What keeps you collecting?

[jbsports33]

History of the game, and I enjoy helping others

Jimmy

[David W]

1 - Enjoy baseball history
2 - Enjoy collecting my favorite team (St. Louis Cardinals)
3 - Ebay makes it easy
4 - Deluding myself into thinking it's an investment
5 - It's slowly turning into a Cardinal type collection
6 - I've got a lot of inexpensive stuff displayed all over my
office, makes a great conversation piece

[mantleman]

The feel and the smell of holding a 100 year old card and the history behind where it has been the last 100 years.

[Anthony S.]

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

[Howe’s Hunter]

Originally Posted by Anthony S.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

That would be Compulsive Disorder Obsessive, for those of us who really have it. Gotta keep things in order.

[T206Collector]

Simply put -- the chase.

[thekingofclout]

No wife to spend all my money.

[timzcardz]

In a word . . .

PATRIOTISM!



I'm doing my part to stimulate the economy.


Well that and I'm terrified at even the thought of withdrawal.

[Exhibitman]

What Jeff said...plus the friends I've made.

Besides, what else would I do with my free time and disposable income:

--Play golf? Run around with a bunch of middle-aged white men, chasing a little white ball in a park while dressed like a pimp...I'd rather have my teeth cleaned by a blind hygienist with a tremor.

--Work more? Uh, no thanks. It's not that I'm lazy, it's that I just don't care.

--Buy more crap for the house? So I can not enjoy the new stuff while I am at work, just like I don't get to use everything I own now.

--Travel? The National has ruined that for me. After you've been to Baltimore and Cleveland in August, it's all a let-down from there.

--Work charitably for the betterment of my fellow man? Get real. I don't even like most people I know.

--Run for office? Hey, even a cynical, nasty, amoral, godless heathen like me has more self-respect than that.

Nope, I am a hopeless card addict without the means or inclination to break the cycle of collect and want more, collect and want more.

[Anthony S.]

Originally Posted by StuckInOmaha

That would be Compulsive Disorder Obsessive, for those of us who really have it. Gotta keep things in order.

Hmm. Come to think of it I always wondered why my shrink only charged $4 and a sandwich per session and insisted on meeting on a park bench. I just thought he was outdoorsy.

[mayx2]

The hunt for new and exciting things to add to my collection! Lou

[slidekellyslide]

Originally Posted by Anthony S.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

BINGO!

I'm just lucky that the object of my obsession is not nearly as expensive as some of y'all.

[Northviewcats]

Your comments and suggestions really do help. Two of your observations really ring true for me, if I understand you correctly. Avoid "forced buys." This happens all the time to me when I buy a card, just to buy a card. I can't find what I'm looking for so I feel forced to buy something, just because it is a good buy. Later I find myself flipping it, or just hanging on to the card because it wasn't as good a buy as I thought it was. In addition, when bigger money is involved the need to find value becomes more important. Recently, I sent a large lot (over eighty cards) of my T-206s to SGC for grading. These were the "jewels" that I bought ungraded off eBay and at shows in my first couple of years collecting. Although, I have no beefs about the grades they received it did humble me a bit that not one of the cards made it to an EX. I've since become skeptical about buying any ungraded cards on eBay because I don't have the skill to determine value from a picture. This has also made me, perhaps too concerned with the economics of collecting cards. If I buy this card for my collection will I ever get my money out of it. Always thinking about the value of a purchase kind of ruins it. One of the cards that I sent in was a very sharp Polar Bear, Dark-cap Matty. I paid a little over $300.00 on eBay and I was hoping to get between a 40-60 from SGC. I started a thread on it here on Net 54 and while everyone who posted said I should get it graded, several members said that it looked trimmed on the bottom. They were right and it came back authentic. Now, even though it looks better in the holder than another SGC 50 Matty that I own, I find myself hanging on to the card, because I don't want to lose money on it. I realize this silly, but I have a whole shoebox full of silliness in my closet that I probably should sell.

I also think that you are right on the mark when you say that "we've seen them all." This reminds me of something Brian Dwyer told me when I asked him what he collected. His response was when "you've held two Wagners in your hand at the same time nothing else seems very interesting." (I'm paraphrasing Brian here, but the gist of the idea is correct.) Now, I never have held a Wagner in my hand, but most of the cards that I could afford, I have purchased and they no longer awe me. I find myself asking, do I have to spend $1,000 on a Cobb to get the excitement back? If so, how much will the next fix cost?

As depressing as this sounds I really do feel better knowing that other collectors have the same concerns and have made the same mistakes. I'm sure that I will regain the excitement if I can focus in on the aspects that make me happy. If this means for the time being flipping cards and building up a huge war chest for later purchases, when I know what I want to collect than so much the better.

Thanks again Chris for your help.

Best regards,

Joe

[Brian Van Horn]

"What keeps you collecting?"

Addiction is fun!

It's like a never ending journey. People ask me what the focus of my collection is and I answer there is no focus. I see something, I ask the price or I bid on it. If I lose, I lose. It is not the end of the world. Another card always comes up and another purchase is made or another pursuit begins. I subscribe to the motto of life in collecting that variety is the spice of life. It's always enjoyable.

[Bilko G]

i keep telling myself that its a great investment

[Matthew H]

I don't subscribe to the baby boomer theory either. I'm not a baby boomer. My father is and he has absolutely no interest in collecting. My grandma collects thimbles and spoons, that form of collecting may fizzle with their generation; Not sports cards (or comic books).

Kids still collect cards. When that stops, then maybe we might be looking at last generation (maybe).

What does pre-war baseball cards have to do with the baby boomer generation anyway?

[T205]

The thrill of the chase, the sweet taste of victory, and the disappointment of defeat. Nothin' like it in this world! Also the history of the game. I believe someone else said this and I agree. Its fun to wonder where a certain card has been in its lifetime. Its funny though all the cards I get seem to find a home in Japan, taking a trip around the world to end up in my collection!

[Hot Springs Bathers]

As someone that has made the terrible mistake (at least for me) of selling out twice. I can tell you the pull to come back both times was very strong.

I have tried to figure out what has brought me back both times and I think is actually many factors.

1. Love of the game
2. Baseball has so many great collectibles
3. It often takes me back to my childhood when for most of us worries were few and baseball meant being outside among friends.
4. I also have great memories of talking baseball with my Dad (still do at age 92 everyday) and my grandfather and great uncle who both watched and met many of the greats each spring here in Hot Springs.
5. At a certain point in life you are more settled and your wallet allows you to play more too!

With those thoughts I can't forsee me ever giving it up again. By the way neither time did I stay more than a few months.