Anyone ever just want to walk away from collecting?

Hawaiian BamBam · Jul 23, 2013

I wonder, when it comes to your own collection, has anyone else here ever wondered "what am I doing with all of this stuff?" or just wanted to sell everything and be done with collecting? I llok at my collection sometiems and the boxes and boxes of cards i have and wonder, if something happened to me, what is going to happen to my collection, ive thought 'maybe i should sell it now and use the money to enjoy things now, like a vacation or new car! then i sometimes think, we come in this world with nothing and we leave with nothing, so why have all these cards! I have been colelcting almost 40 years, so have accumalated tons and tons and tons of cards just sitting in boxes and albums.what got me thinking was, i have had autographs in a box for 5-6 years that i never even looked at. i bought them, and put them in top loaders and boxes and never look at them much! I think, what good are cards or a collection if they just sit in a box for years and you never look at them! I have actually thought a few times about just selling my collection and "retiring" from collecting and doing something else with the money. anyone else feel this way? thanks

Beachbum · Jul 23, 2013

Not yet.

I am a born again hobbyist ( I personally don't like the word collector because it reminds me of hoarding). I am only back in for my 5th year and still enjoying trying to finish old business that I left off in the early 90's. Since I was gone for almost 20 years doing college, chasing girls, marriage, etc. all the stuff most guys call old, boring, overproduced, etc. is new to me and I actually enjoy getting it in trades or busting new (old) wax. Maybe if I keep at this for another 20 years I'll feel the way you do.

P.S. My entire collection fits on one book shelf so I don't have the volumes a lot of others have...makes it easier to move but it doesn't seem that way when you're doing it.

TJCloutier · Jul 23, 2013

I feel like this all the time. Often times I don't have much money in my account but if I pieced out my collection and took the time to sell everything I'd have close to $30,000 cash instead of all this cardboard and wouldn't have to worry so much. In the end it's a hobby and something to do. It just happens to be one that you can sell. It offsets my gambling hobby which I cannot get anything back for. Who cares what happens to it once you're gone, you wont be here! That's the way I look at it. Do whats best for you.

cdahlk2001 · Jul 23, 2013

I know I have stopped buying. Trade very few. Just like reading the IP success and what others are getting. I'm selling most and keeping very few of my prize collection. Lol mostly cards I had when I was a kid. Sad the most expensive card is a Danny elfman nightmare before Christmas auto card. And Tim burton. Way too many cards now. Mostly getting toys I had when I was a kid. Something more meaningful too me. Think displaying those are better like my gi joe dread knocks won't fade away like alot of autographs.

Hobby is dead to me and hope my son doesn't start up...lol I got boxes of cards he can have!

valediction · Jul 24, 2013

Hawaiian BamBam said:
I wonder, when it comes to your own collection, has anyone else here ever wondered "what am I doing with all of this stuff?" or just wanted to sell everything and be done with collecting? I llok at my collection sometiems and the boxes and boxes of cards i have and wonder, if something happened to me, what is going to happen to my collection, ive thought 'maybe i should sell it now and use the money to enjoy things now, like a vacation or new car! then i sometimes think, we come in this world with nothing and we leave with nothing, so why have all these cards! I have been colelcting almost 40 years, so have accumalated tons and tons and tons of cards just sitting in boxes and albums.what got me thinking was, i have had autographs in a box for 5-6 years that i never even looked at. i bought them, and put them in top loaders and boxes and never look at them much! I think, what good are cards or a collection if they just sit in a box for years and you never look at them! I have actually thought a few times about just selling my collection and "retiring" from collecting and doing something else with the money. anyone else feel this way? thanks

All the time. I've been collecting since 1981 myself. I have a one bedroom apartment with a walk in closet full of boxes and binders, I have them under my bed, on my computer desk, stacks on the floor,boxes in my bedroom closet, boxes under my living room table, stack ON my living room table, a bookshelf full of Becketts and Baseball Card Magazine issues. Boxes I haven't looked at since I moved in around 1996 probably, some maybe even longer. I've got a couple copy paper boxes of Starting lineups, a handful of comics left, some misc action figures... Without a definite theme to attack, it's more of an accumulation than an actual collection. Many times the idea has popped in to just dump it all, take the financial loss for all but the best items and just reclaim some space and simplify life. Aside from a few shoeboxes of vintage, the certified autographs, and the obligatory boxes of late 70's/80's rookies, the bulk of it could be pitched without great loss.

Dilferules · Jul 24, 2013

While I often walk away from dealing with other collectors for a while when I get a couple of annoying experiences happening in close proximity, I love collecting cards too much to have ever had the urge to walk away. I’m 34 and have been collecting for 25 years, so it’s really a major part of my life. I’m in it forever.

In my first 9 years of collecting I didn’t have a real hardcore focus, but in the last 16 years I have been heavily focused on Trent Dilfer then A’s collecting. I could see getting frustrated and just leaving more easily if my collection was unfocused and just a bunch of stuff. But since the collection is focused and something that I worked hard for (not just in money, but time spent tracking down and researching cards), it really means something to me.

Richard

Hawaiian BamBam · Jul 25, 2013

Thanks guys for your responses, i really appreciate it. I often think, that if I could just get $1.00 for every card i own, i would be a millionaire! LOL. I am seriously thinking about just selling my entire collection and doing something else with the money. i really go back and forth. i love this hobby, but the last few weeks ive really been thinking"what good is a collection if it just sits in a box for years and years collecting dust?

valediction · Jul 25, 2013

I hear you there. My stepmom just yesterday gave me a box of cards she picked up at a garage sale or flea market. A crock pot box full of loose cards from 1981-1991, about 100-150 cards from 1981-1985 mostly water damaged, the only things I kept when I sorted through it last night were a couple of low end rookies (1989 Donruss Griffey, 1990 Topps/Donruss Walker, Sosa, and Bernie Williams, etc), two oddball sets (One 30th anniversary of Super Bowl 1 Green Bay Packers set, one Milwaukee Brewers team set with some radio station affiliation), an autographed postcard of Dick Williams from his Seattle Mariner days, and a 1990-91 Fleer basketball card autographed by Sam Perkins. The rest was a lot of water damaged 1987-1990 Topps, Fleer, Donruss commons and stars that found their way into the dumpster this morning.

I agree with Dilferules, if you have a theme, it's a lot easier to stay focused and maybe step back from time to time, but still stay involved to a degree. From what I remember, you seem to have some of the same issue with focus as I do. I remeber you wanting autographed 8x10's, then ttm cards, the certified HOF'ers, then Dodgers autos, etc. at different times. I'm even worse, Topps Heritage, TTM, die cut cards, low serial #'ed cards, HOF autos, etc etc. That makes it even easier to just walk away since there is no clearly defined goal to work for, or if there is, it changes in two months. I look at my stuff and ponder how to even sell most of it. Yeah, the vintage HOF'ers would sell, the 70's-present HOF caliber rookies would sell, the bigger certified autos would sell, maybe the heritage SP's would sell, but the box after box of 1986-2005 commons, 1:3 pack inserts, etc are tough sells even if organized, and if they aren't, asking people to pay much of anything for a mystery box isn't going to get too many hits for fear of ending up with a box like my stepmom gave me.

Hawaiian BamBam · Jul 25, 2013

so true, maybe thats my problem, i cant focus and finish a PC! I always pick a PC, then go balls to the wall and by everything in sight on ebay and then about 60-70% completed, i burn out and look for another thing to collect!

Beachbum · Jul 26, 2013

valediction said:
I hear you there. My stepmom just yesterday gave me a box of cards she picked up at a garage sale or flea market. A crock pot box full of loose cards from 1981-1991, about 100-150 cards from 1981-1985 mostly water damaged, the only things I kept when I sorted through it last night were a couple of low end rookies (1989 Donruss Griffey, 1990 Topps/Donruss Walker, Sosa, and Bernie Williams, etc), two oddball sets (One 30th anniversary of Super Bowl 1 Green Bay Packers set, one Milwaukee Brewers team set with some radio station affiliation), an autographed postcard of Dick Williams from his Seattle Mariner days, and a 1990-91 Fleer basketball card autographed by Sam Perkins. The rest was a lot of water damaged 1987-1990 Topps, Fleer, Donruss commons and stars that found their way into the dumpster this morning.

I agree with Dilferules, if you have a theme, it's a lot easier to stay focused and maybe step back from time to time, but still stay involved to a degree. From what I remember, you seem to have some of the same issue with focus as I do. I remeber you wanting autographed 8x10's, then ttm cards, the certified HOF'ers, then Dodgers autos, etc. at different times. I'm even worse, Topps Heritage, TTM, die cut cards, low serial #'ed cards, HOF autos, etc etc. That makes it even easier to just walk away since there is no clearly defined goal to work for, or if there is, it changes in two months. I look at my stuff and ponder how to even sell most of it. Yeah, the vintage HOF'ers would sell, the 70's-present HOF caliber rookies would sell, the bigger certified autos would sell, maybe the heritage SP's would sell, but the box after box of 1986-2005 commons, 1:3 pack inserts, etc are tough sells even if organized, and if they aren't, asking people to pay much of anything for a mystery box isn't going to get too many hits for fear of ending up with a box like my stepmom gave me.

I think you hit the nail on the head here with focusing on a finite goal...switching and moving and chasing trends seems exhausting to me. I'm not perfect with my focus either but I rarely stray unless it is a SUPER bargain for me to acquire something that is a tangent to my real goals.

daktion · Jul 26, 2013

Hawaiian BamBam said:
I think, what good are cards or a collection if they just sit in a box for years and you never look at them!

I couldn't agree more. I used to buy everything I could afford and would just stash it. I would try to get every Marino card I could find and every different Dolphins set that came out. Now I have a closet full of cards I never look at.

About 10 years ago I decided to narrow my collection to just one card of every player that has played for my Miami teams and I have them collated in boxes alphabetically. Now my PC sits on one shelf in three 5,000 count boxes, and every time I get a new player, I go through the boxes to file them and I look at my other cards in the alphabetical vicinity.

I still have a closet of trade bait, odds and ends that I am slowly trading off, but as far as I am concerned, I would sell it all in a heartbeat if I could get what they are worth.

jaderock · Jul 26, 2013

Walk away -never! But I did loose a bit of interest for a month or so after my player got benched back in 2003. However, when that happened (benchiing and subsequently traded), more cards surfaced and I was quickly back in the game. Since then I love getting each addition as much as the next. Collecting Mark Brunell since 1999 and still enjoy every minute of it.

mrmopar · Jul 26, 2013

I'm sorry, but I just had to comment due to the humor I saw in this. I had just read this thread and the comments and then stumbled upon a thread started but 10 days earlier about Elbert wanting to start a bat collection! Yes, I'd say a more narrow focus might help fuel the enthusiasm to an extent.

valediction said:
I agree with Dilferules, if you have a theme, it's a lot easier to stay focused and maybe step back from time to time, but still stay involved to a degree. From what I remember, you seem to have some of the same issue with focus as I do. I remeber you wanting autographed 8x10's, then ttm cards, the certified HOF'ers, then Dodgers autos, etc. at different times.

Hawaiian BamBam · Jul 26, 2013

Thank Curt for your thoughts! I really need to figure out how t pick one or two themes and stick to it. i keep changing what i collect...sorry, i get bored easily!

mrmopar · Jul 27, 2013

I have collected a number of themes over the years and although I never really gave up on any, I stopped actively chasing some. I keep it all, so it is not like i start over. Maybe some I'll revisit some day, maybe not.

Right now, my main focus is the Garvey collection and autographs. Everything else is just an eye catcher or bargain i can't refuse.

Jaybo374 · Jul 27, 2013

If you have the room, leave them where they can be undisturbed and come back to it a month later. Give yourself some time to clear your head.

David K. · Jul 27, 2013

Normally....I get the feeling once in a great while. Like collecting the sets or inserts that I love...but thoses expenses short prints are so had to get! Best regards, David

dankir96 · Jul 29, 2013

I started collecting in the mid 70's when I was around 12 years old and I put together a very nice collection. I then decided to sell of what I could in the mid 90's. After being out of the hobby for a while, I decided to get back into it in the early 2000's. I have again put together a nice collection and at times feel like kicking myself for selling off what I did.

I no longer try to collect "everything under the sun" simply because there is too much out there, it's too expensive and I do not have the time. I only purchase Topps baseball, football & Heritage these days. I have two boys now and I build sets for them and will either pass on my personal collection to them someday and/or sell it.

I am, however, looking to sell off my basketball, hockey, wrestling, NASCAR, etc sets.

Hawaiian BamBam · Jul 29, 2013

i think what i probably need to do is reduce how many different things i actually collect, focus on 1 or 2 main themes and then sell of the remainder of my collection. theres a lot of fat i could probably cut from my collection. i could probably pay a bill or two off just by selling my extras!

TJCloutier · Jul 30, 2013

upon rethinking the question I want to add it totally depends on the size of your collection. For me it's just not practical to put all the time I have into my Sheffield collection and then sell it. I have around 210 unique autos and 300 unique game used. Piecing that together takes years and many of the cards someone may never find unless in my collection. Same thing goes for my Fathers Terry Glenn collection which is just as impressive that I hope to add to one day.

If it were just about 20 autographs etc it'd be a lot easier to walk away.

Anyone ever just want to walk away from collecting?

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