Make me feel better about myself. Do you guys ever do this?

[vintagebaseballcardguy]

Do you guys stray and wander from what you generally collect and then wake up a couple of months later and ask yourself what the heck you've been doing? I love 1950s and 1960s baseball cards. However, I've ventured off into low grade, beat up prewar baseball and even some postwar football. Don't get me wrong, I like those things, but I'm a budget collector who likes set building. It's helpful for me to stay on a budget and watch what I'm doing. I've built '53 Topps twice, and I was working on it a third time (along with a couple of other 50s sets) before I wandered off. I'd also like to build '62 Topps. That and the 50s projects would take me a long time to complete. So now I'm in the position of feeling like I want to sell off the low grade prewar and the football so that I can pour that money back into the 50s/60s baseball sets.

Make me feel better about myself. Do you guys ever do this?

[jimmer77]

I feel like I may be able to relate, as I will stray from what I usually collect, like right now 86 McDonald's football and kellogg's cards, just find both those interesting.

[raulus]

Happens not infrequently to me. Seems like it often happens when I end up having to pick up a larger group to get a piece that I really want.

Sometimes the new adventure sticks. Some examples for me: 53-54 Briggs Meats, 71 Bazooka numbered, and 73 Topps Comics.

Sometimes I realize that I’m not really into it, and just turn around and sell it all off. Some examples here for me include 58 hires with tab, and 62 jello complete boxes, although sometimes I still pick up the 62 boxes if I feel like I’m getting a screaming deal.

And sometimes I sort of put it on ice while I decide whether I really want to keep going. 67T Punch Outs would be in this group for me.

So it’s not always binary, and I can go back and forth depending on how I’m feeling.

[ASF123]

It’s absolutely nothing to feel bad about! Fundamentally, collecting is nothing more or less than gathering things we find interesting. I think it’s totally normal to be mostly interested in one type of thing, but to sometimes find other things interesting too and gather some of them. And then to refocus and reprioritize from time to time. All part of the process! A hobby shouldn’t be yet another exercise in discipline.

[G1911]

All the time, sir! I always get sidetracked into other things because there are just so many awesome vintage cards out there. Post-war vintage Topps/Bowmna baseball sets are my #2 focus, but I often get dragged into new ones even though I haven't finished the last dozen I'm working on, or picking up new cards because I found a good deal as a type, liking the type, and then ending up with 20 more from that series. It helps that while I love Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle and Hank Aaron, I really just love baseball history and so I enjoy cheap common players, and end up with tons of stuff. I'll shift to football for a month, or some random regional I'm checking eBay every day for for a few weeks.


I never sell or trade off when I come back to a 'primary' focuses though. The only hard rule I've set for my collecting is that all items must be cards (otherwise I'd run out of space) or related to the issuing of those cards, like a cigarette pack of Mecca or documents from an issuer or proofs or plates etc. I just keep those cards I got that were off-track, because while off-track, I got them because I thought they were cool and enjoyable, and that never changes for me personally, focus or not it’s still a cool card. I've got my organized set boxes, and then boxes of type cards and partial sets and random items I saw and liked. In a way, I find the 'extra' stuff is as enjoyable as my focuses, I never have a lack of items to go through, and my collection has turned into a very personal 'these are things I like' instead of a strictly defined focus, and I have decided that is okay. It's always fun to take out a box of my random types and go through them again, to enjoy the wide breadth of items out there that are affordable and cheap enough to be impulse-that's-cool buys. Sometimes a random from years ago becomes a new focus, and I have a starter set as I go off on yet another set build. I have come to enjoy having a mini-standard-catalog within my boxes. From tobacco cards of cowboys to Post cereal football cards to Topps baseball, it's all fun and caught my focus at one time without ever being not cool. And so I'm happy to let my wandering eye lead me to new fun stuff, even if its out of focus.


The best part is there is no good or bad or right or wrong, whatever you are feeling is fine. Consolidating down to focus on a few sets, throwing focus out the window to accept the pick up anything cool that strikes your fancy, and everything in between is a valid thing. If a card isn’t bringing you joy anymore, move it along to someone else to buy one that will instead. It’s all about fun, so whatever brings the most fun is the right path. When you stray from a focus, you shouldn’t feel about it. The worst case scenario is that you got a cool old card that doesn’t quite fit your collection and will need to be traded or sold, but you get to enjoy for a bit first. There’s no losing

[ALBB]

Yup,
Me Too

[vintagebaseballcardguy]

Guys, thanks for your remarks on the subject. I've gotten over the crisis outlook I had a couple of days ago when I started this thread. Your comments helped.

Jimmy, I'm trying to zero in on baseball for now, but I own a McDonald's card or two. I think that set is very cool and could be quite a rabbit hole! I started off just wanting some Chargers but saw quickly that there's a lot more there.

Nicolo, you gave voice to what I've been thinking. It's nice to have an alternate route to shift to in the event I'm feeling like trying something different. The football and the prewar baseball have been nice alternate routes lately. I'll probably continue to mix those in throughout this new year along with familiar postwar baseball.

Andrew, I guess I'm more ADD than I thought. I need to be a little less concerned with discipline and just keep going where my collecting takes me. I've always known that, it's just easy to forget.

Greg, I love your line about having having a mini-standard-catalog within your boxes. That's a good way to look at it.

I'm not one to sell much although I have at times, especially when I've bitten off more than I can chew, but I don't like parting with anything. I figure I'll eventually circle back to it, whatever it is.

I like experimenting with how I organize my cards as well. It helps keep things fresh. For example, I'm liking the products from Preza Cards. They make a really cool binder for graded cards. They really aren't binders in the classic sense, but I don't know what else to call them. They each hold 32 graded cards, and the pages are built in and are pretty clear. It zips up really nice, and the construction seems solid. PSA cards fit easier, but SGC works, too. Preza also makes a top loader binder. I have one that was just delivered, but I haven't gone to work on it yet. The only downside there for me is that I've used Card Saver 2s. I'm either going to have to trim off that 1/2" lip or switch over to top loaders.

Anyway, we have a great hobby. Let's all enjoy it in 2025!

[steve B]

Pretty much the way I collect all the things I collect. Since at least the late 1960's.

I've gone to shows for other hobbies and bought things unrelated to that hobby, especially if it's not a hobby I'm in but just checking out. Cards from a stamp show, stamps from a card show. Cards from a restaurant china show along with a Cubs coffee cup that probably wasn't a retail item.

It's just how I'm wired.

[wdwfan]

I stray. Quite a bit actually. I will go into a LCS and see some graded cards, none of which fit into my PCs. And I'll grab it. Then a few days later, I'll wonder why I did. And I'll list it for trade/for sale. As long as I get my money back, I'm not really worried about that process.

I have built 2 1958s, a 1957 and a 1962. I sold all of them. Just part of the fun to me. I love buying up lots, picking out what I want, selling the rest, putting sets together then selling them off and starting over.

[Chris Counts]

I've been collecting since 1970, and I've heard many collectors mourn their inability to stay focused on certain goals or categories. I've always taken the opposite approach, with the idea that the most fun and interesting collection possible strays down every possible rabbit hole. My collection includes type cards from countless sets spanning more than a century, along with jerseys, caps, bats, gloves, helmets, pinbacks, autographs, publications, pennants, figurines, photos, games, glasses, popcorn megaphones, scrapbooks, postcards and clippings — all related to baseball. Fifty-five years later, my collection is as unfocused as ever, but I don't fret over it. I'm ready to expand it further into other sports. I just started in on hockey type cards.

[Republicaninmass]

I love 1952 topps, and went off course buying 2001 Topps heritage which of course mimics the 1952 set. Funny EVERY CARD/WAX is up 10x since 2020...the 2001 heritage didnt even budge a dollar. I even picked up an open case (with bbcx letter) LESS than the person paid for it in 2005!

[DHogan]

I like picking up something completely different other than working on the 20 + baseball and football sets I've been trying to complete for the past 35 years. I've picked up a few misprint prewar cards over the past few months.