Life events that change your collecting experience for the better

[markf31]

A week ago I broke my ankle (lateral malleolus break) while playing ice hockey. I'm now in a boot and on crutches for 5 more weeks. I'm a very active person normally, I play on 3 ice hockey teams, a competitive softball team and I run 2-3 times per week. Now I find myself with a lot more time on my hands, especially on the couch. What have I been doing?

Just yesterday a complete run of back issue Old Cardboards arrived for my reading pleasure! I just submitted an Amazon order for a handful of hobby and baseball related books. And I have taken up the task of catching up on documenting/tracking my collection across various spreadsheets and I've been exploring the board archives here as well. Its also allowed me to re-explore my own collection, sometimes I get so wrapped up in what my next purchase might be, that I forget to stop and appreciate the items I do have in my collection.

While not being able to be active is quite frustrating for me, its allowed me to spend some time with the hobby and my collection and it's been very rewarding so far!

Anyone else have a life experience or situation that yet unexpectedly positively impacted their collecting and enjoyment of the hobby?

[Jantz]

Yes, I got divorced!


Jantz

[Kzoo]

Having two youngsters around the house, ages 2 and 4, has made me rethink my collection in a few ways. First, I've decided to hibernate a lot of my autographed/game used bats until I can safely display them again. I don't want my kids getting a hold of a sharpie and deciding that the bats without autographs might feel left out, and adding some fresh ink. Second, having kids has helped me begin to downsize my collection for the better. A lot of the average stuff is being sold which is really helping with the organization and my focus, too. Third, selling a bunch of this stuff will help when we move next year....less to carry and a bigger down payment.

Matt

[DHogan]

My collecting life changed for the better, when I got a new job last year that doesn't just get my wife and I by from week to week. We get ahead on savings. Now the wife is happy. And she said. I can buy what ever I want. I tell her before hand if it's over a certain $ amount. And within reason.

My Dad worked for the Borough, and in the 60's and 70's, in the spring and fall he would get cards in shoe boxes thrown out. Thank God my Mom didn't to it me

[steve B]

Not quite a broken ankle, but yeah, I've had one of those what the heck am I doing moments that changed how I look at things.

Just before I joined here I helped friends go through the collection of a relative who'd died a bit unexpectedly.

I knew what the stuff was, and why it was cool. They had no idea other than he'd saved a ton of "stuff" and they had to deal with it. The things that looked good got brought home, the rest was still there. Lots of it. Like cases of new stuff opened until a set was complete then the extras put back in the boxes. Not bad, but not good, and just a bunch of cards.

I looked around and saw it as a collection that wasn't all that well organized.
And sort of saw my collection through their eyes because it was/is very similar. After I helped them consign most of the stuff locally, I consigned a bunch of my own stuff. Boxes of extras that really weren't doing much of anything but taking up space. Still a long way to go, but it totally changed my lack of focus from boxes full of whatever junk I ran across to more towards quality.
It also prompted me to get a few cards graded, because if my daughters aren't interested (Or niece and nephews) They'll probably have to sell it someday. And it might be a bit easier than trying to learn about stuff just to sell it.

Steve B

[the 'stache]

Mark, you described the same thing I just went through, though with a broken leg. Being more immobile than usual, I found myself reading a lot of the old discussions here on the forum, catching up on some back issues of Baseball America, as well as some of the baseball books I've been sent/purchased recently. I also went back and re-watched Ken Burns' excellent Baseball series while stuck in the hospital (thank God for laptops and Netflix!)

I can honestly say that the forum, and its members helped me through a difficult period. But I took that time to learn a lot about my hobby.