[CooperstownExpert]

Don't get me wrong. I've collected something baseball related for over 40 years now since I was quite young. Cards became too common so I turned my attention to Hall of Fame autographs in 1984 and picked up a Ty Cobb autographed check for $40.

Now 30+ years later the size and scope of the autograph collection sometimes makes me wonder if this is such a good idea. I recently picked up the USA Passport from 1970 of my favorite player, Bill Buckner. Sweet item to go along with his first pro contract, signed as a teenager, his final MLB payroll check, and some good stuff in between. But it's also made me wonder...is all this a bad idea.

I'd be really interested to hear from seasoned collectors about their thoughts on collecting in general and what collectors get out of amassing things.

If baseball autographs are your collecting focus, please check out the site called CooperstownExpert.com. It has autographs of all but three MLB HoFers who debuted since 1900, along with 200 other non-Hall of Famers. It took my 30+ years to collect all the pieces, and another 5 years of talking about it before finally creating the site. Take a look and let me know what you think.

We've all had thoughts that collecting might not be a great decision. Lately these thoughts are coming up too often. I'm eager to hear from others on the topic.