we do do that for certain player pc's, don't do it on the level I mean. You have a very set and finite goal. But if you just had to have every card and every copy of every card, if say you might be a hoarder. And no, that doesn't count some guy trying to have fun and amass all 100 copies of a card /100. I think all of us exercise some form of control. Those that don't are in trouble.

 

[weight333]

I agree with your sentiment. I believe you either are a collector or you're not. I'm pretty frugal with the rest of my habits. I don't buy expensive clothes, shoes, etc. Unlike booze and other entertainment, the cards maintain or appreciate some kind of value so that you can sell them in the future and still get some kind of $ out of them. How many teenagers can say they have accumulated assets? I started PCing Bonds in 1998 when I was 15. Like most collectors, it's a labor of love and enjoyment. I pretty much collect anything with Bonds on it (mags, posters, shirts, cups, etc) and those things do take up a lot of space but when I have my man cave set up, will present very well. It does become slightly irritating when people want to make decisions about your hobby for you. Thank goodness for this forum! haha

 

[MansGame]

I sometimes wonder what life would be like if someone came along and offered me a nice pile of cash for all my baseball cards. Three things are certain (1) I'd have a lot more time on my hands (2) I'd have a lot more money on my hands and (3) I'd probably be bored and looking for a new "hobby" or something to keep me sane when I'm not at work, etc.

With that said, IMO, for some people it has become an obsession and for others it hasn't.