Ever had a "Collecting Moment of Zen"?

[markf31]

I've been back into the hobby for about 9 months now but recently over the past couple weeks I've discovered what I'm calling my Collecting Moment of Zen!

I think it’s so easy to get wrapped up in prices and values with this hobby, because for most of us we have a finite and unbreakable budget with which to pursue our hobby interests and enjoyments with. And when I was involved in the hobby back in the early-mid 90s as a young boy and teenager, the hobby as my friends and I all saw it, revolved around the classic Becket Monthly and I think that is where my supposed need to buy at or below “book value” came from. I made the decision when I started back up last Spring that this was going to be a hobby for me, not a business and not an investment but I wasn’t treating it like a hobby.

I've spent a lot of time over the past 9 months researching sold/hammer prices and the values of so many cards, autographs and other miscellaneous items that it really bogged me down from simply sitting back and enjoy the hobby. I became too concerned with trying to find cards at cheap prices, and items at a bargain, as opposed to simply finding things I enjoy at a “fair” price.

So I’ve found my Collecting Moment of Zen and it’s made the past couple weeks in this hobby even more enjoyable for me.

[tonyo]

Good post.

I'm hovering around the center of Zen, still trying to achieve perfect cardboard peace. I released several chains not many months ago when I started evaluating asking prices for cards based largely upon "feel".

Sure I still refer to SCD and ebay history as a lose guide occasionally, maybe even fairly regularly, and I still battle my OCD tendencies, but my decisions to purchase or not, or sell at a certain price or not, are based mostly upon the question: " do I like that card enough at $xx ? "

Another step toward Zen happened only a few weeks ago when I cracked about 40 cards from their tpg holders. I've always preferred raw cards, but if I bought a card in a holder, I hesitated freeing him... mostly because I think being encased makes it easier to sell if I change my mind about keeping it.

I finally made the commitment to a lot of imprisoned cards, got out the tile nippers, and commenced cracking. I'm now at peace with those cards taking a more permanent spot in my flat file and I've placed myself in a Zen like state regarding the decision to "crack and keep" amongst my pre-war type set.

Now if only I can find a balance with my monster set..... I'm in the process of upgrading. I think I see the Zen light at the end of the tunnel, representing a balance satisfaction, but I still have a ways to go. I still have a few dozen t206's in hard plastic, waiting to learn their fate.........

[fkm_bky]

Great topic. I am just recently back to a zen-like place with collecting. I found myself frustrated and more and more disinterested in type collecting candy cards....I was continually looking for cards that didn't interest me on a personal level, but that I felt I needed to check off a box on a list. We can't all be like Leon! :D

I recently went back to a niche that I had made a lot of progress on in the past but had to sell off when funds got tight. I am tackling the HOF Portrait sub-set for T206 and couldn't be more at peace and happy with the decision. I'm not sure what it is about these cards, but I just enjoy them more than others. While I am off to a good start, I won't be pushing it. Part of the joy is the journey and the hunt.

Bill

[bn2cardz]

I have found that since I got back into heavy collecting the last couple of years that I have been doing it with absolutely no regard to boundaries. If I like it and I have the funds to out pay someone else, yet still pay what I think I wouldn't want to sell it for if I already owned it, then I buy it.

I don't find myself restricted by price guides or self imposed goals. I always wanted a 33 Goudey set when I started collecting as a teen, but have never stuck to a goal for doing it. If I find a Goudey or group of Goudeys and I am in the mindset to want to add more to that collection I will, but I pass over doing that quite often just because something else in the same price range has caught my attention.

[GregMitch34]

I found zen simply be deciding to only obtain cards that are (in my opinion) truly beautiful or at least very striking. Must have great centering (and usually great color) to boost that. So: swell to look at or even display, in rotation, with no relation to value. If obtained at "fair" price then it's all good. But aesthetics are the key.

Example below just obtained. Not a great or famous card, maybe not even a true beauty, but very cool. Or check out my new site displaying a few: http://bit.ly/VVImP9


http://www.net54baseball.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=89853&stc=1&d=1362178284

[Runscott]

The great thing about collecting non-pro cabinet cards and RPPCs, is that it's almost always about the aesthetic value. I love blowing up the images and trying to imagine what was really happening when the photo was taken.