Anyone Else Feeling Marooned on Vintage Collector Island??

[tlhss]

I've always been a low budget, well-loved card collector. The prices of these items have also gone up. I chose not to stop collecting, live in angst on something I can't control, or to increase my budget; I just decided to buy no more than one card a month. Once the card is purchased, I don't shop for anything else. I still have fun ... the collection just builds slowly. And I continue to research and document what I have on my website, which costs nothing but time.

And I go fishing more

[Yoda]

I am pretty well convinced that the run up on tasty pre-War cards is, at least partially, due to the trillion or so passed out by the government for Covid relief, whether fraudulently or legitimately obtained.
And while I agree that Ebay is not the hunting ground it used to be, deals of interest still pop up. For example, last night a nice group of T206 commons, all mid grade 5's were on offer. The average closing price was about $300 with no bp but taxes. I picked up a couple and was very pleased.

[perezfan]

A good rule of thumb.... Try to focus on what you DO have vs. what you don't. You will be a much happier person.

There will always be someone with more money and better "stuff". There are lots of people on this planet.

And if you just can't get past the envy, perhaps switch over to memorabilia... Whether it's vintage photos, tickets, ad signs, scorecards/programs, pennants, autographs, or game used uniforms/bats/hats, you can still find an endless number of pieces that display beautifully while celebrating the game just as nicely as cards (but at a fraction of the cost).

[Hankphenom]

Originally Posted by perezfan

And if you just can't get past the envy, perhaps switch over to memorabilia... Whether it's vintage photos, tickets, ad signs, scorecards/programs, pennants, autographs, or game used uniforms/bats/hats, you can still find an endless number of pieces that display beautifully while celebrating the game just as nicely as cards (but at a fraction of the cost).

I totally get the appeal of cards, but this.

[Exhibitman]

Originally Posted by Hankphenom

Originally Posted by perezfan
And if you just can't get past the envy, perhaps switch over to memorabilia... Whether it's vintage photos, tickets, ad signs, scorecards/programs, pennants, autographs, or game used uniforms/bats/hats, you can still find an endless number of pieces that display beautifully while celebrating the game just as nicely as cards (but at a fraction of the cost).

I totally get the appeal of cards, but this.

Absolutely. I veered into that area in the early 'aughts and while it too has gone up there are still myriad backwaters and eddies where you can define a niche for your collecting wants. I like Cubs on Catalina Island baseball stuff, like this snapshot of some players doing their best Seven Dwarves impression, Gabby leading the way through Avalon:



Or Gabby at the spring training facility on Catalina:

[Vintagedeputy]

Originally Posted by perezfan

A good rule of thumb.... Try to focus on what you DO have vs. what you don't. You will be a much happier person.

There will always be someone with more money and better "stuff". There are lots of people on this planet.

And if you just can't get past the envy, perhaps switch over to memorabilia... Whether it's vintage photos, tickets, ad signs, scorecards/programs, pennants, autographs, or game used uniforms/bats/hats, you can still find an endless number of pieces that display beautifully while celebrating the game just as nicely as cards (but at a fraction of the cost).

Exactly what I said. There's tons of great stuff out there.