Why are you holding onto or collecting ?

[Exhibitman]

Well said, John. Except for a brief break from 1981-1988 I've always collected. It is my go-to relaxation activity.

Skyrocketing prices drove me out of mainstream baseball about 20 years ago, so i went whole-hog into boxing cards. I went back to baseball cards sporadically, and I am glad I did given the prices now.

Several years ago I had to go full 'kill-eat' on cards because my daughter wanted to go to medical school and I needed every dime of discretionary income and more to fund it. She did some clinical work as a volunteer in college and decided she's not suited to it, so I am paying for two years of grad school instead of four, and no internship or residency to subsidize either. But I digress. When I lost all discretionary income I had to ask some hard questions about my collecting and one of the things I realized is that my passion for it is not in accumulating slabs with large numbers (and prices), nor is it in set building (I don't want the Joe Shlabotniks), it is having cards of stars in albums like I did when I was a kid. That's where I've focused. I buy lots of cheaper cards to fill out my collection just as I would have when I was ten. VG or NM? Who cares...Just get me the cards.

The COVID run-up has mostly been a selling event for me, getting me out of the slabs I accumulated earlier in favor of lesser grade raw cards I can just enjoy. The money I just hold for the inevitable price crash so i can start buying collections again and turning them out for a profit. My goal is to beat the ROI our financial planner achieves with traditional investments over the next ten years. So there is a money component to it too; has to be in this day and age. But for my personal collection, gimme this in an album over the same thing in a high # PSA slab at 20x the price any day of the week:

Nostalgia and the love of the game. Started collecting as a kid in 1972 and have collected on and off since then. Like some have mentioned also my childhood collection was pretty amazing. I was interested in and bought/was given a lot of vintage cards growing up so I had an opportunity to put together a pretty good collection at a young age. Attached are a few of my childhood cards I acquired. I'll never sell because I just love baseball and collecting baseball cards. I have other hobbies as well and they all stem from my youth.

[Vegas Cards]

Originally Posted by Wimberleycardcollector

Nostalgia and the love of the game. Started collecting as a kid in 1972 and have collected on and off since then. Like some have mentioned also my childhood collection was pretty amazing. I was interested in and bought/was given a lot of vintage cards growing up so I had an opportunity to put together a pretty good collection at a young age. Attached are a few of my childhood cards I acquired. I'll never sell because I just love baseball and collecting baseball cards. I have other hobbies as well and they all stem from my youth.

You've got some fantastic cards. How wonderful that you've been able to hold on to them all these years.

[scmavl]

David, I'll second what VegasCards said. Just a great collection. I'd look at those and enjoy them every day.

Thanks guys. I guess I'm a pack rat of sorts. I still have most of my childhood toys, cards, etc. I had a great childhood and these things remind me of that on a daily basis. Reminds me of how blessed and lucky I have been in my life. Keeps the negative thoughts away and keeps me out of trouble having so many hobbies.

[jiw98]

My son and I collect separately/together. I collect more of the vintage stuff and he collects more modern. We go the shows together and sometimes set up at shows together. We are trying to get my grandson involved, which would be great. He is starting to show some interest.
That being said, my son and I already have had conversations about what I have in my collection that he really would like to have someday. I've talked about downsizing, but I won't get rid of the cards/ sets that I really like or the ones he likes. So someday I just might bring a load of stuff to his house and get rid of the rest. Stuff that we have duplicates of, I am already looking to sell.
I don't think I'll ever totally quit the hobby because it's just too much fun, but I do see myself doing less.

[cardsagain74]

When I first starting collecting again in fall 2019, it was just going to be for the fun of it and there was no sign of a value boom. Then the pandemic happened....and between that and having gotten a lot more stuff than I'd planned to through late spring of last year, the value of the collection became a much more prominent asset than I ever expected.

But despite that, I still have no interest in selling any of the heart of my collection. Even though there aren't a lot of leftovers or doubles that I want to part with.

While I naturally hope that the cards' worth does as well as possible, the most important thing is still how much I enjoy the hobby again, and always will. So (at 46) I see myself growing old with them, regardless of what happens!

[ASF123]

Originally Posted by Wimberleycardcollector

Thanks guys. I guess I'm a pack rat of sorts. I still have most of my childhood toys, cards, etc. I had a great childhood and these things remind me of that on a daily basis. Reminds me of how blessed and lucky I have been in my life. Keeps the negative thoughts away and keeps me out of trouble having so many hobbies.

See, now that right there is a good reason to collect.

[Exhibitman]

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

Well said, John. Except for a brief break from 1981-1988 I've always collected. It is my go-to relaxation activity.

Skyrocketing prices drove me out of mainstream baseball about 20 years ago, so i went whole-hog into boxing cards. I went back to baseball cards sporadically, and I am glad I did given the prices now.

Several years ago I had to go full 'kill-eat' on cards because my daughter wanted to go to medical school and I needed every dime of discretionary income and more to fund it. She did some clinical work as a volunteer in college and decided she's not suited to it, so I am paying for two years of grad school instead of four, and no internship or residency to subsidize either. But I digress. When I lost all discretionary income I had to ask some hard questions about my collecting and one of the things I realized is that my passion for it is not in accumulating slabs with large numbers (and prices), nor is it in set building (I don't want the Joe Shlabotniks), it is having cards of stars in albums like I did when I was a kid. That's where I've focused. I buy lots of cheaper cards to fill out my collection just as I would have when I was ten. VG or NM? Who cares...Just get me the cards.

The COVID run-up has mostly been a selling event for me, getting me out of the slabs I accumulated earlier in favor of lesser grade raw cards I can just enjoy. The money I just hold for the inevitable price crash so i can start buying collections again and turning them out for a profit. My goal is to beat the ROI our financial planner achieves with traditional investments over the next ten years. So there is a money component to it too; has to be in this day and age. But for my personal collection, gimme this in an album over the same thing in a high # PSA slab at 20x the price any day of the week:

Expanding on this concept, my notable purchases during the pandemic have been very specific. Rare American boxing type cards, global boxing type cards I needed for my type set, or previously uncatalogued cards of a few athletes I collect.

[kailes2872]

I got back in after a visit to the Hall of Fame in 2012 with Ken Kendrick's collection on display. They also had a room that had highlights of all of the different years.

For me, it was pretty personal. When I was 8, a nice lady who was my teacher's aide in second grade gave me a shoebox full of 71-75 HOFers. I went to card show in the fall of '80 and sold all of them for the healthy sum of $13. I wanted a 1980 Tops set. It was $14. I had to borrow a dollar from mom just to buy it.

When I got back from the HOF, I was showing the boys all of the cards that I used to have. My wife got tired of listening to me and she said "If you want them, just buy them." That is probably a phrase that she wishes that she had back. From that point, I started set collecting and kept going until I had everything post war except for 49 Bowman, 51 Bowman and 52 Topps. I love my collection, but I regret not starting older and working newer (instead of visa versa). It was almost as if I had to get used to buying a set for $200 before I paid $2000 for one. And I had to pay $2000 for a set before I could pay $2000 for a card.

I did miss out on some big opportunities. I had a chance to buy a 53 Topps with a PSA 5 Mantle for $3000 but I wasn't that far back yet so I passed. I had a chance to buy the Lionel Carter 33 Delong set, but I was still collecting post war. There are quite a few examples. I love my post war sets, but I would have really liked some 33 Goudey Ruth's at 2012 prices.

Now, with the prices so high, it has moved from a collection to an asset class. I could cash out an investment and buy a 52 Mantle, but it is just moving asset classes. With the Mantle, I have risk of fire or theft at home or I keep it in a safe deposit box and have to make an appointment to go see it. If that is the case, I'll just keep it in the investment with the knowledge that I can buy it if I want to (however, I will have to pay buyer's premiums, sales tax, shipping, insurance, and other transaction costs).

I have no real desire to sell. It is fun to show them to people when they come over. It is a nice conversation starter, and my oldest has a keen interest in pre-war (with Jimmie Foxx being his favorite).

In the end though, the reason that I went head first back into it was because of the memories of a little kid. I was the kid who would hang out at the show tables at the mall in the early 80's. While mom shopped for clothes, I would pester the dealers for hours on end and look at their cards. They would tell me to stop breathing on the glass and to watch my fingerprints. No, I couldn't see that card as they knew I had no money and no intention of buying. I was the kid that got taken for a ride at the card show in 1980 when I should have just held onto those cards - I mean, I collected baseball cards. Why would I sell the best stuff that I had?

Now, with a little bit of money in my pocket and comfortable in life, I can buy all of those cards that I was never allowed to touch. I can give a double middle finger to those dealers who shoo'd me away. It is an expensive hobby and now it is too expensive to continue collecting (other than occasional one off), but it is pretty awesome to have them and it purged some pretty bad childhood memories.

[Tere1071]

I've begun to collect the Topps Baseball sets from 1970 and 1972. I purchased a lot of 72s off of eBay and I'm contemplating purchasing another from a member on this site. I may purchase a lot of 1970s off of eBay, but if there's anyone reading this who can put together a 600 card lot with some high numbers and stars included I'd appreciate it. So far, I've purchased and traded for some stars from another member here and from eBay. These will probably take longer than the 71 due to the price of the high numbers.