General Forum

That's a very interesting question to me. I'm not sure how to answer it. I watch every single Carolina Panthers football game (even pre-season) and I watch all of the NASCAR races (including practices and Qualifying). I also watch any STL Cardinals MLB game that I know is airing in my area. So I am a total sports fan. If I hadn't been collecting cards for the past 30+ years, I don't know that I would start now. I'd probably collect other types of sports items, probably AU'd photos and such and/or apparel.

Without an actual hobby shop nearby, I can't say that I would get into collecting the current cards. I'm sure I'd pick up blasters here and there at Target just out of curiousity, but I highly doubt today's offerings would make me the hard-core collector that I have been for decades. The variety of cards per package per release might overwhelm me and keep me from chasing anything. BUT, it might would be enough to make me research the hobby and get into the older cards.

So I guess my only honest answer is: Maybe.

Honestly, I probably wouldn't collect.  The only real reason I got back into it in the first place was I had all the cards of my dad's when he passed, and in a state of not knowing what else to do at the time, I just kinda looked through and sorting them.  When my sister passed a few years I started buying a lot of cards again to take my mind off stuff, and that lead me to finding this site.  If I started collecting today, I'd maybe buy a pack here or there, but I also don't watch as much sports as I did.

Instead I'd probably be building my movie collection a lot more, so I'd have something else to spend my money on.

At my age  a big NO    at the age I was when I first started in 1965 but today,  again NO  cost to much for a pack and really cant complete the set with all the SP

I use to mail oiff to a dealer for the 7th series, back in the day

I'm with Billy on this. I was born a collector. I collect stuff even if it's in a video game. I'm actually drawn to games that have massive lists of things to collect. I'm weird that way. If it wasn't baseball cards, it would be something else.

What can I say, I like finishing sets. :D

So short answer is yes. I took a brief hiatus for nearly 10 years and now I'm back full force with support, so I would have proabably picked it up regardless. Even at 42...

As another person here who began collecting back in the early to mid '60's when I could usually scrounge up a nickel or two (or three) and stop at the corner grocery store coming home from school and purchase a pkg. Nowadays, with all the various mfg's and the "card race" to see who can create the most sets, subsets, inserts, and oh, don't forget the parallels. Sure, variety is endless but only to the extent your budget will allow for. Also at $5 or even more / pack it's obviously buy in bulk and certainly not for the faint of heart. Reluctantly I would likely (90%) fall into the "no way, Jose" category and thank my lucky stars for this site where "traditional-like" trading still has survived after all the years (and for some of us decades!).

I probably would collect, and collect just as I do today.  Vintage cards first and foremost.  The newer the cards, the less likely I am to buy unless it is a large lot for a good price - read, a collector who just wants to get out of the hobby and is almost giving away his collection.  The newest stuff, really from 2000 on, I only have because I acquired it in this way.  It is the least interesting stuff I have. But I do not collect for investment - I am not that dumb to think that cards of today will hold the value people are paying.  If I had $10,000 to spend on cards, it would be on cards from the 1950s or older not on a Trout or Judge RC.

Oh yes I would deffo still collect.  I fell out of the hobby from about 1995 to 2005.  I would only buy an occasional pack back then.  But when Sidney Crosby arrived in Pittsburgh it pulled me back in and I am so happy it did.  The only thing I changed was my attitude.  I promised to keep my collection on random and be happy with whatever I get and it has worked very well.

I would probably collect something but I don't know that it would be cards. At the cost per pack now I might instead collect something like bobble heads or mini helmets. Something that displayed better and that I hopefully wouldn't have accumulated 100,000 of.

NO!

This thread doesn't give a ringing endorsement for our hobby does it?

Of course, I'm in the camp of "I wouldn't start today".  That is, nothing in my life today would get me started collecting cards now.  If I were in the same situation today as I was 20 years ago, maybe I would start; but knowing what I do today I would probably collect differently.

The core of my collection is my Ted Musgrave PC.  Without that, none of the rest exists at all.  My Hi-Tech master set and Press Pass Legends collections started as extensions to keep me in touch with the hobby while I track down the last few white whales and grails for the Musgrave collection.  Now all three are down to the nitty-gritty, and I'm not looking to expand into any new collections.  I do have an affinity for the oddball, off-brand stuff, so I'll keep picking up those sets when I can find them for the right price, but I'm not going to start chasing any mass-market products that I'm not already looking for.

-Tom