Has your hobby ever been a negative?

[itjclarke]

Originally Posted by g_vezina_c55

Not for me.. always positive thing in my life !

Big +1 for me

[iwantitiwinit]

can i submit 2 answers?

[ullmandds]

My first 20 or so years in the hobby I don't think I ever paid more than $100 or so for a card...the last 15 yrs has been a different story! I have no family...am single...so I have no one to take care of besides myself. I had a minor scare where I(while drunk bidding) ended up with $35K of winnings from a major auction house...I had the cash...didn't exactly want to spend it all on cardboard...but was prepared to do so as a result of my actions.

This hobby has always been a positive for me and I have never bought anything on credit...and I never will.

[I Only Smoke 4 the Cards]

[QUOTE=ullmandds;1095055]I had a minor scare where I(while drunk bidding) ended up with $35K of winnings from a major auction house...I had the cash...didn't exactly want to spend it all on cardboard...but was prepared to do so as a result of my actions.QUOTE]

Thanks for the brutal honesty. Worst hangover ever.

[AMBST95]

I have never bought anything I couldn't pay for with cash. Auctions can be addicting so you have to create a budget and rules to avoid the pitfalls. The only negative to the hobby is the disappointment in losing out on an item you really want. It is often a short term feeling that gets easily replaced by the next big WIN.

Not since the divorce....

[I Only Smoke 4 the Cards]

Originally Posted by iwantitiwinit

can i submit 2 answers?

Sure.

[iwantitiwinit]

1, 2 and C

[rainier2004]

I was one of those guys responding to the credit thread that may have sounded nagative. This hobby has been nothing but positive from day 1. I truly believe it serves several purposes within my life. This hobby provides us a world away from our everyday and allows us to receive certain intangibles we each are looking for. Personally, it reminds me of when I was 8 and life was simple.

[jhs5120]

I can get some nagging about my spending from the Mrs. but she supports my hobby. Heck, she even went the National with me last year!

[rainier2004]

Originally Posted by jhs5120

I can get some nagging about my spending from the Mrs. but she supports my hobby. Heck, she even went the National with me last year!

Thats awesome, did she enjoy it?

[brob28]

Originally Posted by rainier2004

it reminds me of when I was 8 and life was simple.

Steve, I agree 100%! The hobby has been nothing but a positive for me. I only spend what I can pay for and although I buy with resale somewhat in mind it is far down the list of what I'm considering when buying. My wife has never given me any grief but then again she has not asked how much I've spent.

I've met some great people, mostly enjoyed the internet chatter and relieved a lot of stress by escaping to similar concerns that I had when I was 8!

[chris6net]

I have been involved in the hobby since the late 70,s and it has been nothing but positive for me. The hours of enjoyment are well worth the expense.

[HRBAKER]

Positive - I have made great friends, had a great time and learned a lot. The only minor downside is that my wife will occasionally complain about how excited I get looking forward to The National as opposed to the way I always dreaded taking the kids to Disney.

[Exhibitman]

Dreading taking the family to the Evil Empire is just good common sense.

Collecting has been a source of friction with my wife at times but the positives vastly outweigh the negatives.

[HRBAKER]

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

Dreading taking the family to the Evil Empire is just good common sense.

Collecting has been a source of friction with my wife at times but the positives vastly outweigh the negatives.

+100 on Disney

[cardaholic]

I have slides and press photos, but no negatives.

[packs]

Always been positive for me, but I have experienced a lot of negativity in the hobby. Particularly when it comes to people wanting to be the King of a subject.

[Bocabirdman]

As a married guy, who is lucky enough to have a wife who enjoys the hobby as an outsider lookin' in, there is no negative side.
As a single guy before, meeting her, it didn't do much for my success rate pickin' up women. Given the size of the collection back then, it did even less for repeat visits

[margoaepi]

Originally Posted by Bocabirdman

As a married guy, who is lucky enough to have a wife who enjoys the hobby as an outsider lookin' in, there is no negative side.
As a single guy before, meeting her, it didn't do much for my success rate pickin' up women. Given the size of the collection back then, it did even less for repeat visits

You sure it was the size of the collection that was the problem? ;

[RedlegsFan]

The hobby has been mostly positive for me. I read more, and have something to keep me occupied when I am not at work. Though I must admit, it can get tough when I think about having funds for other activities. On a smaller budget with a family of four, I just have to stay disciplined.

[deadballfreaK]

Positive for sure. I never made vast amounts of money, but we had a decent middle class life for years and I had some extra to spend on cards when they were cheap. We had some savings, but my wife got sick and despite having "100% coverage" we lost all our savings. Things were tough for several years, but I held on to my collection. We came through it and the last few years I have been able to sell and trade and make a fair supplemental income. Retired now, but the cards I held on to stubbornly have appreciated enough to give us a retirement cushion. VERY good investment even though it was always a hobby and I never cared much about the money.

[ls7plus]

It has been a huge positive from the perspective of a guy who has always loved baseball and its history. When I was a kid, I learned the basics of dice and probability just for the purpose of creating my own tabletop game, and any players I wanted to put in it, before discovering Stratomatic in the early to mid-sixties. I played in high school, summer leagues, and most recently in the over 30, fast-pitch hardball league when in my early to mid-forties. My objective, I guess, was to "capture the game" to the fullest extent possible--sort of what Bill Mastro referred to as the "collecting gene." I always felt that the cards connected me to the player, and took me back to that time--the very history of the game I could hold right in my hands: Ruth, Cobb, Gehrig, Williams, Aaron, Mays and Mantle, and the like. An instant of those players' lives (I collect HOF'ers and stars) captured for decades or even centuries, and of course, the rarer the better!

The only downside is when I've been forced by economic circumstances to sell some of my collection--that can be tough, depending on how hard the card is or will be to replace (examples include '59 Bazooka Mantle, cut outside the dotted lines, and graded NRMT; '25 Exhibit Gehrig rookie; 1916 M 101 Sisler rookie). Should such circumstances befall any of you guys, I would recommend Bill Goodwin without hesitation to handle the sale through his auctions--top-flight, honest and reliable in all respects!

Good thread,

Larry

[deadballfreaK]

Originally Posted by ls7plus

It has been a huge positive from the perspective of a guy who has always loved baseball and its history. When I was a kid, I learned the basics of dice and probability just for the purpose of creating my own tabletop game, and any players I wanted to put in it, before discovering Stratomatic in the early to mid-sixties. I played in high school, summer leagues, and most recently in the over 30, fast-pitch hardball league when in my early to mid-forties. My objective, I guess, was to "capture the game" to the fullest extent possible--sort of what Bill Mastro referred to as the "collecting gene." I always felt that the cards connected me to the player, and took me back to that time--the very history of the game I could hold right in my hands: Ruth, Cobb, Gehrig, Williams, Aaron, Mays and Mantle, and the like. An instant of those players' lives (I collect HOF'ers and stars) captured for decades or even centuries, and of course, the rarer the better!

The only downside is when I've been forced by economic circumstances to sell some of my collection--that can be tough, depending on how hard the card is or will be to replace (examples include '59 Bazooka Mantle, cut outside the dotted lines, and graded NRMT; '25 Exhibit Gehrig rookie; 1916 M 101 Sisler rookie). Should such circumstances befall any of you guys, I would recommend Bill Goodwin without hesitation to handle the sale through his auctions--top-flight, honest and reliable in all respects!

Good thread,

Larry

Larry, I played Stratomatic, APBA, and the old Cadaco game with the spinner for hours on end with a few friends. I never saw Larry Doby or Al Rosen play a single game, but I KNEW them. I had their cards and they were the backbone of my team. I remember winning the pennant in one 60 game season. Doby hit 15 HR tying Babe Ruth for the title and Al Rosen chipped in 14. This was about 1968.