How do you decide what to collect?

[ajquigs]

When I got back into the hobby as an adult I gravitated to the cards I wanted as a teenager (around 1980) but couldn't afford. Aaron RC, Koufax RC, 53 Paige, Jackie Robinson, 55 Dodgers, 50s Willie Mays, Goudey 181 Babe, a HOFer T206 (which ended up being Matty Dark Cap), a Ralph Kiner, cards of all the guys who broke the color barrier starting their MLB careers in the 1940s.

I got these and found a few other things to pursue ... Diamond Stars HOFers (not a set on my radar 35 years ago, but they're pretty affordable and I love them), Mets cards (one inexpensive project was to get all the Topps team picture cards ... 1963 to 2011, no 1969 card but they made up for it with the awesome No-Team-Name-Necessary 1970 card), and a number of cards I really like that aren't especially collectible such as 64 Uecker, 52B Garagiola, 58 & 70 Curt Flood, 55B Jocko Conlon, 40PB Connie Mack, etc.

I display them all and I think they look great. If I'm fortunate I'll have them all until I die.

I've bought very little over the past year and that's fine. I see getting a 1915 CJ Branch Rickey the next time a large purchase is justified, and I'll pick up cards I like from some sets not yet represented in my collection ... T205, 50B, etc. I still have to finish putting my 1973 and 1975 sets in pages (which I acquired as nature intended ... standing outside a candy store saying 'got him, need him, got him, got him.')

I'd love to get the full Jackie run (I have all the Topps) and a Walter Johnson. Maybe someday, maybe not. Either way I enjoy the hobby a lot, especially reading this forum.