Why are you holding onto or collecting ?

[larietrope]

I'm sure this question has been asked in many forms prior but I am struggling with keeping my collection or not. It's not my only interest, I don't need the money but I don't want to increase my collection necessarily as no one in my family is interested. All my cards are from childhood on and none are graded. Lots of sentimental and childhood memories.
Anyone else struggling with this ?
Thanks.

[irv]

I collected in my childhood, as most of my buddies did, and I am currently collecting to try and finish off the partial set my father gave to me (52 Topps) which I find enjoyable, although somewhat expensive.

My son has a bit of interest in what I do but being as he is only 19, as expected, hasn't got much.

I've thought about selling some of my other collection but then I ask myself, am I going to regret that?

Like you, I also have other interests so I am not as vested in it as some on here are but I do enjoy it in my spare time and when money dictates.

In the end, I will likely pass my collection onto my son like my father did for me, but with life changes happening all the time, plans change.

[jchcollins]

I would readily admit that cards are my preferred escape from the everyday pressures of reality. In addition to a decades-long interest in baseball, collecting makes me feel like I'm 12 again - surrounded by the love of my parents, and like everything is going to be ok. That has certainly helped out recently in extended times of worldwide pandemic. There are times I get overzealous and too involved and have to check myself, but I feel like at least a good 90% of the time or more, cards do for me what a hobby is supposed to.

[packs]

I'll have to sell my cards when it's time to buy a house and then hope the market crashes so I can buy them all back. Until then I'm happy to sit on them for as long as I can.

[gustomania]

First and foremost because its sooo much fun, but wasnt always that way for me TBH.

I collected as a kid in the mid 80s up to about 1991. Loved it, was cheap and had a huge worthless collection. Then in 2012 picked it up again and it was about value, grading and totally stressed me out.

It took me until about Nov/Dec of 2019 to scale back my approach to something now where I pick up a few cards here and there and focus only on Koufax...............

The silver lining is I now found my nitch where I usually am just enjoying the cards I have and add a few here and there but no stress, just the love of collecting.

I used to think I had to have everything, now I'm content with simply having fun and keeping a modest budget. Actually the budget is so modest I dont even pay attention to it anymore.

So, I now I'm back to having fun and honestly appreciating what I do have rather than what is next and what I need (which was a vicious cycle of not really caring what I already had, hence no enjoyment).

The hardest part of my lessons above was scaling back and selling, because everything I had trouble letting go of. Now I know I did the right thing, its no longer about value or not buying a card because its $5 too high, I simply buy what I want when I want and just enjoy what I have.

My two cents anyway............the hobby for many years was a crutch and found a way to enjoy collecting again.

[egri]

I collect because I enjoy the history of the game, and it's a way for me to connect with players I never saw in person. While I'm glad that the rising prices over the past year mean that my collection is worth several times what I paid for it, I won't complain if a correction means I can pick up the ones I still need at more reasonable prices.

[todeen]

Originally Posted by jchcollins

I would readily admit that cards are my preferred escape from the everyday pressures of reality. In addition to a decades-long interest in baseball, collecting makes me feel like I'm 12 again - surrounded by the love of my parents, and like everything is going to be ok. That has certainly helped out recently in extended times of worldwide pandemic. There are times I get overzealous and too involved and have to check myself, but I feel like at least a good 90% of the time or more, cards do for me what a hobby is supposed to.

I have recently turned to collecting MiLB Billings Mustangs. They were my hometown team when I was a kid and collecting them for the last 6 months has honestly brought me lots of enjoyment. Brings back good childhood memories. And it's a heck of lot cheaper than modern!

[Bestdj777]

I get the sentiment and rarely, if ever, purchase anything anymore. I’ve even sold some stuff I never thought I would on occasion to help fund other purchases (I.e., a 52 Topps Mantle when we were looking to buy a house). At the end of the day, I really don’t need the money from the collection, I have a good checklist together for my wife if something were to happen to me, and I hold on to them because I still love chatting with people about cards, hope my son will ha e an interest, and am optimistic they’ll hold their value if he never is interested.

[Vegas Cards]

I've been collecting since I was a kid in the late '70s. Loved going to the liquor store and buying a pack of cards, loved trading cards with my friends, loved pulling out all the Dodgers players.

Somewhere along the line my dad gave me his old cards, mostly from the '50s.

Then in the late '80s and '90, I got carried away buying cases, buying sealed complete sets, looking for inserts, premium cards, etc. I just ended up with too much stuff. Filled up closets and bins, took up too much space in the garage. Plus it just got overwhelming with all the different offerings, figuring out what the "true" RC was. And to add insult to injury, most from the wax era was effectively worthless. So I set it all aside.

In 2017 I picked up a large collection from my Uncle and really started thinking about what I wanted to collect. Since then I've been selling some things, adding more, getting cards graded, keeping some and moving the rest.

Really trying to focus on cards I enjoy looking at and that I think will hold their value over time. I've got a great collection of Mantles. I'm working on completing the 1953 and 1955 Topps set. I'll keep at it as long as I'm having fun.

[jl4jc2001]

Originally Posted by jchcollins

I would readily admit that cards are my preferred escape from the everyday pressures of reality. In addition to a decades-long interest in baseball, collecting makes me feel like I'm 12 again - surrounded by the love of my parents, and like everything is going to be ok. That has certainly helped out recently in extended times of worldwide pandemic. There are times I get overzealous and too involved and have to check myself, but I feel like at least a good 90% of the time or more, cards do for me what a hobby is supposed to.

This! Cards are a diversion from reality some days.

[ALBB]

Wow, some really nice story's and reasons to collect ..very enjoyable reading these

[BillP]

Originally Posted by jl4jc2001

This! Cards are a diversion from reality some days.

I agree with that. I would only sell my extras. My boys are not nearly as engaged as I was/am in this hobby and the crazy prices have me confused as to where this is going as far as selling my collection. I kind of buy on the fringe now. Some FB and hockey that haven't escalated as much.

[G1911]

I will hold forever.

I skipped the rediscovery phase most seem to post about. I started with Batman cards when I was 3 years old in 1994, Football when I was 6, Baseball when I was 9, Tobacco when I was 11, Boxing shortly after that. All my cards were creased or dinged from constantly looking through, reading the backs and endless sorting and resorting. I had to stop buying when real life hit and I went to college and was completely broke and struggling, but my interest never waned. I continued monitoring and researching what I was into. Started spending a little after I got a "real job", and that has scaled with job growth. I'm lucky enough to be able to comfortably spend what I want on the hobby, but I still am drawn to the cards of my childhood and not the expensive stuff. Sharp corners still bear no appeal, and so I happily build in poor-very good range. I don't even 'take care of them' now; most of my cards are kept outside of any sleeves or protection. I used to penny sleeve vintage, but stopped seeing any point in it. If this T card is in Fair grade with a heavy crease and around corners, what is the sleeve for? I find it most pleasant this way, using them as I see intended.

I treat hobby money as beer money, what goes in doesn't come out and is my side fun. I've only just started to sell some of my low-end duplicates to clear space and get them somewhere they will not be collecting dust in a box of dupe junk, but the selling will never extend beyond that. If I have a card, it's because I wanted and bought it with the expectation that this picture is just paper that won't be worth anything and I'm flushing the cash down the drain. Keeps it 100% fun, 0% stress. I have no good answer for why cards are my odd obsession and hobby, but as it has been that way my entire life, I doubt it ever changes and I will sell. Low grade = quantity, my heirs will have one heck of a lot of sorting to do one day (and will probably sell off the tough variations for nothing). Hold forever

[vintagebaseballcardguy]

I'd have to say that I love baseball in the 1950s and everything associated with it. It's pure nostalgia for me, as I wasn't born until 1973. The Topps and Bowman cards capture my imagination as do photo packs and other pieces of ephemera from that period. Admittedly I sometimes invest a little too much time into my endeavors, but this hobby still captures my imagination even after many years.