Collecting Cards....Materialistic?

[yanksfan09]

I was just thinking to myself about our hobby a bit recently. I was just curious to get some opinions on how people think about collecting cards. Does anyone think of collecting cards; whether high dollar or otherwise, as materialistic?

For example: Do we in the hobby view or obsession with cards the same as the proverbial woman with a shoe collection? Is there a difference?

Do people outside the hobby view collecting cards as the same as someoe buying shoes or other "materialistic things"?

Do you think there is a difference between between us "collectors" and an "outsiders" view of our "hobby"


Me personally, I never considered it or thought of it in the same light as say "someone going out and buying a bunch of high dollar shoes or clothes or jewelry." However, I got to thinking about it and was wondering if there really is a difference? To me, for whatever reason, I see a difference with collectors, especially of old things with such nostalgia. I realize I may just be biased. Yet, I don't view someone who owns a couple old classic cars, no matter the dollar amount, as being materialistic. To me collectors have such passion and get such joy out of their respective hobbies. Yet, is someone who impulsively shops for new clothes and shoes, jewelry etc... any different? Are we as collectors just biased in our view of what we buy? Maybe other people get as much pleasure and are also passionate about "ICE" (slang for diamonds for the older generation) or the latest Prada bag?

I don't know and was just curious how other people thought of our hobby and how they classify it?

[slantycouch]

I think buying anything of "high" value can be considered materialistic. Ultimately it's all in the eye of the beholder.

Depending what they are, high dollar shoes or jewelry can be collected with the same nostalgia as baseball cards. I know people who will pay hundreds (even thousands) for vintage Air Jordans.

[V117collector]

Lets break it down and admit money it self is materialistic.

[barrysloate]

Collecting baseball cards is different than buying shoes because most collectors (not all) realize that the money they spend on them may actually end up being a very good investment. I don't think too many women are looking to resell their old Manolo Blahniks.

[Doug]

I think collecting cards usually falls under doing it for enjoyment, investment, or a combination of the two. I don't really view it as materialistic unless you are just buying them for bragging rights.

[slantycouch]

Originally Posted by barrysloate

Collecting baseball cards is different than buying shoes because most collectors (not all) realize that the money they spend on them may actually end up being a very good investment. I don't think too many women are looking to resell their old Manolo Blahniks.

155 currently listed in the used category on eBay now! haha

[yanksfan09]

Looks like a 50/50 split on opinions so far...... I feel that their is some difference even though it can be "technically" viewed as materialistic. I don't know...

[HRBAKER]

It's "patriotic" to buy baseball cards. Oops, sorry, that was pay taxes wasn't it. Nevermind.

Is it materialistic to spend some of your disposable income on something that brings you enjoyment?

Is it a hobby, or are you accumulating things just to accumulate them? I guess you could say having anything more than what you need is materialistic. I wouldn't let it bother me too much.

Oh, and btw I am one of the "older generation" who got the ICE reference.

[rhettyeakley]

Being materialistic is a human behavior, so I wouldn't call having old baseball cards being materialistic.

That being said, as human beings we should exercise moderation in all things. The moment baseball cards (or material things) become the center of our lives, we are then guilty of being materialistic.

So, I guess I would have to say no, but it also depends on how one is approaching their collecting.
-Rhett

Edited to add:
The way I like to think about it is along these lines...

If someone VERY close to you was dying, and the only thing that could save them is you giving up your collection, if at that moment you need to think it over for even a moment, you are probably guilty of a bit of materialism.

[barrysloate]

They sell used shoes on ebay? Kind of funky.

[Brian Van Horn]

Yes, it's materialistic.

As for the shoe analogy, I guess you could say I have over 1600 pairs, but not many match. What's a collector to do?

[donmuth]

Two of my other hobbies, coin collecting and metal detecting, are constantly getting assaulted by the historians and archeologists claiming that private collectors do extreme damage to their ability to research things through coins and relics. Never mind that there is no possible way all the coins and relics can be reclaimed from the earth by archeologists and other scientists before they literally crumble into nothingness - private collectors are many times the only means to preserve these artifacts and pass on the knowledge they have gained from their study.

We (the baseball card hobbyists) should just be glad that baseball cards haven't garnered the attention of those same type of militant "scientists". Some day we may get that kind of attention and they will start introducing legislation, from the local level up, to ban private collectors from searching for and possessing "historically significant" baseball cards.

Just imagine!

[fkw]

I think most VINTAGE collectors are materialistic, always wanting the best of the best.

this is WORTH that, this is WORTH this.....

To me, Id rather have a card that no one else has (or very few do), than a high grade T206, R319, 1952 Topps, etc. card thats worth far more (but exists in numbers like 1,000- 3,000+ examples).

I have always liked the rarer stuff over high grade high $$, but then again I could never afford some of the stuff many of you buy anyways.

Even though Im smalltime as far as collection worth, I can say I do have 20+ cards that no one else has and thats the only way I can brag about my collection.

PS. Leon has my dream collection

[Brian Van Horn]

Frank,

Amen.

I don't have many high grade cards, but I like and tend to collect the harder to find cards as you know from some of our past transactions. It's still another form of materialism.

[ethicsprof]

Collecting T206s and some types is a fascinating hobby which in large part has been an academic
avenue, not unlike other academic trajectories that i've enjoyed over the years. Admittedly, there is something that i truly love about the mysteries and histories(rhyme intended but superfluous) of the cards which was in place
in my other academic studies over the years.
I never thought of any of the areas ,including the hobby of vintage cards, as
materialistic. They were just downright autohypnotically absorbing.
And some, such as the cards, still are.

best,
barry

[Peter_Spaeth]

Getting gratification from possessions of course is materialistic. But so what?

[slidekellyslide]

Personally I don't view my collecting as materialistic. I realize that if I take myself out of the equation then much of the stuff I buy would fall in value because there are not many collectors buying the same stuff I do. I've seen many of the Nebraska Indians items fall in value simply because I don't bid on it unless I don't have it. As far as mainstream cards go like N172 or Cracker Jacks I don't care much for high grade cards unless I can get them really cheap. It's more about filling a hole to me than getting the best of the best. I'm pretty sure that my collection will be passed down to my son...and if not it will probably go to the State Historical society so I am really not overly concerned with value.

[Mark]

Like just about everyone on the board, I am far more interested in getting a rare card than an expensive one. At the same time, I probably have two or three cards that were not at the top of my want list but which I bought because I knew they were highly sought after (expensive). Fortunately, I don't do that too often.

[sbfinley]

When I think about passing my collection down to my children in the future all materialism dissolves into thin air. My laptop will be obsolete one day. My car will get traded in for a newer model. My cards, however, will hopefully be a way for my children and grandchildren to remember me.

[Exhibitman]

one definition: "The theory or attitude that physical well-being and worldly possessions constitute the greatest good and highest value in life."

To some extent all collectors are materialistic about their collections, or they wouldn't be collectors. Now, do some people take it too far? Sure. Many a-holes in this hobby, as in most any other endeavor that attracts human beings. Many good, solid folks too.

The shoe analogy is not a good one. No consumer good is akin to a collector item. The best description of card collecting is a hobby that can also serve as a non-traditional investment.

[cyseymour]

Is this pornography?

No, there is a difference with something such as baseball cards, art, or other collectibles which are being admired for a certain significance or beauty.

Returning to the previously used definition of "The theory or attitude that physical well-being and worldly possessions constitute the greatest good and highest value in life", one can see that materialism is a theory or attitude. Therefore, if they are bought with that theory or attitude in mind, then yes, they are materialistic. If they are being purchased simply to be admired, then no.

If all cards had no value, and no one was interested in collecting them, other than one individual, who was collecting them out of pure fascination and not out of anticipation that they would one day have value, that would not be materialistic. The same way that if you were to stare and admire an acorn, it is not necessarily materialistic, just beautiful.

But if you were then to store those cards in order to capture the beauty of the cards and make them personally accessible, it would be a similar behavior to a squirrel collecting acorns. Baseball cards, I think we can agree, have no functional value in the mechanical world - they feed no one, play no role in transportation, economic raw materials, etc. Yet they hold an aesthetic value.

When you think of the things that have been collected for aesthetic value over the centuries - art, beads, metals, etc., one can suppose that the act of collecting has a primal value that is hard-wired into the systems of Man. -As it is the squirrel. Yet man can appreciate the aesthetic value of an item unlike a squirrel, and thus our cards have value.

Is sex materialistic? It can be, depending on its function. Some sex may be more healthy or virtuous then other sex, yet sex itself is an ingrained part of our nature as human beings. The statue above of Venus de Milo may be erotic, but it is not pornographic as it is not geared for sexual consumption in the way that pornography is. Owning many pairs of fancy shoes is not pornographic; it is simply a way of boosting sex appeal. Cards may play a similar role in the male mentality of ownership; owning something unique and rare distinguishes that man from the other men. This means that the appeal of owning items such as rare art or cards may lie in the basic recesses of our sexual minds as part of a mating ritual.

Ultimately, the goodness of collecting cards may lie solely in the hands of the collector. Some people on this board may preach that they don't care about expense or making money, as if this washes their hands of the sin of collecting. These people are the priests, or purists, of the card world. Ultimately, the natural instinct is to make money and if they didn't, I bet they would feel disappointed. They may attempt to remain chaste, but the natural impulse is still there.

On the flip side would be crooks, forgers and corrupt dealers - the outcasts of collecting society who have become so overcome with money or cards that they have compromised their own personal integrity. This is true materialism because they are operating based on the assumption that "physical well-being and worldly possessions constitute the greatest good and highest value in life".

In conclusion, collecting cards is a natural impulse of the human mind. However, those who act criminally or recklessly within the hobby are being overly materialistic - and those who claim not care about profits at all are espousing anti-materialism. That is the premise of Socialism. Yet to deny that natural impulse may be naive and potentially hazardous. So in summary: Collect (and invest) Away!

Jamie