I’ll probably echo what others have said…
To me, cards are just a matter of money. If you want/“need” a card, they’re out there. We all get catalogs or see auctions that are page after page after page of cards. I also don’t believe anyone ever gets a “deal” on a card except in the very rare occasion you might find it at a garage sale or in a storage unit. If you buy a card at the National, you’re going to pay the going rate. Also, there’s really no mystery or back story to cards. They are what they are. About the only good thing about cards is they don’t take up a ton of room. But I could say the same of my pocket schedules and pinbacks.
Memorabilia, on the other hand, comes with stories. I think we all love doing research on its origins. Just last week, a fellow collector told me he had found a picture of Willie Mays at an I. Magnin store in 1962, surrounded by Willie Mays Say Hey skateboards. I had read earlier the skateboards were only sold at Northern California Macy’s. It’s amazing how you can stumble upon photograhic evidence. I own this banner but didn’t know exactly where it came from. Net54 member came up with a picture of Willie Mays batting in front of one on the 1960 Opening Day of brand new (fabulous
) CandlesticK Park.
I really enjoy the hunt, too. As I said, I think cards are just a matter of money. There are desired memorabilia pieces that I have seen maybe one time in a picture that I doubt I will ever find but, every once in a while, one will magically appear. And, sometimes, I will get something at a very reasonable price because I”m either in the right place at the right time or no one else covets the piece like I do. Not too long ago, I got an item that a fellow bigtime Giants collector didn’t even know existed…and he lives in SF and has been collecting for 50+ years.
Most (but not all) of my memorabilia dates to my lifetime. I have a connection to it. I can’t understand collecting cards of some guy you (or maybe even your dad) never saw play. But that’s a whole nuther topic…