Mike,
I have never been able to stay completely focused on a single area/player without becoming distracted at some point along the way. I would say in the last 25 years, Clemente has on and off been my main focus. But at times, as you most likely already know, when having a narrow focus, it becomes difficult/expensive to acquire new items. And that’s when a new focus would emerge.
For example, after a long run of many years of collecting mostly Clemente, I sort of got burnt out. So for the next 8-10 years, I shifted to collecting pre-war cards. In that time, I was able to put together a near master set of 1909-12 PX-7 Domino discs, a near set of 518 T206 & about 3/4 or so of the T205 set. Pre-war postcards were another sidetrack. I also, during this time, would pick up Ty Cobb and Honus Wagner cards and memorabilia that I liked and could afford. I eventually returned to Clemente items. But again, finding new items became a bit tedious again.
So, to answer your question, the latest side track is a actually a return to one of my previous endeavors... basketball cards (primarily 1980-present). Luckily, I already had Jordan’s Fleer Rookie, Bird/Magic and all of the big rookies from the 1980s-1995. However, prior to the start of the whole pandemic last year, I did not own a single LeBron card. So in the past 10 months or so, I have managed to pick up around 40 LeBron rookies among other cards that just catch my eye (some Kobe, Curry). I thought collecting Clemente/pre-war was expensive, but the whole basketball market is crazy right now. A couple of PSA 9 Jordans sold for over $40,000 each on eBay yesterday. It is an expensive segment of the hobby to re-enter right now, but I’m having more fun with the hobby than I’ve had in the last ten years or so, and I guess that’s what it’s all about.
Sorry for the long winded response, hope that answers your question
