Is anyone else alone in collecting cards?

[zljones]

I am wondering if I am one of the few. I have a good amount of friends remaining in my life. I have a finacee who has a son of 13. I have a brother and other various family members. I also work at one of the largest corporations in the country and work in an office with almost 100 people in it; however, dispite having all these people in my life not a single person collects cards or gives a crap about them. I have tried to talk to my friends, my brother, and my future 13 year son in law about cards, trying to find a spark in someone, but nobody cares at all.
I am wondering if I am the only one that does not know a single other person that has any interest in cards. I post on Net54 so often because I literally have nobody to talk to about cards. I am tired of trying to talk about it with people that do not care, like talking to a brick wall. Am I one of the only ones in this situation? If you have people to talk it with, how many people do you know that collect or used to collect that will listen to your cardboard loving chatter?

[g_vezina_c55]

i have 1 friend here who collect seriously hockey pre war card. when i meet this friend in 2001, i meet him in a sport cars show.... and when i saw how i collect card i give to him the sick of card collecting. so a search into his old shoebox of card he collect when he was young and found a mario lemieux rookie card.

since this day my friend collect card also, but he collect less since a couple years, he now collect antic pub etc but he go to the card show with me and buy card when a deal come up

[Mdoe]

Zach-- Your not alone. The card collecting bug recently hit me and I joined Net54 because there is nobody I know that shares the hobby. I have been in the military almost 20 years and am currently stationed at a large base and have never encountered anybody that collects cards.

[rdixon1208]

I have one friend who collects HOF rookie cards and any/all modern cards. He's not into pre-war....yet, but he knows a lot about it from hanging out with me. I saw him looking at T202's online recently, but he hasn't brought it up. Other than that there's a few board members that I've met at local shows. I wish I could find more time to hang out with those guys. It's always really fun for me when we can get together. .

[glchen]

Yep, same thing here. Nobody I know collects cards anymore. My wife used to collect cards in her youth also, but it was the same 80s/90s junk. However, now she dislikes the hobby since she thinks I spend way too much time on it.

[kcohen]

I would be in the same if not for several good friends in my area that I made through the hobby. I suspect that this is fairly typical.

[Leon]

Except for my hobby friends same for me (nadda). When I tell others that I collect and buy and sell baseball cards they kind of giggle and say "that's nice."

[Piratedogcardshows]

I can relate to the original post.I to dont know anyone else in the flesh that collects.And whenever its brought up people are shocked.Its kind of a running joke at work."Any new cards this week"?Snicker Snicker.

[t206blogcom]

I'm in the same boat. Now and then I try talking to my wife about a card I'm really excited about and she'll sometimes partially listen, but that's about it. I know a few people (co-workers and friends) who used to collect when they were kids in the 80s and 90s (all of whom think their collections of wax junk will be paying for their kids college - LOL), but have no interest in cards today.

I tried talking to my niece and nephew (10 and 4) about it. My nephew didn't know what baseball was and my niece said, "why? what's the point?" and promptly went back to playing a game on her iPad.

Standard responses I receive when I mention I collect baseball cards:

• Why? Haven't you grown up? (insert look of disgust and disappointment)
• Nobody cares about cards anymore. You're wasting your money.
• Oh yeah? I did too....when I was 8. I'm saving them to pay for my kid's college.
• Uhm, okay. Good for you.

My wife doesn't like how much money I spend on cards and thinks I'm a big dork for collecting, but also acknowledges it's something I enjoy. When I recently mentioned I'm thinking of selling the bulk of my collection to help fund a new home purchase, she actually said she didn't want me to part with my cards. However, I'm sure her attitude will change when touring model homes...

[Pat R]

...

[SetBuilder]

I might as well be on a deserted island when it comes to collecting. My friends are all big time sports fans but they all ridicule card collecting and are cynical about spending money on pieces of cardboard. I tried to explain to them the nuances of vintage cards but they give me this blank look. It sucks. I live in Miami, and I have no idea if there is even a T206 collector within a 25 mile radius.

I work for a Wall St. firm and you can imagine that baseball cards are at the very bottom of the list of things to spend your money on. If it's considered an "alternative asset class" they're being nice.

I think we're going about it wrong in how we mention our hobby to other people. If you merely say "I collect baseball cards", it conjures up negative images of hoarding (or lunacy) to a person that doesn't like to collect objects -- due to whatever philosophical reasoning they may have. I think you need to add a qualifier like "vintage", "rare", "really old" or "high end" so they understand that there's a big difference between this and junk and that there is a historical value. I don't think buying a T206 card is that much different than buying an Andy Warhol, a Picasso, or a sculpture. If I were to say "I collect original Andy Warhols", I would be complimented to no end. People would beg to see them. Cards get the opposite effect.

[brob28]

I'm in the same boat as most members, no one at all to talk cards about so when I found this site, even reading posts was like a huge breath of fresh air.
I have met a few members at auctions and it's has been great talking with them albeit for a short while.

Last October a group met in Ann Arbor Mi, but I was traveling and could not attend. That sucked, missed my chance to meet a bunch of cardboard junkies in person. There is talk of another get together and I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

[drc]

Other than me, no one in my family collected anything. I was unique in that I was the collector.

[mrvster]

very few i know, except my boy john d!!

[ethicsprof]

not alone---just contemplative solitude.

all the best,
barry

[zljones]

Wow, I really actually thought there were some cliques of collectors on here or at least I thought most of Net54 members have a lot of people around them that collect. I am now discovering that most people in this world do not collect jack squat.
I guess there is one advantage to having such a small population of collectors out there, less competition, lower prices, and more availability of cards. I don't think I would be owning some of the cards I have if it was not for such a small population of collectors.

[HercDriver]

Goggle has something called "Member Map" that you can use to put "pins" on the map and profiles. I don't know anything about it, I just pulled it up in a search. Anybody have experience with any others?

Take Care,
Geno

[SushiX37]

There aren't a whole lot of card collectors here in Omaha, that's why I was stoked to find this forum! Been collecting the T206 set for four years now. It's slow going, but I love it!

Rich

[tbob]

I have one good friend who sporadically collects pre-war cards and one acquaintance who used to but I am not sure if does now or not. A 54er in Hot Springs collects but unfortunately we've just met one time to talk cards. That's it. There's also not a single card shop with anything earlier than shiney cards in a 600 mile area north, south, east or west. Card oasis
I, too, have to be sure and add "but I only collect cards from 1900-1919" whenever anyone asks me if I collect baseball cards. That usually impresses them believe it or not.

[majordanby]

just think about how the hobby has changed with the advent of the internet - a lot fewer local shows, a lot fewer local hobby shops. with the internet, we can purchase cards through ebay and other auctions without any personal connection - bid, win auction, pay through paypal. there's less of a personal medium. however, for those seeking some kind of connection to the broader collecting community, the internet has broadened our virtual networks - we can share our ideas through places like net54.

I'm actually enrolled in a local card collecting support group. we meet every Wed at a local church. i remember walking in on the first meeting - i was very embarrassed and sat in the back. once i summoned enough courage, i stood in front of the group and announced that i too am a card collector.

once i get through their 12 step program, i'll be a free man.

[zljones]

Originally Posted by majordanby

just think about how the hobby has changed with the advent of the internet - a lot fewer local shows, a lot fewer local hobby shops. with the internet, we can purchase cards through ebay and other auctions without any personal connection - bid, win auction, pay through paypal. there's less of a personal medium. however, for those seeking some kind of connection to the broader collecting community, the internet has broadened our virtual networks - we can share our ideas through places like net54.

I'm actually enrolled in a local card collecting support group. we meet every Wed at a local church. i remember walking in on the first meeting - i was very embarrassed and sat in the back. once i summoned enough courage, i stood in front of the group and announced that i too am a card collector.

once i get through their 12 step program, i'll be a free man.

Are you joking?

[ethicsprof]

I understand your luck with the 1900-19 assertion.
In a similar vein, I will say proudly that I collect 1900-1939 and they get a bit interested. Then by the time I do some name dropping and say 4 ty cobbs,
4 babe ruths, a couple of wagners and a couple of dimaggios, at least a few really want to chat about them a bit. Granted, I probably have that desperate look, as i'm doing it.
all the best,
barry

[Deertick]

Originally Posted by majordanby

I'm actually enrolled in a local card collecting support group. we meet every Wed at a local church. i remember walking in on the first meeting - i was very embarrassed and sat in the back. once i summoned enough courage, i stood in front of the group and announced that i too am a card collector.

once i get through their 12 step program, i'll be a free man.

C.A. is for quitters.

[Deertick]

I have no one. The only interest shown is when I mention I sell stuff through the interwebs. My wife does enjoy going to auctions though.

Back in the day, had a major bromance going with a fellow Schmidty collector. All the time helping each other out, actually carrying each others wantlists to shows the other couldn't make. As our checklists got more filled, the competition caused a straining.

The breaking point was when I told him about a mint 1972 PR rookie I had located at a great price (he already had a lower grade). I asked him if he wanted to come with me, I could pick him up since he was on the way. Nah, he was busy. Turns out he beat me to the store by an hour. Then he offered to sell me his lower grade for about the same price. Never spoke to him again.