[marvymelvin]

Is there an item or items in your collection that you just hate looking at for reasons only known to you? Maybe you have a bad taste in your mouth because of how the deal went down. Maybe you settled for something in less condition to save a few bucks. Card is off-centered?? Maybe you paid way too much for it. Maybe you paid a lot, but didn't look close enough and got burned on a retouch, unseen/undisclosed crease or mark. Maybe you bought some cards from a seller who is/was or turned out to be a total jerk. Maybe you used your credit card to buy it like 5 years ago and are still making payments on that charge ($500 turned into $5000).

I am sure there are many reasons. Sometimes I feel like I am the only one who is soft and gets taken advantage of.

I was conversing with a fellow board member the other and he said something very interesting. He said he recently went through his collection and got rid of all of the items/cards that had bad "joojoo" and replaced them with an exact example from a good source/honest seller.

I have had many examples of this in my years of collecting, and have had anxiety over a lot of deals. But then I realized I could just change my way of looking at things. I decided to consider my purchases from jerk wads with bad memories as me "saving" the item from a life of hell with a total jerk. It was like I was adopting them from a bad owner and giving them a nice cozy place in my curio cabinet. In know this might sound a bit strange, but I am not crazy. Just a tad eccentric. And a Therapist by trade. Hey it works for me, maybe it can work for you.

I am interested in your stories. What are some items you have owned that you hated to look at for one reason or another. You don't have to mention names as I want this to be therapeutic. As mentioned I am a Marriage and Family Therapist by trade. I often help people in distress about their past by helping them "reframe" the way they look at things. So welcome to my couch, sit down and tell me what worries you. The doctor is in!