"The Hunt" v.s. Enjoying what you have

[Luke]

Was thinking about this topic lately and found myself wondering how other people see it, especially the guys who have been collecting for a long time.

By "the hunt" I just mean the search for cards that you would like to add to your collection. The hunt is a big part of the fun of collecting, but I think how big a part it is varies person to person.

My first 2 or 3 years after returning to collecting, I was almost 100% focused on the hunt for more cards. I remember thinking it felt weird that I wasn't as happy to actually own the cards as I was to win the auction or find the good deal in the first place.

Now I'm like 6 years in to building a collection, and I now get much more enjoyment from looking through my cards than just searching for new ones. Part of the reason is probably that I have found my collecting niche now, and my first couple years I was just trying to buy every T206 which wasn't going to happen fast enough for my liking.

I can't tell if I needed to build a decent collection before I could slow down and enjoy it, or if some switch flipped in my brain to make me more thankful for what I have as opposed to always wanting more stuff. It's possible that it could be more related to my overall outlook on life, but I'm not sure.

Anyway, just thought it would be interesting to hear how other people feel about it.

[Stonepony]

I still love " the hunt". In fact if i could afford to just lay down cash for everything I wanted...without waiting, picking, choosing, bidding...I wouldn't have much fun at all

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by Stonepony

I still love " the hunt". In fact if i could afford to just lay down cash for everything I wanted...without waiting, picking, choosing, bidding...I wouldn't have much fun at all

I agree with the above, if I could just afford to buy what I wanted it would take all the fun out of collecting for me.

For me the hunt and owning varies greatly from item to item. Some stuff(Boggs GU) that I though I really wanted and really enjoyed hunting down turned out to be something I did not enjoy owning. Then an item(59 Fleer Williams complete set) that has just fell in my lap without any looking, the enjoyment I get out of owning it is amazing.

[Harliduck]

I agree as well. I love what I have, and routinely view...but the hunt is the excitement. That is why I am a set collector...never done!

[VoodooChild]

I'm starting to come around to your line of thinking Luke. It's been 3 1/2 years now collecting pre-war. Now that I think I've figured out my collecting goals, I'm starting to have more fun looking at/organizing my collection and putting together my website than "hunting" for cards. Part of that might be that my wantlist is getting more and more expensive/rare as the cards and types I need are pretty tough. I'm also having fun selling cards here on the BST that I originally bought before I figured out my niche and no longer fit my collection.

[hangman62]

The hunt is the attraction ..when I finally land a card for a tough set Im working on..its out of the shipper ..stop ..look at card for about 4 seconds..and right into the album....album closed and flipped back into the bookshelf !

[ls7plus]

I think it's about evenly balanced for me, since, as I've stated before, the cards are actually a two-dimensional slice of a 3-dimensional moment in a player's career taken contemporaneously therewith--they connect you to the player, and take you back to the time. As my objective in collecting HOF'er's and stars is to have the significant aspects of the history of the game I can actually hold in my hands, I still need more of the same, although I find it a delight to enjoy those cards already acquired towards that quest.

Good post,

Larry

[DHogan]

Originally Posted by Harliduck

I agree as well. I love what I have, and routinely view...but the hunt is the excitement. That is why I am a set collector...never done!

Me too. I hardly ever go thru my cards to look at them. It's just fun knowing that I have something different.

[jfkheat]

I agree with what others have said, I enjoy the hunt more than actually owning the card. If I am getting close to completing a set and the last few cards are getting tougher to find I will start a new set. That way I am almost always hunting for something.
James

[Exhibitman]

I go through three phases:

The Hunt: Chasing down those elusive want list items.

The Having: Sitting down and enjoying albums of cards. Too hot here yesterday to venture outside for long so I went through about 20 albums. Great afternoon.

The Culling: Eventually, I decide to cut down on the sheer volume of cards, realizing that I really don't enjoy most cards in a set. I keep the ones I like, get rid of the rest.

[clydepepper]

I sit here within a few feet of almost all the cards I ever thought I would be lucky* enough to own.

And yet...

[JeremyW]

"I can't tell if I needed to build a decent collection before I could slow down and enjoy it, or if some switch flipped in my brain to make me more thankful for what I have as opposed to always wanting more stuff. It's possible that it could be more related to my overall outlook on life, but I'm not sure."

I can sympathize with this statement.

[GasHouseGang]

I've been at it close to 40 years, and it's still about the hunt. I seem to look at scans of my cards more than I do the actual cards. I'm beginning to think I could be a new digital collector, and just collect the scans. I'd have one heck of a Cracker Jack collection in no time! Oh, and multiple copies of the Wagner!

[cincyredlegs]

Great topic Luke. I think most "set collectors" inherently love the thrill of the hunt.

I use to try and collect everything thanks to my OCD but 3 years ago I made up my mind to just focus on completing the T206 set. I have been able to stick to it pretty well without to many distractions. I also sit down and look through them pretty regularly as well.

Mark

[Topps206]

I like both. New ones are fun and I love what I already have.

[vintagebaseballcardguy]

Having jumped back into set collecting, there is ALWAYS something new to learn about and hunt down. Sometimes it is almost anti-climatic to actually receive certain cards. I get the box/envelope open, look at the card a while, then it eventually goes into its place in the set in the box, and then I start looking for what's next (if I hadn't already started thinking about what was next before the last package arrived ). I honestly don't go back and look at completed sets or star cards I have purchased like I thought I would. From time to time, I go into my collectibles closet and see the boxes and binders but don't always open them up.

The times I do open them up and look through them are when I am checking to see if I might have a variation I have just learned about or when I am too broke to buy anything new just then, so I distract myself with what I already have. That is pretty pathetic isn't it?

[Joshchisox08]

Although this applies to women in the lyrics it works for this subject matter as well. Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buElOjx2T7w

[Mountaineer1999]

Originally Posted by vintagebaseballcardguy

Having jumped back into set collecting, there is ALWAYS something new to learn about and hunt down. Sometimes it is almost anti-climatic to actually receive certain cards. I get the box/envelope open, look at the card a while, then it eventually goes into its place in the set in the box, and then I start looking for what's next (if I hadn't already started thinking about what was next before the last package arrived ). I honestly don't go back and look at completed sets or star cards I have purchased like I thought I would. From time to time, I go into my collectibles closet and see the boxes and binders but don't always open them up.

The times I do open them up and look through them are when I am checking to see if I might have a variation I have just learned about or when I am too broke to buy anything new just then, so I distract myself with what I already have. That is pretty pathetic isn't it?

This sounds about right.

[4815162342]

Every once in a while, a new guy joins Net54 and becomes immediately addicted to "the hunt", going completely bananas buying every readily-available cool card in sight. It doesn't take long for those cards (usually bought at premium prices) to go up for sale on the BST for much less. On a bigger scale, that's probably what's happening with high grade PSA rookies and 80's Fleer Jordans.

[cubman1941]

I have been collecting since 1976 and used to put sets together but now concentrate on Cubs I need (pre-war). My "stuff" is mostly Cubs and I really enjoy, and sometimes get frustrated, by the hunt. I remember putting the 1954 set together. I spent 8 years finishing it and the last card was some common. I had no problem finding Williams, Banks, Aaron but those commons!! However, I put in in a box and it has never been looked at again. To me the "thrill of the hunt" for Cubs I don't have and, sometimes, thanks to this site, didn't even know they existed is the most fun. The demise of card shops in my area had diminished this and I don't get to go to Nationals anymore so my hunt is basically limited to antique shops when I go and on-line sites.

[Beatles Guy]

The Hunt is fun, but it also gets frustrating when you keep coming across the same overpriced cards.

[Howe’s Hunter]

Interested in where they come from, and then after finding them, it isn't so much about admiring them, but trying to figure patterns out.

How come out of 294 cards ...

there are seven Red Ames portraits, but no Joe Tinker portraits at all?

How come there are three Lundgren – Chicago but no Mathewson dark caps?

How come there are two Cobb green backs and a beautiful Cobb bat away (I don't own any of those, but I have hunted them down and have scans...) but no Cobb red backs or bat on?

Still guessing all the cards came from one store, but how come the tobacco packs sold there had so many of some, none of another. Mystery of life.

[DeanH3]

The hunt has always been a big factor for me. Especially since I think I'm pretty picky about the cards I buy. The recent rise of prices for the cards I'm searching for, has caused me to "hunt" for a lower technical grade but still retain really nice eye appeal I need. It's definitely been a tougher task but it has also caused me to appreciate what I have already aquired more than I did before.

[conor912]

Originally Posted by vintagebaseballcardguy

That is pretty pathetic isn't it?

Not in the least. I do it all the time, and every time I go through my collection, without fail, I find something I completely forgot I had. To me, that's the same high as getting something new.

[vintagebaseballcardguy]

Originally Posted by conor912

Not in the least. I do it all the time, and every time I go through my collection, without fail, I find something I completely forgot I had. To me, that's the same high as getting something new.

I know what you mean. It always feels strange doing a double take on something I own but had forgotten. It is a bit of a rush!

I have also gone the other way...looked for something that I sold but forgot I sold. In this case it was a really nice '53 Bowman Color Musial. I don't sell much ever, and I will never understand why I let go of that one. I have yet to find one that equaled that one, in my eyes at least.

[EvilKing00]

Love the hunt, really love winning the auction but mostly love opening the mail

[mrvster]

the hunt!!!

BTW.................

wagner collage is AWESOME!!!!!!!!!! my new screen saver

[clydepepper]

I pieced together the Topps series 1954-1980 and it was a bit of a letdown when that final card arrived...and I would up selling the 1957-1980 sets less than a year later.

While I still have the three earlier sets, I seem to be picking up a single or two here and there...

But, I know I can stop anytime I want...anytime I want...anytime I want...


My answer to your question is obvious.

[LuckyLarry]

The problem for my fellow "set builders" is, it's always cheaper to buy the full set than it is to put a set together card by card. And buying the full set ruins the fun of "The Hunt".
example: I was recently offered 48 of the 50 cards in the 1910 T220 Mecca boxing set for under six bucks a card, (missing the two expensive cards in the set featuring John L Sullivan). So I bought the near set of 48 cards, and during a "eBay Bucks" offer, I picked up both Sullivan cards I needed from the same seller.
So yeah I completed the T220 Mecca boxing set in a week, and it's a great set. But I just "broke out the checkbook" and missed out on "The Hunt".
Larry

[conor912]

Originally Posted by EvilKing00

Love the hunt, really love winning the auction but mostly love opening the mail

Ha. Opening the mail is probably my least favorite part. Sometimes I go days just staring at the unopened package. I guess I've been disappointed one too many times.

[conor912]

Originally Posted by LuckyLarry

The problem for my fellow "set builders" is, it's always cheaper to buy the full set than it is to put a set together card by card. And buying the full set ruins the fun of "The Hunt".
example: I was recently offered 48 of the 50 cards in the 1910 T220 Mecca boxing set for under six bucks a card, (missing the two expensive cards in the set featuring John L Sullivan). So I bought the near set of 48 cards, and during a "eBay Bucks" offer, I picked up both Sullivan cards I needed from the same seller.
So yeah I completed the T220 Mecca boxing set in a week, and it's a great set. But I just "broke out the checkbook" and missed out on "The Hunt".
Larry

Some people like to spend their hobby time looking at cards rather than looking for cards. There's no shame in either.

[T206Collector]

After once finishing 521 of the 524 necessary to complete the T206 set in January 2007, I sold most off to buy Lionel Carter's Eddie Plank in April 2007. Figuring I'd just get back to rebuilding my set, I got heavily and disastrously sidetracked by all of the signed T206s that came out of Pittsburgh and found their way onto eBay. Now, nearly 10 years later, I'm at 488 and enjoying the chase again, but....

The "loss" of a few T206s along the way still hurts. I miss them actively. They develop unique personalities that can't be replaced by the "same" card. Long gone is that crisp PSA 6 Chase pink portrait. Alas, some newer additions help fill the void, but it is all about the chase for me - except for only a few keepers in my collection that I just can't stop staring at...

[Topps206]

I can't wait until I get my new Beaumont this week.


That said, this site is so tough to buy T206s. As soon as they hit the B/S/T section it's like dangling food to piranhas.

[Billy5858]

Originally Posted by Topps206

I can't wait until I get my new Beaumont this week.


That said, this site is so tough to buy T206s. As soon as they hit the B/S/T section it's like dangling food to piranhas.

Big Piranha right here ha ha ...... The scans are so clear
Hard not to bite

[T206Collector]

Originally Posted by Topps206

[T]his site is so tough to buy T206s. As soon as they hit the B/S/T section it's like dangling food to piranhas.

It's pretty crazy

[mybuddyinc]

I think I have three categories:

Very active -- T206 backs
Passive -- E90-1, the 7 I need are going to take forever, BUT hope springs eternal !!
Done (enjoying what you have) -- T210-1, finished, no need for upgrades. Think about selling, but look at the accomplishment, and the "past" hunt gives me satisfaction.

All fun, Scott