Nice thread! I started in 1969 buying packs and always enjoyed the gum, the cards, the cartoons on the back, the inserts - loved the whole experience. Finally stopped buying new packs in 89 or 90, when it was apparent that they were taking down full forests for each of the countless sets that were being produced, and am not a fan of the manufactured scarcity in chase cards.
Since then I have moved over to collecting oddball issues, figural items, display items, orignial art - almost anything that I find interesting but probably not mass produced. I am now as I have always been, a minnow as opposed to a "whale" (and proud of it, although I guess I am supposed to feel inferior!) but I still enjoy collecting and finding the rare bargain for an item I would never be able to spend the big dollars on.
So I would suggest you try to find a way to reconnect with your old feelings of joy in collecting, even if opening packs and stuffing 5 pieces of gum in your mouth is sadly no longer an option!
P.S. And speaking of Kelloggs, one of my all time great days as a kid was pulling not one but THREE(!!!) 3-D cards out of a single box of Corn Flakes in 1970, including my hero Tom Seaver! As a 6 year old, I felt like I won the lottery!
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