Question for Newcomers / Recent Hobby Come-Backers

[Natswin2019]

Originally Posted by Rhotchkiss

I notice many new names and members of late (welcome). Some are new to the hobby and some are just now coming back after years away. I have collected off and on my whole life -- I am now on my third collection, having jumped back in in 2015. I got back in for investment reasons. Having seen cards steadily increase in value since I was 6, I figured cards were a good place to put some money; but, of course, then the collector in me took over and I was off to the races.

Anyway, I am interested to know why you have returned to the hobby and/or have decided to start collecting. Newcomers and Come-backers, please share your stories.

This is a really good question Ryan, I'm glad you asked! I started collecting at around age 8 or so when my uncle gave me and my brother a big box of 80's,90's and early 2000's cards. Then my parents got me the monthly box where cards would show up in the mail for christmas every year until I reached high school. I got into vintage when I was in elementary school after a friend and his dad invited me to the Chantilly Show. Following this first introduction to vintage my dad and I would go to every show for years. We even went to the national show in Baltimore in 2010. I stopped collecting in about 2012/2013 when I was a freshman or sophomore in hs because I lost touch with the friend who introduced me to collecting plus I started getting serious about the sport I was involved in. Basically life moved in a different direction.

I came back to the hobby this spring when I had to move back home with parents after I lost my job due to Covid. One day I was bored and decided to flip through all the binders and boxes of cards that had been siting in my childhood room and caught the bug again. I picked up some boxes of modern stuff and found both the blowout forum and this forum. The thing that made me come back to vintage was the fact that now that I have graduated college and have a job, I can afford vintage cards I never thought I'd own. Back when I was first collecting vintage I only ever bought the 1-5$ beaters at shows. The most expensive card I ever bought was a 35$ 1968 Topps game Mantle and that seemed like an insane price at the time.

When I first started collecting there was no focus but just collect as much as I could get my hands on. Now a days I still don't really have a focus but I am putting together a 1950-1960 topps and bowman run as that was the era of cards me and my dad focused on when we went to shows. I still will pick up a box of modern every once and a while but it's mostly vintage for me.