[jchcollins]

The main thing I would probably tell younger me (and this would be like 22-23 year-old younger me) would be to never buy a card that you know you can't really afford. I went through a bit of a dealer-scum phase in the early 2000's where I snapped up pretty much anything I wanted and just put it on the credit card. (Hey, cards for cards, right?) Anything high grade of Mantle, Ted Williams, Koufax, Aaron, Mays, you name it. I had gorgeous examples of a '52 Topps Jackie Robinson and a '49 Leaf Ted Williams. This was of course not sustainable long-term, and I eventually had to sell most of it off. What also got sold in the mix were some lower grade cards from my earlier collection that had sentimental value, and by a year or so later those were the cards I had real regrets about losing.

Since coming back into the hobby recently (I'm now in my late 30's) I am sticking to mostly mid- and lower grade vintage with a vow to never get put in a position again where I might *have to* sell something. I'm also slowly adding back some of those cards from my earlier collection that were lost at affordable prices. I've never looked at cards as an investment, just always loved the history and nostalgia wrapped up in each one. If I can remember that going forward I should wind up in much better shape this time!

-John