I will always love cards, but as time has gone on I've been less and less interested in owning them - outside of very rare or beautiful cards. I started to become a bit numb to them after seeing the same ones over and over at card shows, ebay, and the AH catalogues.
As others have stated, pieces of memorabilia are almost always more unique and a more direct connection to a time and place in history than cards, and can even have a direct connection to a player or historical event. They can tell a story and be unbelievably beautiful at the same time.
Here's a good example of that - a broadside I recently picked up. It's from a 1941 game between the Monarchs and Chicago American Giants at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. When I saw it at auction, I was totally captivated by it but there was very limited information shared about it in the description. So, being from St. Louis, I started to dig to learn more about the game, the artist, etc, and found that the game had a ton of significance in the area. Satchel was essentially holding out from appearing in the game unless the promoters allowed black fans to sit wherever they could afford instead of in a designated area. Given that Satch was the biggest drawing card for the game, the promoters eventually gave in - and for the first time ever, black fans could sit wherever they wanted at the stadium. Satch then went on to star in a 11-2 whooping of the Chicago team.
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