Why do you collect?

[Eric72]

1. I have been collecting since I was 5. Although I have sold off everything several times, I've never stopped collecting.
2. I thoroughly enjoy the history of baseball. Cards connect me more directly with that history.
3. The different card designs offer a glimpse into America during the time when they were produced.
4. Quite simply...for the love of the game.

[Arazi4442]

Like a couple of people have said, my two main reasons are nostalgia and diversion. Every time I scroll a new auction, there's that chance they'll have one of the cards I've been waiting on!

Also, like most everyone, I got back into collecting later in life after collecting for years as a kid. My first goal was to not repeat the mistakes of my youth, which is to say, don't collect for 5-10 years and end up with 100 cool cards and 3 closets full of crap.

So, I made a list of 100 specific cards I wanted to collect. I tried to mix in expensive, cheap, easy-to-find, rare and that list quickly grew to 500 cards of all sports and even some non-sport. But has stayed at the 500 mark for a couple of years now, so I hope it doesn't grow too much. (Yes, everyone once in a while something will catch my eye that's not on my list and I'll buy that. What are you gonna do?)

[JollyElm]

My venture into the collecting world started with the first long, fun walk through the woods and neighborhoods (in the days when moms actually allowed their children to go off on their own) to finally reach the stationery store and buy a pack of cards with my older brothers, and has always stayed interwoven in my life, come what may.

I see the pursuit as a cardboard time machine, whether that involves marveling at cards that came out before we were born (and sending you off to read about those times and players) or remembering your childhood baseball card escapades with your friends or thinking about your dad launching balls high into the air so you can perfect your Willie Mays 'basket catch' skills. So, yeah, nostalgia.