Playing in a smaller sandbox

jingram058 · #1 08-16-2022, 04:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rhettyeakley

Great idea for a post and great thoughts by those that have chimed in.

The history of the game and finding new information about a long-forgotten ballplayer are some of my favorite aspects of this hobby!

It was with this mind that I began my Zeenut card run. So many players that had long careers that are now largely forgotten.

I have always been drawn the less mainstream stuff and have enjoyed learning about the off-the-beaten-path types of cards & players. It does absolutely nothing for me to see my 1,000th 1952 Mantle or T206 Cobb… zero! Seeing an example of those same players in a crazy rare set, however, does do something for me. Seeing an obscure player from a ridiculously rare set also does something for me. Just a different personality type I suppose and I realize that I am in fact the “strange” one that doesn’t like the “common but collected” sets but prefers the “uncommon but who-cares” sets!

+1 Rhett, and well said. I love the cards and the history behind them. And I cannot afford a mortgage and expensive cards. I am very fortunate, frankly, to have the cards I have.

Leon · #2 08-18-2022, 08:20 AM

I have collected movie lobby cards for a while. Most of them are relatively cheap and many are very interesting...And an 8 x 10 type one of the same..

Snapolit1 · #3 08-18-2022, 08:56 AM

I've been focusing on tickets, photos, programs, and random one off stuff now for the last year or so. Really not interested in uber expensive cards at this point. Look at LOTG auction closing Saturday . . . .you can find literally hundreds of cool items, many of them way more unique than a card where there are 100s if not 1000s of documented (how about undocumented?) examples out there. I find the hunt and search effort for cool "unappreciated" stuff is far more satisfying than getting another card. Often after getting a nice card it takes me 3 days before I start bemoaning a nicer example in another auction.

I've also discovered some artists out who do really cool stuff and filled my office with really cool inexpensive baseball art. Here are a few of my recent purchases on that front from an artist from Texas. Message me if you are interested in his stuff. Each of these was under $100!

BobbyStrawberry · #4 08-18-2022, 11:59 AM

I really appreciate this thread. I get a great deal of enjoyment from collecting all kinds of stuff that is old even if not super valuable $$-wise...baseball and other things too:

67airborne · #5 08-19-2022, 05:32 PM

I can�t afford a whole sand box anymore, I had to down size to a plastic bucket. I�ve been reading for awhile from behind the scenes here. I used to be on here fairly regularly and still remember some of the names I see. I thought I had got out of the hobby around 2005, but it seems it was a couple years before that. I found my old user name for this site and my old eBay name as well. Now that I�m thinking about it this site used to be at a different place and if I remember correctly, Leon moved it here after some issues. I used to have a lot of nice cards and to give you a small idea. I had around 20 different Cobbs, full set of e102�s not as nice as (Pete Cauldrons?) Was, is? multiple Ruth�s with a psa2 Collins and McCarthy I sold for $5500 at the time, a few e107�s and a lot of sovereign back t206�s and random Hofer�s just to name a few of many cards. Now after many years away from the hobby I�ve been back collecting for about 2 again. So to walk away for 20 years and come back was a little bit of a shock to me. I found it was impossible to get those raw ex. t206�s for $40 anymore. So after watching the market for a while and still having some knowledge of scarce issues, I started back collecting anything I thought was a good buy. We�ll obviously after some time I had a lot of cards I had no attachment to and to many for the short period I had been back collecting. So after some time I realized I wouldn�t be able to get back the type of collection I previously had so many years before without selling my soul or body parts. It�s funny how it works out sometimes though, cause I am now collecting cards I never did before. Obaks and any thing pre 1900. Even though you don�t see them every day, lower grade Obaks can still be had for a fair price and if I have a little extra money I will try for a little better card by going for a pre 1900 one. The best part of this way of collecting now is that I don�t spend as much time looking at cards I don�t collect anymore, but I still watch the market for prices. Best, Jeff

rhettyeakley · #6 08-19-2022, 07:49 PM

Good to have you back Jeff!

There is a place in this hobby for everyone but sometimes we need to refocus and adapt to the new landscape.

whitehse · #7 08-19-2022, 11:53 PM

I am a die hard set collector and am now struggling with what is my next set I want to tackle. I dont have a huge collecting budget and the thought of paying some of those crazy prices even for some of the star cards from the early to mid 70's, an era in which I originally started collecting, well, it is tough for me to do. Collecting oddball sets or being a singles collector just really doesn't do it for me and collecting memorabilia is just not something I enjoy.

Set collecting feels like an addiction in many ways and it is the collecting passion I feel I want to pursue the most. The sandbox has indeed become smaller. The passion seems to be subsiding as I am just not finding that one set that combines the right mix of interest and affordability for me.

Like someone else said in this thread....not whining...just trying to find my new place in a hobby I have enjoyed for over 50 years. I will find that one "thing" that does it for me and I will, no doubt regain my interest in this awesome hobby.....or should I Say...that one "thing" will likely find me.

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