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will watsonfrom before i could ride a bike until 2002, i collected only modern cards. i had little interest in vintage. i started to get out of the hobby around summer of 02 for a few reasons: i was in college, drinking and womanizing way too much, and most importantly i was getting sick and tired of overproduced modern junk. its no fun buying a $100 box, and pulling a jersey card that i might get $10 for on ebay. i know collecting should be about having fun, but the idea of getting a 10% return on your investment if you ever did sell was disheartening.
in late september of 2002, i had just about quit the hobby entirely. then, my dad died suddenly in a hunting accident. one week later, i was sideswiped by a drunk driver, my truck rolled twice, and i was almost killed. i was about as depressed as a human being could be, didn't care about school or my life, or anything. i ended up getting $2000 cash from the accident. i almost blew it all on booze and drugs. i was to the point where if i died, i wouldn't care. but for some reason, i decided to get my life together. i got back into the hobby, and spent the entire two grand on vintage cards.
looking back, it was probably one of the best decisions i've ever made. cards have been therapeutic, a way to escape the hell that was my real life. whenever i'm down, i can pull out my boxes of vintage baseball and hockey cards and forget about everything else. i've collected vintage stuff non stop since then