Some Positive Thoughts on This Hobby

[Bosox Blair]

I realized tonight I've been dwelling on some of the more negative threads on the Board lately, and it is dragging me down a bit. I thought I would share a few positive thoughts with anyone who cares to read.

Though some likely view me as a newbie because I had a bit of a hiatus in my collecting, I have actually been collecting vintage cards for over 30 years. In that time, believe it or not, most things about this hobby have improved dramatically for the collector. Here are a few you might relate to:

1. Access to material - largely due to the internet, this is light years ahead of what it was. I went to so many disappointing card shows over the years...I can't begin to detail. For a collector looking for something very specific, this was quite a daunting challenge 30 years ago. For people living outside a major city/metro area, it could be near impossible to build the collection you wanted to have. It is much, much more satisfying to collect today.

2. Card grading - as much as we all have beefs with the grading companies, trust me when I say the situation today is so much better than it was. Dealers back then pretty much all overgraded their material...a lot. And it was a bit like a joke - your cards were always EX and their cards were always Near Mint. None of it was true. Arguing over grade with a dealer was like repeatedly bashing your head against a brick wall. Buying a card through the mail based on the dealer's grading of the card was a uniformly disappointing experience. It might not be perfect now, but it is a heck of a lot better.

3. Market/Pricing info - so much better now...ready access to real sales results, completed auction sales, etc. The ability to check multiple dealer inventories online for asking prices. These things were just not at your fingertips as they are today.

4. Info about Cards/Sets/Players - some of this was out there, but for the most part you had to build a library of books to learn about this stuff (I still have many of mine, and they are heavy and dusty). The internet generally (and sites and bulletin boards devoted to these specific interests) allows us to have so much more information in a much more accessible and easily searchable format.

Anyways, I just wanted to post some positive thoughts about collecting today. Feel free to add some of yours!

Cheers,
Blair