Why are you FICKLE?

[frankbmd]

Diagnosis is the key to effective therapy.

As a collector you have OCD, whether you know it or not.

If you don't know what OCD is, look it up.

Collectors as a whole are a fickle "group" of OCDers (and yes some are OBCers).

Individual collectors, however, may be extremely consistent and not fickle in and of themselves. Others may be extremely fickle in and of themselves shifting the focus of their collection on a whim.

But as a part of the larger collective or group of collectors, being fickle to other members of the group can make you fit in.

For example, if your collection is defined by a "Howe-McCormick" stamp on the back of your cards, your collection is quite unique and you are one of a kind. But you are also admired and lauded by the vast majority of the larger group of collectors. The stamp is Ed's fickleness. Hi Ed.

Our collections are defined by our fickleness, if you will. There are numerous broad and specific criteria by which our collections are defined. What other people think of our collections generally matters little, particularly if they disagree with our "fickleness".

So what is your fickleness?

Are you obsessed with the condition or grade of the card?

Must your cards be perfectly centered?

Are you allergic to plastic (TPG) and crack cards routinely out of their slab?

Are you primarily concerned with rarity and put your faith in POP reports?

Is something that was once considered trash from the printer, the focus of your "scrap" collection?

Are you making a living, or trying to, flipping cards for profit?

Or does the focus of your collection trump any concern about the "bottom line" of your hobby pursuits?

Are you a type collector or a set collector?

Are you a hunter, who sells a set when it is completed, or a hoarder, who never sells and has a seemingly endless supply of closets?

Do you fraternize with other collectors, even though they may bidding against you or are you a "lurking hermit"?

Fess up. You need not answer all the questions which merely serve as examples. There is something about your collecting habits that many others would consider "fickle".