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Therion
Well-known member
I've been gone for a few weeks. It has been a somewhat odd period for me but nothing too overwhelming. I've rededicated myself to my schoolwork. I was just floating by and getting B's but that wasn't really helping my GPA. I was recently given an offer that if I could bring my GPA up .4 to a 3.5 in the next three semesters, I will be guaranteed an engineering management job and get paid to get my MBA. So baseball cards are taking a backseat.
So as I looked around my house, I saw stacks and stacks of cards. Some so long abandoned that they literally were coated in dust. Most people here have never really seen my collection. A few have gotten a taste but I rarely share because I didn't want to be bombarded with people wanting them and I'm somewhat of a natural miser. So I blew the dust off of a stack of cards and started thumbing through them. It brought back really nice memories but also made me realize that most of the cards that were truly special to me were given freely. Over the years neighbors, friends, and some of you guys would show up in person or via USPS with a gift. I was always thankful but I realized that I was never truly appreciative. So what do I find in my dusty stack of cards? A 1964 Topps Hank Aaron. I know, hardly a bank breaker. But I realized that if I could leave such a great card unloved in a stack of cards that this hobby had moved on from a hobby and turned into pack rat mentality.
But how do I solve such a personal issue? Well, I just tore that bandaid off. I boxed up nearly everything. My wife and I set about going through my cards and cherry picking out the best of the best. I set some of the good stuff aside to sell on eBay but nothing that was fantastic. I took the best stuff and started sorting them into similar piles and soon had quite an envious collection sprawled out before me. And I did them most insane thing ever. I bagged them all up. Each bag contained two vintage cards, one autographed vintage card, four other autographed cards, and three game used cards. I took them to church and gave them all away to children. (And yes, I realize some of you are now saying, "Therion goes to church?! I thought he worshiped the debbil!") As I watched those little boys and one little girl open their bags with delight and abuse the daylights out of those cards, I felt right inside. I would have previously gone bananas. "NO! Don't handle them so roughly! You'll make them lose their VALUE!" But I got too wrapped up in the monetary value and forgot about the emotional value. Sure, that same Hank Aaron card dropped to the ground, bounced, and floated in a puddle for a few seconds. I'm sure I could have gotten $20 for it on eBay. But that little boy looked like he had won a million dollars and a helicopter. And he didn't care at all that it had clear water damage. It was "FREAKIN' Hank Aaron!"
So my collection now fits in a single shoe-box sized Tupperware container. It consists of my autographs and a select few meaningful cards. And the funny thing: I feel like it is worth more now than before I purged everything. I feel like it is actually a hobby again.
So as I looked around my house, I saw stacks and stacks of cards. Some so long abandoned that they literally were coated in dust. Most people here have never really seen my collection. A few have gotten a taste but I rarely share because I didn't want to be bombarded with people wanting them and I'm somewhat of a natural miser. So I blew the dust off of a stack of cards and started thumbing through them. It brought back really nice memories but also made me realize that most of the cards that were truly special to me were given freely. Over the years neighbors, friends, and some of you guys would show up in person or via USPS with a gift. I was always thankful but I realized that I was never truly appreciative. So what do I find in my dusty stack of cards? A 1964 Topps Hank Aaron. I know, hardly a bank breaker. But I realized that if I could leave such a great card unloved in a stack of cards that this hobby had moved on from a hobby and turned into pack rat mentality.
But how do I solve such a personal issue? Well, I just tore that bandaid off. I boxed up nearly everything. My wife and I set about going through my cards and cherry picking out the best of the best. I set some of the good stuff aside to sell on eBay but nothing that was fantastic. I took the best stuff and started sorting them into similar piles and soon had quite an envious collection sprawled out before me. And I did them most insane thing ever. I bagged them all up. Each bag contained two vintage cards, one autographed vintage card, four other autographed cards, and three game used cards. I took them to church and gave them all away to children. (And yes, I realize some of you are now saying, "Therion goes to church?! I thought he worshiped the debbil!") As I watched those little boys and one little girl open their bags with delight and abuse the daylights out of those cards, I felt right inside. I would have previously gone bananas. "NO! Don't handle them so roughly! You'll make them lose their VALUE!" But I got too wrapped up in the monetary value and forgot about the emotional value. Sure, that same Hank Aaron card dropped to the ground, bounced, and floated in a puddle for a few seconds. I'm sure I could have gotten $20 for it on eBay. But that little boy looked like he had won a million dollars and a helicopter. And he didn't care at all that it had clear water damage. It was "FREAKIN' Hank Aaron!"
So my collection now fits in a single shoe-box sized Tupperware container. It consists of my autographs and a select few meaningful cards. And the funny thing: I feel like it is worth more now than before I purged everything. I feel like it is actually a hobby again.
