Great post James, I was just thinking about this the other day. I would classify myself as a self employed working class collector, I'm not rich, I still have a mortgage to pay, but I love collecting baseball cards. I have a very specific idea of what I want my collection to look like but I never have enough $$ for my card budget so I have to make choices, I miss out on cards due to lack of funds but I am also able to acquire cards for my collection on a fairly regular basis. But it's a sacrifice, do I choose to remodel the kitchen or buy a 14CJ Cobb, I chose Cobb. I network, trade, sell, to add to my collection, whatever it takes. I also get the same satisfaction of buying an $80 card that I do buying an $8000 card. I would say in this environment be very sure on what you want your collection to look like and avoid those juicy little rabbit holes we all love to go down.
That being said I'm very fortunate to even be able to buy baseball cards and I'm grateful to have found this place, made connections with some really great members with fantastic collections, unbelievable knowledge, and generosity. To me that's priceless.
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