Your Collecting Focus

[Exhibitman]

I have no focus. I collect all sorts of stuff. I favor obscure/rare issues; exhibit and other arcade cards; items relating to Burbank CA history, specifically Jim Jeffries materials; Joe Louis cards and premiums; Benny Leonard cards and premiums; Academy Awards tickets; Star Trek TOS autographed cards; 1976 Star Trek [Topps] materials; and so on. I've got probably 30-40 partial sets under way at any given time. I never seem to finish any of them but I am having fun.

[Bambino]

I am also focusing on HOF RC's, although I might narrow it down to HOF Pitchers to start. I'm always looking for bargains, so if anyone has a beat up Tom Seaver or Whitey Ford RC for sale - let me know!

[vintagecpa]

I'm taking a crack at my first PSA graded set. I'm going to try for a PSA 5-7 1958 Topps set (maybe a master set). Basically, I plan on spending a ton of time and money to put together a product that nobody will want to buy when I'm finished.

[paulcarek]

-- 1972 through 1980 Topps (my pack-opening years). About 30% done with '72; just a couple dozen cards short of the rest. Average condition is probably EX. I like having the actual, well-handled cards I collected as a kid, but will upgrade the real beaters.

-- 1952 Bowman. Currently 15 high numbers short of completing a solid VG-EX to EX set. Looking forward to meeting this longtime goal.

-- NY/SF Giants Retired Numbers.

-- Single cards of top-tier HOFers (T206 Cobb and Mathewson, '34 Goudey Foxx, '39 Play Ball DiMaggio, '54 Bowman Williams, etc.). I try to do the "type" thing here, and acquire examples from as many classic sets as possible.

[mjmj1966]

I'm really trying to stay focused on Philadelphia Phillies pre-1990 all graded. So far I've lasted 6 months collecting one thing which is a record for me according to my wife. I'm around 100 cards so I have a long way to go but its been fun.

[BradH]

Like many on this thread, I try to focus and sometimes find it very hard (that's what she said).

When I'm at a card show, antique mall or just surfing eBay, I always find myself buying cards just because I like them. No harm in that, except that I end up with tons of cards that have no real rhyme or reason. Oh well.

Older sets I am actively working on:
-- 1954-55 Topps Hockey in low-mid grade
-- 1955 Topps All-American in high grade
-- 1960s-70s Topps oddball sets (I find these great to collect because the sets are usually small, the cards are relatively easy to find and they're usually inexpensive compared to the regular issue for that year).

Modern Sets:
-- 2000 Fleer Greats of the Game Autographs (about 50% done)
-- 2002 Donruss Diamond Kings (that I'm getting autographed one card at a time on my own - am about 60% done).

Misc.
-- Run of Harold Baines cards showing on top of unopened rak/cello Topps packs from 1981-89 (If you have any of these, please contact me!)
-- Athletes (baseball, basketball & football) in major Topps sets who played at Purdue University.

[scmavl]

I'm pretty proud of myself. I rented a table at a card show last weekend and tried to sell off a lot of stuff that's not in my focus. I sold lots of '56 Topps, a few PSA cards, all of my Ted Williams Topps cards, an '81 set, some autos, and vintage commons. Made a few hundred and decreased my inventory.

All I bought was some NM/MT raw '61 commons (to grade & resell) and got some '51 Bowmans for my set and '33 Goudeys in trade.

[Exhibitman]

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

I have no focus. I collect all sorts of stuff. I favor obscure/rare issues; exhibit and other arcade cards; items relating to Burbank CA history, specifically Jim Jeffries materials; Joe Louis cards and premiums; Benny Leonard cards and premiums; Academy Awards tickets; Star Trek TOS autographed cards; 1976 Star Trek [Topps] materials; and so on. I've got probably 30-40 partial sets under way at any given time. I never seem to finish any of them but I am having fun.

Finances have forced some refinements to my acquisitions but all of the above still applies. Another 'focus' of mine has been to sell off my high-grade post-war mainstream cards and replace them with low-grade raw specimens. It is like being a kid again; I can go after lots of cards of all my favorites for the same money I had tied up in plastic tombs of a few cards. And I find I enjoy them even more since I can put them in an album, sit down and follow the spirit of Jeff Burdick: “A Card Collection is a magic carpet that takes you away from work-a-day cares to havens of relaxing quietude where you can relive the pleasures and adventures of a past day - brought to life in vivid pictures and prose….Here is an ever changing mural of life, peoples, and events as they have moved across the pages of time. Splendorous pageantry of the rise and triumphs of empires, alternating with the quaint life of a small boy, the fragrance of garden flowers, and the tender love of a mother and child”

[vintagebaseballcardguy]

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

Finances have forced some refinements to my acquisitions but all of the above still applies. Another 'focus' of mine has been to sell off my high-grade post-war mainstream cards and replace them with low-grade raw specimens. It is like being a kid again; I can go after lots of cards of all my favorites for the same money I had tied up in plastic tombs of a few cards. And I find I enjoy them even more since I can put them in an album, sit down and follow the spirit of Jeff Burdick: “A Card Collection is a magic carpet that takes you away from work-a-day cares to havens of relaxing quietude where you can relive the pleasures and adventures of a past day - brought to life in vivid pictures and prose….Here is an ever changing mural of life, peoples, and events as they have moved across the pages of time. Splendorous pageantry of the rise and triumphs of empires, alternating with the quaint life of a small boy, the fragrance of garden flowers, and the tender love of a mother and child”

I read a similar statement of yours in another thread and wanted you to know you are not alone. I have recently started doing the same thing. I am having a great time going after lots of my all-time favorite 50s sets at a faster pace than before. I had quite a bit of dough tied up in a chosen few and, for me personally, I am having more fun now. Thanks for your posts.

[Samsdaddy]

Originally Posted by vintagebaseballcardguy

I read a similar statement of yours in another thread and wanted you to know you are not alone. I have recently started doing the same thing. I am having a great time going after lots of my all-time favorite 50s sets at a faster pace than before. I had quite a bit of dough tied up in a chosen few and, for me personally, I am having more fun now. Thanks for your posts.

In agreement with you as well. I am very happy finding cards in their "natural" state in mid grade condition too and especially now as finances are very tight until I am working again.

[Exhibitman]

Thanks, guys. For me it is a permanent change. My goal is to go into my retirement years [I hope] with a card collection that is fun and has virtually no money into it.

[Samsdaddy]

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

Thanks, guys. For me it is a permanent change. My goal is to go into my retirement years [I hope] with a card collection that is fun and has virtually no money into it.

Good goal and I am right there with you.

[PowderedH2O]

Throw me into that pile as well. I sold almost all of my graded cards earlier this year. For example, I had a 1954 Bowman PSA graded football set that I sold off. I was sad about selling it until I realized how much it would cost me to get an Ex-Mt set of the same (about 20 percent). My goal is ultimately to complete the Topps/Bowman football sets from 1948 to the present (minus the stupid inserts and crap) and Topps baseball from 1970 to the present, plus a few of my older favorites (1956, 1959, 1960, 1963, 1967 Topps - 1955 Bowman - 1940 Play Ball). With EVERY card being raw!!!