Same old question, but it is killing me!

[Archive]

Posted By: James Harkins

Brian,
this is my first post ever, but I have been collecting cards during my second childhood for 32 years. I've been lurking for months wanting to express my opinion. The issues you raise will always be there. The bills have to be paid, the children have to be raised, educated and married off and the card prices continue to rise. My advice is to take a long term prospective. You can't buy everything at once. Concentrate on one or two sets. Save money for an occasional purchase. Over time you will complete these sets and move on to others. It took me 11 years to complete my T202 set. 14 years to complete my p2 pin set and 12 years to complete a set of B18 blankets.
Another word of advice is to find another source of income. Many card collectors became part time dealers(and some full time) to fund their hobby needs. Back in the 1980's, I was able to maintain a very positive cash flow supplying people sets of new cards and still managed to keep my wife from devorcing me. I don't know how to do it today, but having cash is an assential part of building a collection of vintage sports cards.