Two things you love about the hobby & Two things you hate
 

After recently discovering that I card I bought was likely trimmed, I was going to post a negative thread about trimmed cards, but I thought lets also keep things somewhat positive. So besides the people, ( we all have friends we've met through collecting ) what are a couple things you love about the hobby and a couple things you hate. Mine would be as follows

1. Deceptively trimmed cards ( I bought so many of these back in the day )

2. Hearing people talking about how they have to/will be having people shill bid their auction items ( makes me not want to bid on things )

Things I like

1. Going to shows and finding off grade cards that still have good eye appeal
( miscuts, cards with a tack hole, etc )

2. Working on completing sets and finding tough cards that you need.

Dislike
1. Not having enough money to get a great card. (Keep a reserve)
2. Dishonesty of any kind. (Trust but verify)

Love
1. Learning something new
2. Meeting and talking with like minded guys like those on this website

What I love:
1. Learning the stories of the baseball players that formed the sport and made a huge difference.
2. Purchasing new cards that complete my t206 set.

What I dislike:
1. Having sellers be dishonest (selling trimmed, fake, altered cards)
2. Not being able to afford the expensive and rare cards.

Like:

1. it's a lot of fun, provides a nice break from everyday life
2. sharing the hobby experience with others with a similar appreciation

dislike:

1. the rampant fraud
2. I don't have enough money for everything I want

like: friends I've made. I've made a lot of friends here, and can honestly say that if it weren't for this board and a friend I made through it, life would not be so great right now.
like: seeing people get excited about cardboard - we're a strange group, bonded by this odd excitement. It's good to see a thread like this that reminds us of that special thing that we all have in common, no matter how different we might otherwise be.

not-so-great: dishonesty by anyone - given it's a hobby, it doesn't make sense that people would choose baseball cards as a way to screw people.
not-so-great: meanness. I'm guilty of it too and trying to watch myself. Seeing it in others makes me sick and I try to reflect on that and be careful. Sorry when I've failed.

Likes:
1. the friends - especially enjoy events like the National for the chance to hang out with hobby friends.
2. the cards - their history, art, the stories behind them, everything.

Dislikes
1. dishonesty
2. greed
-both are dimensions of fraud in its various hobby manifestations.

JimB

Love:

The cards,of course and learning about them.

Meeting the good people in the hobby and dealing with them.

Hates:

Crooks

Grading. Too subjective and often sloppy.

Love:

Attending card shows and talking to card dealers who are passionate about cards

Talking vintage cards with my two boys who are into it right now

Hate:

Not seeing many kids at shows

Dishonest dealers who are doctoring cards to make a buck

jeff

1) Love chatting with the people I've met on here and seeing their cards.
2) Learning something new about the cards, printing process and intricacies of the sets.

1) Dislike that in my niche I'm competing with good friends and sometimes have to decide, give up a great card or chance upsetting them.
2) Never enough funds, scarcity of freaky deaky cards, greed & egos....

1. love finding out new things and aspects to cards. Basically the history tied to these pieces of cardboard

2. Love talking with friends and other hobby acquaintances about this stuff. Having stuff in common is a blast. The focus and intricacies that we can geek out on is what's amazing. The different print type on the back of a Sporting News card, etc. We can just burrow into the specifics to find out amazing things about my #1 above.


1. Don't like the arguments about cards. I don't mind disagreements but arguments aren't productive and only serve to fragment the hobby rather than shed light and elucidate.

2. Card doctors.

I like that there is always something new to learn about and collect.

I love graded cards, because it allows me to hand a 1956 Mantle to my young kids, and say "here, check this out" without having to worry about them ruining it.

I dislike how shady dealers can be.

I dislike the sometimes huge inconsistencies in grading.

I once sent a 1971 Topps Munson to PSA. It came back a 6.

Seven months later, I cracked and subbed it again. It came back an 8.

$60 card the first time, $800 card seven months later.

I love:

-discovering new cards/poses I have never seen before

-sharing my passion for the hobby with other like minded collectors

I hate

-what grading has turned the hobby into

-unscrupulous behavior within the hobby.

Aloha, I like the cards and researching them.

I dislike insufferable know it alls, and TPG.
Dave.

What in your mind has grading turned the hobby into?

I can't speak on Pre War, but for Vintage and Modern grading has given the hobby new life IMO.

The major card grading companies aren't perfect, but I think the good well outweighs the bad.

Some could argue that grading has brought prospectors into the hobby in higher numbers than before. It also encourages submitting and resubmitting for higher grades (bringing higher dollars) and therefore card doctoring to sophisticated levels enough to pass these TPGs.

So, with grading and more "security" come doctors who can pass that security. What you are left with is more people in the hobby trusting a system which is inherently as flawed as it was in the past. I suppose it's great that more people are entering the hobby with trust but in the end, the only defense against getting taken is knowledge and experience.

Thanks Jason...what he said!!!!!!

Likes:
Net 54
Great friends I have made in the hobby

Dislikes:

PSA( and really any other grading company)
Dishonest dealers.

Love:

1. The beauty of some of the issues of cards and being able to indulge in such a fun hobby.

2. fulfilling my dream card wants from my childhood.

Dislike:

1. super high overinflated prices from greedy dealers wanting 2x-4x the value. :mad:

2. My credit card debt from buying cards LOL :o

You make great points, and I agree with you guys to a degree. I think any system that is in place will have it's flaws. I also think the system that we have now is better than no system at all IMO.

There is good money involved in the hobby, and that will always bring out the scammers. Some of them will be good enough at their craft to fool even the most seasoned graders. Doctored cards will sometimes slip through (any grading company), but I think the overwhelming amount of time they will be caught, and rejected. At least by the major companies.

I don't use grading as a security blanket, and I certainly would never buy a card just because of the PSA or SGC label. I think too many collectors do buy the label not the card, and unfortunately (for them) always will. I look at the graded cards as just a guide, not the end all be all.

I don't collect with intention of resale value, but there is no denying what getting my cards slabbed has done for the value of my collection when and if I do decide to let some stuff go.

Likes:

The old days when cards were graded to Charleton standards and ungraded cards were plentiful. Those days are long gone.

The Charleton standard catalog of hockey cards.

Dislikes:

Graded cards.

Letters like "OC" on a slab to tell a buyer that the card has 90 / 10 centering.

Likes and Dislikes
 

Like:

1. Friends I have made in the hobby
2. Getting a card back graded at or above what I hoped for (rare)

Dislike:

1. PSA's Customer Service (DMV lines are friendlier and more helpful)
2. Qualifiers and/or BCCG cards

+

I've liked cards since I was a kid. Seeing a card of one of the greats that I hadn't yet seen is always a great moment.

-

Crooks.

1. Today I received a bunch of cards from a fellow Net54 member. When I opened the package I could smell the bubble gum. Not really as the cards are 52 years old but just seeing them set my olfactory senses off.

2. Sharing my collection with my daughters who enjoy baseball cards and looking forward to sharing this hobby with my grandson.


bad
1. The incredible amount of fraud in the hobby.

2. The fact that cards produced today are never going to have real value. I watched kids opening packs the other day and they just threw away the cards looking for the inserts.

Likes:

All the great friends in the hobby I've made over the past 25 years.

Getting into antique bats as well as vintage cards.

Dislikes:

Slabbing and what it has done to how we view cards and slabs.

The demise of the local card shows and the pleasure of looking for that hidden treasure, as well as the periodic get togethers with the nice people involved with the shows.

love/hate
 

I do love the camaraderie of friends in the hobby and the scholarly research
offered by quite a few.
I do not like the erratic ad hominem comments which are hurtful, sometimes unmercifully so.

all the best,
barry

I will skip the whole TPG good/bad debate and focus on other things:

Likes:

--Collecting is, as Burdick put it, "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 picture and prose"; the collecting impulse is "the stuff that dreams are made of", as Sam Spade labeled the Maltese Falcon.

--Meeting so many good people all over the world and getting to hang out with them virtually and in person.

Dislikes:

--The bulk and weight of slabs. It is really hard to store, carry and enjoy a large slabbed collection. When I was a kid I had a photo album with my best cards in it and I could easily take it out, enjoy it, and show it to others. I feel like I need a forklift to move my cards now.

--Overemphasis on money, especially when trading difficult to value cards. I miss the days from my childhood when trading wasn't always subjected to a level of financial scrutiny worthy of a stock market. If you wanted my Rocky Colavito card and I did not want to trade it except for your Willie Mays double, neither of us would hesitate to pull the trigger just because the "book" on one card was higher than on the other.

well said Jason. This is exactly why I don't care for grading. It's not some sense of being old school, or hating change, or longing for the good old days of the hobby - it's simply because so many collectors put so much faith into a severely flawed system.

all that money and

all that money.

love-hate
 

I really enjoy finding cards in raw condition, although it is getting harder.

I dont like the skinny cards in high grade holders. If I was collecting those, I would be very careful. Most have been altered, in my opinion.

Love
The cards.
The people.

Hate
The scams.
The hallucinogenic prices asked.

Well said!

"Prospectors" That's a good way to put it.

Likes:
1. This Forum - one of the few mental escapes I have from work
2. The fact that I can still enjoy a hobby 30 years after I started and will be able to continue doing so

Dislikes:
1. The sometimes condescending attitude about a question or statement
2. Collecting a team that a gazillion other guys collect - Cubs

Likes:
The cards
The chase to acquire the cards

Dislikes:
Having to inquire about the condition of the back of a card.
Scams of all kinds

likes and dislikes
 

Likes: Cards and the history they reveal
friends I've made

Dislikes: People being ignorant of the dark side of the hobby and wishing to stay that way.
The RAMPANT corruption

Also
 

Well Said Jason and Jeff concerning the doctoring. I honesty feel though, that there were far more "investors" in the 1986-1992 period then any other. Thir may be a few whales willing to spend more money now, then they were back then. However the pool of people considering themselves baseball card investors was MUCH larger back then.

Likes:
The artwork and history associated with the cardboard we collect
The release card collecting gives me to lifes everyday grind

Dislikes:
Collectors who have placed cardboard above relationships (sadly there have been a few)
Dishonesty - Shilling, card doctoring, etc

Likes:
1) Net54Baseball - This forum means a lot to all of us. Thanks Leon for everything you do.
2) National Sports Collectors Convention - It's like Chuck E. Cheese for adults with money.

Dislikes:
1) Constant TPG bashing - A little poke here and there is okay, but Why So Angry?
2) the Everlasting Baseball Accession of Yearning