What's your baseball pet peeve?

[jchcollins]

Originally Posted by ALR-bishop

Is anyone out there mellow about the hobby ?

I'm more mellow collecting mid-grade cards. If I only go for the higher-end stuff for too long, I find myself more concerned with centering, corners, and condition minutiae to the point where the hobby at some point becomes more about my paranoia and perceptions than it is about the fun of owning the cards. Towards the end of my pseudo-dealer days, this had become my mentality. Glad I put an end to that. Oh, and did anyone mention that PSA 5's are a lot more affordable than 8's?!?



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[SAllen2556]

Originally Posted by jchcollins

I'm more mellow collecting mid-grade cards. If I only go for the higher-end stuff for too long, I find myself more concerned with centering, corners, and condition minutiae to the point where the hobby at some point becomes more about my paranoia and perceptions than it is about the fun of owning the cards. Towards the end of my pseudo-dealer days, this had become my mentality. Glad I put an end to that. Oh, and did anyone mention that PSA 5's are a lot more affordable than 8's?!?

I couldn't agree more! I found that trying to complete my '69 and '72 sets in high grade ended up not being very fun at all, so I'm all done with high grade stuff. Buying low grade cards is actually really fun because you can afford more, and you don't worry so much about getting scammed. As has been stated many times, it's just a picture on a piece of cardboard. It's the history of the cardboard I find interesting, not how sharp the corners are.

[jchcollins]

Originally Posted by SAllen2556

It's the history of the cardboard I find interesting, not how sharp the corners are.

Very well put. Think about other collectibles and antiques, is anything held to quite such a standard as cards? Those guys on American Pickers are always buying "junk" that are really gems from people's barns and attics that are rarely in mint condition. I think our view of condition with cards that came out of the 1980's and into the era of professional grading was largely due to the influence of the coin hobby. If there are any collectibles that are more highly scrutinized than cards, coins win, I think. Bottom line, the fact that some cards are in fabulous condition and are incredibly attractive does not mean that those which aren't quite up to that standard aren't still very collectible and desirable and most of all...fun.

[jchcollins]

I thought of one more: When less than knowledgeable people refer to everything valuable as a "rookie card." A "T-206 Honus Wagner rookie card." (Or Ty Cobb). Just because something is valuable does not mean it has to be a rookie card. For pre-war that's always been a real stretch for me anyway...just seems wrong to call a tobacco card that when the term would not even come into vogue until like 70 years after they were made...

[the 'stache]

This pertains to modern cards, more than anything, but when I see this:

"Serial #18/100, the uniform number he wore in college. 1 of 1!!!!!!!"

Hey, you knucklehead, if you think that some randomly stamped gold number adds value to the card, be my guest. That's stupid, but go for it.

But every card with a serial number is a 1 of 1.
#1/100 is a 1 of 1
#2/100 is a 1 of 1
#99/100 is a 1 of 1

Get it?

A 1 of 1 is a card that is unique. But, then again, most people don't understand the concept of something being unique. That's another pet peeve, a grammatical one. When I see somebody say "it's the most unique...", my colon clenches, and my head wants to explode. Something is either unique, or it is not. There are no degrees of uniqueness.