General Forum

So, when you really think about it, collecting pieces of cardboard is an odd little endeavor. I love it, but a few years ago I felt this internal tug to make the hobby more than just accumulating cards, putting them away and virtually never looking through them. I realized that, for me, if I was just an accumulator who looked at the cards basically only when I first obtained them, then stored them away, it wasn't really interesting. I wanted to actually enjoy the collection I have, rather than just try to add to it. So I took small steps over the years to keep the hobby fresh and interesting for me. Somewhat chronologically, these are the things I did. 

1. I looked through every card I had when I had a leave of absence from work, then I did it again a few years later during another leave of absence. 

2. I took a bunch of cool hall of famers, claimed one shelf, and put about a dozen cards on display. I gradually increased that number. 

3. I found this website.

4. I started weird sub-collections. 

5. I switched the cards on display from all hall-of-famers to cards that I had some attachment to, and put small labels on them to show why they mattered. 

6. I started to read up on older players as I got their cards. 

7. I built a case to display many more cards, and claimed a wall. 

8. I expanded my collection from only Topps base sets to other things.

8. I made a concerted effort to always be going through all my cards from the oldest to the newest, which, given that life gets in the way takes about a year. Then I start again. Gaining more cards all the time. 

What about you? Are you content in just the knowledge that you have certain cards? Do you look at a new set or lot, enjoy it, and put it away for years? Are there other things you do to keep the hobby fresh? I think this question was sparked partly by some recent posts where people forgot they had a really old card and by my looking at some other people's collections. They have tens of thousands of cards from dozens and dozens of sets, and I can't help wondering if they really enjoy their 100,000 cards, or mostly the concept of having 100,000 cards. Not that there's anything wrong with that. It's just different from me. And I'm always interested in learning other collectors' perspectives. Maybe part of it is trying to finish the 1971 Topps set, paying many dollars for high numbers of players I don't really care about and who will be put away in a binder for years. A little part of me is wondering if it's better to spend $50 on one cool card that I'll put on display, look at every day, and actually pick up and admire once a week. I dunno. Just rambling late at night/early in the morning. Feel free to share your thoughts. 

v3

I don't look through all of my cards all the time. I admit, there are sets and teams that I like better than others so I look at them more often. 

I almost exclusively collect football cards, and to keep things fresh, I've been researching Super Bowl teams and trying to collect the starters from most teams. Lombardi's Packers, the 70s Steelers, and then it expanded to some of the notable non-Super Bowl winning teams. Researching those teams and learning about a lot of great players that have been largely forgotten has been really interesting. Some self imposed rules are that the cards must from when the player was active (no reprints or All-time Greats or the like) and they be for the team in which they played in the Super Bowl.

Also, I have been seeking out Hall of Famers. I have at least one from every player who's career ended after 1973 (the year I was born). Once again, team depicted on the card is important and it needs to be from when the player was active.

Then I also collect guys that I've heard stories about. When that fan came out of the stands to pick up and run with the football, and Mike Curtis knocked him down? Yeah I have several Mike Curtis cards in my collection!

I may not have as many cards and they may not be worth as much as a lot of people here, but my collection is worth more to me than any other listed here simply because its mine. 

I've never really had that problem of the hobby not being exciting, or fresh. I have had a few times where I got despondent about the hobby when finances were low and I couldn't add anything new to the collection. I didn't take them out and look at them for years....then, for some reason, something just "clicked" and my perspective changed. Instead of being upset that I couldn't add new ones, I decided I was going to appreciate the ones I had. I came back around to the hobby and now it means more to me than it ever did before. I still can't buy them like I used to- having to spend $500 or more a month on the medicine that keeps me alive ensures that is the case, but I think I appreciate the cards more now when I can get some. I used to buy two boxes of every set released, now I am lucky to buy two boxes a year, but that's OK...it actually gives me the chance to read every new card I get, something I didn't do before, because I was too focused on getting new ones.

As to actually seeing the cards, well, I have one of those large collections you mention, and I used to sort them all the time. Now, I can't sort my entire collection in one day anymore...and I don't even want to. When I used to sort them it was just a process of doing it as fast as possible so I could get the end result, but it's not anymore. I used to take my entire collection with me on vacations, too, but that is just not feasible anymore- besides the fact that my health has prevented me from taking any vacations since 2012.

I am eagerly awaiting the day I can sort my collection back into sets again. My collection has not been sorted by set since 2003 for NBA, 2009 for NASCAR. I won't sort them back into the correct order until I finish scanning them. I hit halfway on scanning my NBA collection sometime in March. I don't know exactly when due to how I do it; after I scan each card, I put them into one of 36 plastic cases until the cases are filled. Then I sort what I just scanned by person and type them into my Excel chart listing what I have of each person. Then, I put them back into one of the many white boxes I store my collection in and mark the end with an S; that lets me know that box has been scanned. When I run out of boxes missing the S, I will be done, and then I can sort them by set.

here is what the cases look like full, from the last round I did, photo taken January 16th of this year:

I don't expect to finish scanning until 2021, maybe sooner, but not likely. I normally fill each round of cases two times a year but for some reason I've filled these cases faster than normal- I've just 6 full cases to fill and then it's time to sort and type again, which will be my fastest turnaround of filling all 36- yes, I keep track of when I finish typing each round- the last round I finished in January 2016. I suspect I will do more than just two rounds in 2016 at the speed I'm going.

I set aside cards that are already done on the Database to do later; I will do them at the end. I set out scanning my entire collection in 2009. Back then I did only fronts. I didn't start doing backs until I joined the Database, and I found the Database while looking for information about one of the cards I had scanned. I don't remember which card it was now but I remember it was some insert that I couldn't remember which year it went to. I didn't write it down, so I forgot. I originally started scanning them so I could see them whenever I wanted without having to actually physically go and get them out.

I will scan every card, front and back, eventually, even the ones somebody else posted on to here. I also have my scans on my website and backed up on multiple locations. After I lost quite a bit of work when my hard drive crashed on computer #2 I am now crazy about backing things up. I won't go to bed at night without backing up what I've done in that day.

I keep it pretty simple. I only collect the things I love. Favorite teams, players, TV shows, etc. 

Enjoying reading these. I especially like the typically thorough Billy post juxtaposed with bigdog13's two-line post saying he likes to keep it simple. Shows the full range of approaches. 

V3

When I was much younger, the number of cards was important to me. Then, I worked for a card shop and moved on to a card company. After being totally surrounded by literally millions of cards at the company warehouse, quantity started mattering less. And then, the hobby had to be put on hold while my life changed (college graduation, moving, marriage). Before I picked the baseball side of things back up, I was selling off duplicates (the more valuable ones). Ironic thing about those deals was that every time I made a big deal, we needed to purchase something big for home (washing machine, tractor mower). Then, after getting back into baseball a few years back, the focus became full sets (mostly Topps, but I'll gladly add the other major companies). My son and I decided to chase a Gold set from last year (2015). That's been fun - I actually sold a bunch of my extra golds to a guy on ebay, then turned around and bought several from him (different ones). We're actually a lot closer to completing that set at this point than I thought we'd be. That kept this past year fresh for me. We also enjoy the sticker set. Yeah, it's basically money down the drain (we put the stickers in the sticker book), but it looks cool when done. And of course, we enjoy opening our hobby jumbo box (doing it in a pack wars variation that my son made up) of series 1, 2 and the update. 3 boxes a year. Sometimes 1 or 2 of other products (Heritage, Archives). Whatever we can do at the moment.

setting goals at beginning of year, and tracking them throughout helps keep it freish (when you can meet a goal, even if that is to cut a certain want list in half..

also, starting something new each year (new set, or hof list like was mentioned above)

this year I am working on more 70s basketball than baseball, but that could change after I finish a set or two

thanks, mark

initially had the goal of getting every card for my favorite player(s), until these past cpl years, mostly last year when reality just then hit me that there were about a gazillion insert sets.. i kinda got really frustrated and crushed by own dream.. so decided to scale back on that and try to get some HOF's in that are active during my lifetime and first rookie auto's, and been slowly going back to team building prior to 1980 along with some good rookies and past legends.. right now? who knows,, im all over the place lol

Because there are just too many cards that come out each year, I've switched my focus to just retired players (from TCU and my high school). Most of them, once retired, don't get more cards made so it's easier to set a checklist and then there is a finite list to work on. Makes adding one all the more satisfying since I know that I truly am one card closer to a known goal.
Especially focused on minor league cards. I like them since they take some hunting but generally aren't super expensive once you find them and I find it fund to see the crazy designs and sponsors that get used with each set.

My card collection is like a yearbook collection.  I organize each set by year and then by team performance and then by player age...World Series champs and losers up front...LCS and LDS where applicable....then the rest of the teams by winning percentage...each team is organized from oldest to youngest player or manager or person...team cards up front....multi-player cards by youngest person on card...special cards in the back in a practical order (reverse chronological usually) like World Series cards, etc...basically, if I can fit it into a set set I do; otherwise it goes in the back...Traded sets are integrated with Base sets as well as pre-production cards, variations, and "cards that never were" while insert sets are rarely integrated unless they seem to match.

When I open my card binders, I have an educational tool that gives me insight into what each season was as well as a generational perspective for each player.  The hobby remains fresh because of my curiosity for the players and team performance of various seasons in baseball.