General Forum

Summer months are bad for me, I fund my collection from the money I make tutoring, and not much need for tutors in the summer.  However, I try to offset that by trading more in the summer.

The beauty of completing two large sets this year -- 1970 and 1971 Topps Baseball -- is that it takes many, many hours removing the set from the binder, sorting the cards into teams, putting the players into an order I like, just taking a "last" look at the set, and putting them all back into a binder. So long as I have a big project like that, the need to purchase more is reduced. I can either just not spend the money or save up for a bigger purchase without much pain.

v3

I don't buy new wax anymore and I try to limit new acquisitions to trades only. However, my wife and I spend about 1 weekend a month visiting antique stores. If I find a good deal on bulk cards I will make a purchase. It doesn't happen very often, maybe once a year, I will find something I can't pass up. This year I bought about 100,000 cards for $100. They're mostly baseball commons from the '90s. Organizing that purchase will take me months and I will use it to fuel trades for years.

I haven't really missed opening new packs but I have to confess that every once in awhile, especially after reading the forums, I feel the urge to go pick up a pack.