Evolution of collecting habits (aka "slow Thursday")

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Posted By: Hankron

What I enjoy more than anything, is the handling and learning about new and interesting areas and things. For example, I recently bought a large archives of documents and signatures, ranging from Chilean generals to Dick Van Dyke, orchestra leaders to Nobel Prize winners. When I offer an autograph or document for sale I have to provide, for the potential buyer's benifit, a brief bio of the person (Did you know that Harry James was married to Betty Grable? Did you know that, at age 19, Trudy Ederle broke the men's record for swimming the English Channel by almost 2 hours? Did you know that Adolf Hitler didn't allow Adolf Butendant to accept the Nobel Price in 1939?). If I put up for sale three obscure autographs in a day, when I go to bed that night I have learned about three interesting people or new things abou someone I thought I already knew. I don't know about anyone else, but to me that's great. I actively and purposely expand what I deal with, in part so I can learn about more cool stuff (and make money selling it).

As a kid I collected baseball and football (mostly baseball) cards straight from the pack. Though I don't deal with them much anymore, I appreceate all forms of the cards, from 19th century to 1970s Topps. I recently handled a pair of 2000 Fleer Greats of the Game autographed cards (Gaylord Perry and Rocky Coloavito). I thought they were pretty cool, with a nice design for the signature, a COA printed directly on the back and definitely worth buying for someing looking for a HOFer autograph.