Collecting goals - fork in the road

[Kawika]

Originally Posted by yawie99

. . in the grand scheme of things, they're just old pieces of cardboard.

Moderator. Ban this heretic!

[steve B]

Maybe just take a brief break, maybe a week or two, and use the time to figure out what you want the collecion to be and what you can actually afford it to be. Maybe that leads you to pick certain cards to go for, and to set aside the money for them, or maybe you decide to sell some. Or maybe you figure that maybe some cards that aren't so fantastic have something going for them too.

I've been an opportunistic sort of collector for a long time, and as a result the collection has some nice stuff, and some pointless stuff. When I started collecting racing bikes (Ok now! they're "game used" sports items, so it's ok)
I concentrated on one particular area. And since they're not often cheap, my wife and I usually discuss new additions to the collection. How cool is it really? How does it fit in with the others? How much do I think it will sell for and would I be happy paying that? I've been convinced to pass on some interesting ones, that were just a bit more than I'd pay based on my interest, and been surprised at getting the green light to bid big on a few others.
We only do this for big stuff, the little stuff is just fine to buy, but the same thought process has become a habit.

Steve B

[BCauley]

I kind of hit a similar scenario a few months back. I have a LOT of cards, mostly modern, that I just don't care for anymore. The cards I have that I care about are my vintage, both pre/post war. So, in order to fund the vintage, I've been selling off my modern stuff. Though I will keep modern RC's and a couple that I just like, everything else is going.

I look at it as one huge trade. I sell off all the stuff, the $$ accumulates in the Paypal, and then I purchase the vintage I want.

I'm not a big $$ spender but will splurge once in awhile with "splurge" being a relative term. The three cards I wanted to obtain during 2010 were 1) '53 Bowman Color Reese, 2) T206 Walter Johnson Portrait, and 3) 1938 Goudey Heads Up Bob Feller. I've got the Reese and am looking to target the Johnson next. The Feller I still want but my interest is waning slightly on that one.

Aside from those three, I am now picking a player for post war and collect his "run" of cards. I always liked Tony Conigliaro so I did his Topps run. I'm just about done with my Bob Gibson Topps run and have started a Reese Bowman run. It's cards/players I like and the groups are small enough that they hold my interest. I would love to work on sets but I just don't have the patience to do it.

I don't really know where I was going with this other than just go after cards that will mean something to you and you'll enjoy. It's what makes the hobby world keep spinning.