Lulls in collecting?

[Doug]

I have lulls fairly often. I usually either pick up too much too fast and run out of money or I don't pick up anything for so long that I just get bored and occupy myself with something else. Usually during my long lulls of no cards, I think about quitting, but I seem to manage to find something eventually that gets me back to it.

[ChiefBenderForever]

Whenever I start working on something new I buy a bunch of stuff and then get more selective so it slows down. Sometimes I just box everything up and put it away and don't buy a card for months. I have been selling so I can buy but for every 250.00 I sell I spend 700.00 but it helps the cause. I don't think I could ever just sell it all and quit, but taking a break is always refreshing, there is always cards for sale when you come back.

[mayx2]

I always think during a lull that i might be losing interest but then a card I like comes along and I'm invigorated again! Lou

[ullmandds]

I think Barry's point is spot on...atleast for me. I always spend more on cards than I ever intended to in the first place. Then I'll look at my checking account and I wonder why I can never get ahead...or save as much as I want...because I surround myself with stuff!

I'm trying to get away from my "spending" mentality...because stuff isn't really that important to me in the grand scheme of things. Don't get me wrong...I love my cards...but I just put them in a shoebox! I'm changing my spending/saving to reflect what is important...people...and life experience!

just my 2 cents...

[donmuth]

My last lull in collecting occured after I graduated from college and moved to a new city and started my job. That lull lasted several years (until around Jan 2008).

Prior to that I had a severe lull when all the insert craze started in the 90s and I went off to college and didn't have much money for cards anyways.

I am now finding myself in another lull from a buying perspective at least. That is driven mainly by a lack of expendable income and that some of the cards I want are pricey (at least to me). So I have to save up for them. Other than limiting my buying though, I find that I am researching cards and checking out the B/S/T boards and ebay more than ever! I have promised myself not to get into another lull with my collecting. Only time will tell if I can keep that promise or not.

[oldjudge]

It's almost like that feeling you get after a big satisfying meal. The hobby has just digested some great material from REA and some other auction houses and now it is a little sleepy. It has seemed to me that the board is a little sleepy lately too which, I guess, is a reflection of this.

[barrysloate]

Maybe a good political thread will wake everybody up.

[sesop]

here is my standard lull:

i get excited about a series which is under-represented in my yankee type set- ie- i pick up a batter-up lazzeri. i find myself feeling like every other set sucks, so i stop buying yankees from the other sets i collect because all i want is yankee batter-ups, and dammit, they're nowhere to be found. so i do the only logical thing: buy non-yankee batter-ups like a madman. then it occurs to me that since i have several brooklyn batter-ups, i should add brooklyn to my collecting focus and pick up a few e90 brooklyn players. i go to vcp and make a wantlist containing every brooklyn card ever made and the emails vcp sends with yankee cards get lost in the midst of all the brooklyn-related emails. this trend goes on until (usually by accident), i stumble on a card i really want, which costs less than all the crap i have recently purchased, but more than i can spend since i just blew so much on stuff i really don't want. so i list the regrettable purchases on ebay, take a beating, get mad that i missed out on the scarce, highly coveted card, and buy something more expensive than the aforementioned "highly coveted card," which i didn't want or need nearly as much as "the one that got away."

then i take a few days off to re-evaluate things. during this period i have been known to (a) buy a rack pack of 1982 topps with a reggie jackson showing, (b) view smut online more than net54, (c) both.

idle time is the devil's something or other. so true. the moment my focus strays, i do something i regret.

[barrysloate]

Viewing smut online is a great hobby...and cheap.

[deadballera]

When in a lull....


Just watch one or all of the following:

Ken Burns Baseball
Eight Men Out
Pride of the Yankees
When it Was A Game

Those should almost every time put you in a mood to buy something. An instant card wanting energy drink !

[Wesley]

Things have not been the same since Jim Crandell decided not to transition to the new forum.

And where has Dorskin been?

[tbob]

Originally Posted by Wesley

Things have not been the same since Jim Crandell decided not to transition to the new forum.

And where has Dorskin been?

sssshhhh! It's been much more pleasant.

[barrysloate]

From what I understand neither Jim nor Bruce registered for the site. Maybe we can entice them back with a free gift, like a set of luggage.

[yazfan08]

I didn't read all the replies, so apologies if this has already been stated. I notice such lulls in the summer and in periods where I devote a disproportionate amount of energy on collecting compared to other activities. Basically, when I'm out of balance as to how I spend my time.