how often do you change your collecting focus?

[benderbroeth]

i seem to change the stuff i collect all the time..am i the only one?
i seem to change my focus every couple of months....

[jp1216]

I've done all that many times. But once the monster bit me - I narrowed my focus.... Sure, I have other interests, but the monster doesn't allow for many....

[benderbroeth]

i have to say the only set i have not waverd on is the t205 set...i really love that set the best.

[HRBAKER]

never really, my collecting is not very focused; some sets, HOF types, Philly A's

I just go through spells where I concentrate more on some areas than others but I just set the others off to the side to be picked up later

[Robextend]

My collection is very focused, but I have quite a few projects going so it always keeps me busy. However, when I first started out I must have changed my mind what seemed like a hundred times.

[benderbroeth]

i think my biggest problem is my budget..i want everything made before 1959..but i cannot afford it...

[bbcard1]

I am in the midst of trying to focus. I am working on the monster (about half way through, largely low grade), a 1941 Double Play set (2 cards to go) and a 1961 Topps set (just getting started). I have always tried to pick up a different card of a hall of famer every chance I got, but have backed off that...too expensive for the negro leaguers and the 19th century guys. I futz around with foreign cards, but mainly just when I trip across them. I always try to find at least one card of even the most obscure player from Marshall University. I have had a major shift in my collecting over the last couple of years. At one point, I just tried to collect pretty much everything. We had a bouncing 79 year old move in with us for a few years and the space just wasn't there. At one point i got into serial numbered cards, first or last serial number which I still think is kind of neat...but I no longer obsess on them. Crazy as it sounds, I probably amassed 2000 of such cards. Now I am down to the above mentioned obsession. I am considering narrowing my focus to cards that were made in years ending with "1" (I was born in 1961) and working with the rest. Having to liquidate my friend's collection has made me understand that someday it will happen to mine.

[cdn_collector]

Since my return to collecting around 2002, it's changed regularly. Maybe 7-8 times -- usually as a function of space and money. I try to walk a fine line between 'collecting' and 'accumulating'. If I focus on something too easy [cheap and readily available] I accumulate more than I can reasonably store or look through regularly, but if I focus on something too difficult [not as cheap, nor as readily available], then in order to collect it, I have to spend more money than I am comfortable admitting to anyone is represented by cardboard.

Within reason, this has not stopped me from focusing on any particular thing, but without fail, every collection hits the space or money threshold eventually.

It also doesn't help that I am on a limited [decreasing?] budget, and am a fan of all eras of baseball.

Regards,

Richard.

We have collected rare baseball memorabilia for more than 35 years

We began by collecting rare type cards in high grade from 1869-1949.
Over the last 3 years we added rare regionals.

Our memorabilia focus has always been

19th century
Federal League
Players League
Union Association
Brooklyn Dodgers
New York Yankees
Negro League and Cuban baseball

We have limited our non-card collecting interests

Advertising- pieces promoting baseball cards and baseball sponsored items
Books
Early Pennants
Early and rare pins
Early and rare Postcards
Early and rare Programs and Scorecards, and Opening Day of Stadiums
Player Endorsed Sheet Music
Tickets from the Negro League, Federal League, Players League, Union Assn and early NY Highlanders

With a few exceptions, we do not collect balls, bats, autographs, equipment
or uniform- albeit we have a plethora of personally autographed material

To learn more, Please write in confidence to

Bruce Dorskind
America's Toughest Want
bdorskind@dorskindgroup.com

[alanu]

I change my focus all the time. Start sets, then move on to another one, both pre and post war

1965 Topps CFL right now of all things

[benderbroeth]

Originally Posted by alanu

i change my focus all the time. Start sets, then move on to another one, both pre and post war

1965 topps cfl right now of all things

cfl?

[glchen]

I've changed focus a few times although I've kept some the same. In the beginning, I collected 33 Goudey, which I still am. Along the way, I wanted to collect random HOFers to try to build a HOF set. I've dropped that and sold many of those cards. I collected E93 at one point, dropped that for a while, and then just started back on it after I picked up a few cards in the last Leland's auction. I was a Hornsby player collector for a while, but then I moved on, sold those cards, and got into Ruth and Gehrig. I collected basketball cards for a while, but I've since lost interest and am thinking of selling those. It goes on and on.

[joeadcock]

I tried to focus, but when saw a desired card, tried to get it (almost exclusively before 1930).

Had other phases where think too many of one set and go off to another set.

Settled on Type collecting.

[Bilko G]

Originally Posted by alanu

1965 Topps CFL right now of all things

Very Cool!!! Im a big CFL fan myself and have many different CFL cards and a few sets from the 60's all the way up to current times.


but im curious, what makes a guy living in Nevada, collect a 60's CFL set?

[quinnsryche]

I have collecting ADD. What? Oooh, look at that! That's really nice, I think I'll collect that now........

[cozmokramer]

I change all the time... And I always seem to want what the whales are looking for... That makes it difficult and expensive!

[Leon]

Except for a few moments straying here and there I have been focused on Pre-War type cards and the containers and advertising surrounding them. The few sets I have been working on just aren't as much fun.....I am not a set guy . I also collect cards (and a few photos) I like when I see them.

[almostdone]

It took about ten years for me to put together my HOF set but there were a few times were I just needed a break and collect something "easy". In that time I put together a complete Nolan Ryan set (lots on ebay are cheap), Roberto Clemente set, and Sandy Koufax set. I would always kept the HOFers on the back burner and would keep an eye for them but would eventually come back to it.
Now I've finished it and do not want to upgrade. I'm happy with it and like the set the way it is. That might change in the future but promised my wife I would take a bit of a break from buying and just read and learn. That's how I came upon this site. I wonder if there will be a point where she says "don't you want to stop spending all your time on that '54' site and just buy a card?"
We shall see,
Drew

[Orioles1954]

CFL collecting is a fun and more affordable way to collect. Plus, they are much more difficult than the other issues. Good choice. I used to have a complete run of 1980s Jogo CFL sets and there is a small, but very active demand for them.

[sportscardpete]

Originally Posted by Leon

Except for a few moments straying here and there I have been focused on Pre-War type cards and the containers and advertising surrounding them. The few sets I have been working on just aren't as much fun.....I am not a set guy . I also collect cards (and a few photos) I like when I see them.

Leon you must be where I get my collecting influence! I don't plan on completing any sets, I just collect anything that catches my eye or is at a pretty nice price. It's like I have collecting ADHD

[tbob]

My focus is pre-war but I have delved in to other sets also. The problem is some sets just hook you, normally ones that are tough to complete. The T210 Old Mill (red borders) is an example. I started collecting it because I found a few I liked and now have about 80% of the set! Another is the C46 Imperial Tobacco which I started because I loved the Gandil card and now find myself 4 cards from the set. Luckily the T205, 206 (minus the Big 4), 207 are all put to bed as are many caramel sets so I have time to look around and see what is next.

[alanu]

Originally Posted by Bilko G

Very Cool!!! Im a big CFL fan myself and have many different CFL cards and a few sets from the 60's all the way up to current times.


but im curious, what makes a guy living in Nevada, collect a 60's CFL set?

Warren Moon was my favorite football player and that got me started with CFL cards and being from Nebraska I've collected some cards of former Cornhuskers in the CFL.

One of my favorites is the 1981 Jogo Vince Ferragamo.

[benderbroeth]

is the CFL the canadian football league?

[alanu]

Originally Posted by benderbroeth

is the CFL the canadian football league?

yes

[toppcat]

I change mine about every six months-it's pretty normal in this hobby I guess.

[Rickyy]

For the past 6 months or so...I've purchased fewer pre/post war type cards and added more to Exhibit HOF cards...those are the ones that get me excited at the moment!

Ricky Y

[benderbroeth]

started a new set tonight...and it is a huge one...but at nly 10 cards i think i can finish it by the end of this year!!!! 1887 allen and ginter!!!

[wake.up.the.echoes]

Three times since I started composing this message...

[CowboysGuide]

Originally Posted by wake.up.the.echoes

Three times since I started composing this message...

LOL!

I've only strayed from my main focus a couple times in my adult collecting years. Now that I've pretty much have a handle on that, I find myself looking into other sets, or players to collect.

[T206Collector]

I have always been focused on T206, but my specific focus has been on signed T206 cards now for at least the past four years.

Lately, I have begun to put together the E92 Dockman set. I traded into a nice PSA 5 Chance Dockman and PSA 4.5 Chase at a show a few weeks ago, and I got started.

But I'd trade everything I own for some new autographed T206 cards.

[HercDriver]

Oddly enough, I'm on a month-long hiatus to Toronto right now and went to my first CFL game last week. It was interesting, with a lot of good aspects the NFL could use - most notably a lot less standing around (20 sec play clock, if I remember right). Also, no downing the ball in the end zone - if you do, you get to keep it like in the NFL, but the kicking team gets a point. Sitting at the 55-yard line was cool too. Biggest problem in my mind was the three-down game, which takes running out of it.

I was surprised at how long it's been around - they've been playing for the Grey Cup for over 100 years now, so it predates the NFL in that respect.

Take Care,
Geno

[HercDriver]

And so as not to hijack the thread too bad, I'll also say I refocus every few years. I have always collected T205s since I can remember, but didn't know what to do once I'd completed it. I completed most of the Topps sets, but ran out of steam when I decided I wasn't going to buy a bunch of Mantle cards when I could care less about him.

Sticking with the T205 theme, I started the T202 set and really liked that since it's the same cards and pretty easy to get started on a nice set. It still left me wanting more gold borders, however. So recently I decided to complete another run of T205s, but this time just the Sovereign backs. That gives me over half the set, with most of the Cubs, and I don't have to buy Cobb (see Mantle above)!

I think I'm much happier collecting a more focused group of cards than having binders that I never look at. I still look at my 1974 set, just because it was the first one I collected...but other than that, I am still deciding what to do with a lot of my stuff. I think they were called "trading cards" for a reason...so in my mind, trade away for whatever interests you today!

Take Care,
Geno

[benderbroeth]

hey geno, how far along ae you into the t205 set? it is by far and away the best pre-war set made in my opinion!!! my set can be found on the psa registry under benderbroeth!!!

[deadballera]

broad focus of pre-war..ranging from 1939 Playball to 19th century.


as far as set building.. 1910 and 1911 Obaks.

[HercDriver]

Bender --

I've got a complete set that I compiled in the eighties, mostly trading Ryne Sandberg and Wade Boggs rookies for! It's 207 raw cards, plus one graded Cicotte that I got near the end (which was the beginning of the graded era). From there, I started working back in time on my Topps sets, which I mostly finished...however, those T205s have always been like a hook. I didn't want to build another complete set, so I figured I'd go for a complete set of backs. Sovereign has 123 cards (I think), with no Cobb - but it has Tinker, Evers, Chance, and the rest of the Cub crew, so I went with that. I really have just started down that road...it's almost as fun trying to document the cards as it is to buy them (almost). I'm also working on those T202s, but have slowed down a bit there. I was deployed to the Middle East for awhile, and when I came back my focus shifted a bit from buying cards to doing other things with my kids...but I think I have a good balance now!

Take Care,
Geno

[benderbroeth]

yeah i love the set!!!! best ever i think!!!

so geno what is your favorite card from the set? i like the nice bright orange of john lush, i also love the bright bright blue of my home run baker

I haven't changed very much. I collected 50's and 60's when I was a kid and in my teenage years. Now in my twenties I collect Fred Toney items. I tried to collect T210 series 6 cards but they come up so infrequently that I gave up on them and sold the few I had, except for the Fred Toney of course. I do try to collect Kentucky related baseball items though. I do have the T210 6 Fred Toney, and a Winchester Hustlers Team Postcard, and a Cabinet Photo of the Maysville Rivermen team that may be one of a kind. "Thanks Rhett"

I am still trying to find more Winchester Hustler Team Postcards. I believer from talking to fellow board members that as many as three different ones may exist of the Winchester Hustlers. I would love to find more examples.

TT

[Jcfowler6]

Anything related to the 1909 Pirates.
And...
Anything to good to pass up. Usually cause I can use that item to get more 1909 Pirates stuff.

Did I say I like 1909 Pirates stuff?

Been this way for 5 years or so.

[benderbroeth]

Originally Posted by Jcfowler6

Anything related to the 1909 Pirates.
And...
Anything to good to pass up. Usually cause I can use that item to get more 1909 Pirates stuff.

Did I say I like 1909 Pirates stuff?

Been this way for 5 years or so.

i can read it in your sigline!!!

[HercDriver]

Favorite T205? That's a tough one...

I love all the Cubs, but I'm biased, so I won't count them! I'd say the Speaker and the Matty are probably the two cards I like the most. The Minor Leaguers are cool as well...

Take Care,
Geno

[DixieBaseball]

I don't typically change any of my collecting focus, but about once a year I "add" to my collecting focus, thus creating a little broader collection.

[7nohitter]

My main focus is Nolan Ryan, and that has remained consistent since 1988....BUT I'm also working on the '57 Topps set, the '51 Bowman set, and, when I can afford it (meaning SGC 10, 'A') Mantles and T206....

[Exhibitman]

Focus? My Hobby vision is about 20:750 and severely astigmatic. My nickname for my collection is "The Festival of Bric-A-Brac." The hodge-podge on my web site is a pretty good indicator of my lack of focus.

[ls7plus]

Originally Posted by Leon

Except for a few moments straying here and there I have been focused on Pre-War type cards and the containers and advertising surrounding them. The few sets I have been working on just aren't as much fun.....I am not a set guy . I also collect cards (and a few photos) I like when I see them.

As a HOF and star player collector, changing focus in terms of seeking out and learning about different issues from different eras is necessarily a part of my collecting, just as it is with Leon and collecting type cards. You can shift your focus wherever and whenever you want, be satisfied with just one example of any given HOF'er, or collect as many as you want of your favorities. Like Leon, I've never been a set collector, and my approach, for me, keeps the collecting urge quite fresh.

Good thread!

Best regards to all,

Larry

[39special]

I'm pretty focused on my collecting.Anything baseball from 1900 to 2011.

[martyogelvie]

My focus will change from time to time. I will see something that really sparks my interest and I will focus on that set for a few months or even longer but sooner or later the monster will call me back.. the time away is a nice break and allows me to re focus on the bastard, I mean monster!

[benderbroeth]

Originally Posted by 39special

I'm pretty focused on my collecting.Anything baseball from 1900 to 2011.

love it lol

[LanceRoten]

Originally Posted by NashvilleBaseball

I don't typically change any of my collecting focus, but about once a year I "add" to my collecting focus, thus creating a little broader collection.

Same here