General Forum

One thing I find always interesting is finding out how people collect.  Myself I am a collector of specific teams and players.  Some people I talk to are serious set collectors.  I always find myself at odds somewhat with the set collectors in that they cannot believe I do not want the whole set that I like.  I explain that I usually am only interested in specific teams or players even though I may really like a particular set as a whole. 

From my perspective there is no right or wrong in this arguement only that we all keep the hobby alive and enjoyable.

 When I was younger (10-14), I used to buy without an aim.  I liked the idea of opening packs, and would try to complete sets and stuff.  I'd even go to the nearby card store, and buy a few interesting looking cards under the glass display cases.  While I had fun, I really didn't have a purpose for doing it.  I remember wanting to get every hockey card I could get.  I soon realized this was impossible.  While towards the end of this time I ended up focusing on a few players, I eventually abandoned the hobby for other interests.

It wasn't until around the time the NHL came back in 2005 that I got interested in the hobby again.  The idea of getting rookie cards of Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin appealed greatly to me.  To this day, I focus my collecting on the teams in the Toronto area (Leafs, Jays, Raptors), and rookie cards.  I still hold onto the odd card I find intersting, but often group cards I deem as unnessessary and sell them in a bundle.  And I honestly don't buy cards that often anymore, but am still interested in them as I'm a strong sports fan (NHL, NBA, MLB, NFL, Canadian Football League).

 As a child, I focused only on collecting Topps Mets team sets, and anything that had Carter, Gooden, and Strawberry on it. But in the sub-set explosion of the 1990's I became overwhelmed and disgusted with the attitude of money over fun aspect that it brought, dropped the hobby and gave my collection to my younger brother and left the hobby.

 Last year, my brother gave that collection back to me, looking just as it did 20+ years ago, and it sparked a desire in me to complete my goal of owning every Topps team set for the Mets.

 I've also expanded my goal to collecting all of the 1980's Donruss & Fleer sets, and all of the Topps complete sets from 1952-present.  A lofty goal to be sure, but one more within the reach of a 30-something man as opposed to to a starry eyed 15 year old Mets fan. :)

 Due to the lack of a proper card shop within a 100 mile radius of me, Ebay & Amazon are my main sources of cards, and though they get a lot of hate, it has been an invaluable friend and tool allowing me to obtain those cards which I only dreamed of owning back in the day.
 My brother is constantly giving me grief about using ebay to buy sets at a fraction of the price that he pays at his local card shop, and I see his point of why the card shop is better, but in this economy, it's just not worth the extra cost to me.

OK, I'm done rambling now, lol! Great topic! :)

Back when I was young I had fun getting cards and opening backs looking for Johnny Bench and basically and player for the Reds.  Never paid atttention to really any other player.  Never realized that I had a Ozzie Smith rookie card until I was in college.  By the time I graduated college I had given up the hobby and sold off most of my collection.  Never could part with my Johnny Bench cards and I did hang onto Ozzie's card and a few others to speculate on.

Recently, I have rediscovered the hobby but with a very differnt goal in mind.  I live in Anderson, IN which recently started playing host for the training camp of the Indianapolis Colts.  So my collecting is more in the lines of NFL players on the Colts roster as I plan for training camp so that I have something to collect players autographs.  I should have done more planning for this years camp but I have the bug again and will definantly be ready for next years camp.  My goal now is to have at least one card for every Colts player on the 90 man roster going into spring training camp that is available.  So I'm back to speculating on who will be with the Colts going into the next training camp.  That and it is a great hobby to share with my 10 year old nephew who is a big fan of football and the Colts.  He has come the last two Augusts to stay with my wife and I and attend camp with me.  What memories we'll build collecting cards and taking trips to see the players we've collected together.

I think I'm past the majority of my collecting days, but when I did collect it was mostly players that I really liked and thought had a chance to be big names in their sport for years to come.  I've collected Auto's and RC's of quite a few players from Michael Young to Ken Griffey Jr.  I like the high end stuff, like Triple Threads and UD Black, but I just don't have the money to try and collect an entire set of that stuff.  That's a little rambling, but basically that's a no to sets and a yes to particular players or high end stuff (i.e. GU/Auto/RC/Serial Numbered).

 Small world! I live over in New Castle, IN. :D

 I'm always finding great buys in rummage sales in this area, and the flea markets in Anderson always have a good find or two each week. 

When I was younger, I collected only the players I liked. After some time, I saw it as a waste to buy packs if I wasn't going for a set, which I started to do. I got into a phase of only collecting "star" players before finally just trying to collect full base/insert/parallel sets. I like pack busting still. I don't much care what I get. Although, if I'm paying $40/pack I better get something decent. Like the previous poster said, I like em but I can't afford em. Base sets for me!

I used to be a set builder.  I felt the urge to try to complete every single set and it would drive me nuts to have incomplete sets. 

After leaving the hobby and coming back, I don't know if my personality changed or the fact that it became cost prohibited to try to complete every set or a combination of those two factors, but now I just find pleasure in opening different packs of things.  I'll get two packs of a vast assortment, all different brands and types and I just enjoy experiencing each one and comparing them to each other and previous years.  I don't even really care who I get, only pausing a little while longer when it’s someone I like. 
 

I'm a set collector...it's just my nature.

Base sets are the highest priority, than inserts & paralells. I have plenty of autographs and relics but I put the lowest priority on them. I actually liked the hobby better before they were introduced, believe it or not!

I also like to have at least one card from every major set (pack released) and as many minor sets as possible. When I was collecting basketball regularly from 1996-06 that was actually my proudest acheivement. It's just not possible for me anymore, I can't afford $500 for 5 cards. I did it once, and it left me with a very bad feeling about it afterwords, I felt kind of like a fool for spending that much money on cards that were kind of dissapointing when I opened them. Buying them as singles just doesn't have the same appeal to me, I suppose part of the thrill is not knowing what you are going to get.

I'm so OCD about set collecting that I only trade duplicates...I traded one non-duplicate, back in 1996, and I regret it to this day. Thousands upon thousands of cards later, I have never been able to replace that one card that got away.

I've been collecting for 24 years now, and I've completed less than 100 sets. Around 40 each in NASCAR and NBA basketball, and under 10 in Non-Sports cards, which is where my focus has been lately. I just completed one last month that I've been working on since it came out in 1996. I've completed 4 sets in 2012, which feels great as I'd not completed anything since 2010. Two of the sets were from 1996, one from 2008 and one from 2011.

I know that I'll never complete most sets, but I'll get as many cards as I possibly can, even if it's only a pack or two a year, to a box or 2 a week (as I did in the mid-2000s), as long as I get cards that are new to me, non-duplicates, I'm happy. If it takes me a week or decades to complete a set, or even if I never get there, I don't care! It makes me happy all the same.

Long time ago i had no method of collecting.. just if a good player came along that I liked, like E. Smith or Griffey, etc - I try to buy "a" rookie card or the set he was in. I also bought several packs in hopes in scoring that big one-- HA!

Now adays, I bought a few boxes, hoping I get that one awesome pull or even a decent pull- but my luck has got me no where on that!! lol.. I've got some ok cards but no one I want to keep and sometimes finding it difficult to trade up with somone.

From that, I've decided to only buy who I want as individual cards- I'd rather spend $125 on 1-30 cards of someone who I want then spending it on a box and get nothing I want or need. But my stubborness will still up buying a box now and then- just because. (it's like xmas opening new packs) and just keep what i have until i find someone to trade with or give to my kids when i eventually die and watch them blow what ever money they from it..lol..