General Forum

I started collecting in 75 (the minis were sold in my area) and stopped around 82 or 83.  I thought at that time that chasing 3 sets, especially with all of the Fleer and Donruss variations was too much.  Anyone remember chasing the Craig/Graig Nettles error back in the day?  Should have bought more vintage back in the day.  I can remember when I could have got a Hank Arron rookie for $20.  Yes, I miss the simple days of collecting!

Oh, don't get me started on shorts prints. But in my adding Gypsy Queen, I've dug deep and found the strength to just ignore them. I collect the 300 card short set. Once, someone sent me one short print by mistake. I immediately offered to give it away to someone here who had had it on his want list. Ended up trading for a couple of vintage cards. 

I'm even annoyed at the old high number problem, which is like short prints, but at least has a logical explanation. The idea of making 50 cards harder to get on purpose just never occurred to me. And I really don't like it. 

V3

Kaline6 wrote: I started in 1969, collecting Topps sets, Baseball & Football.  Then in 1981 Fleer & Donruss came out, I collected those too. 3 sets a year was easy enough. Then of course Score in 88, Upper Deck in 89 followed by Stadium Club. By the mid 90's I finally said enouh and went back to just the Topps seasonal issue. If there is a parallel I like, I work on that. Any variations I keep, but don't try for them all. I have many examples from years I didn't go for the whole set, aquired through trades or buying collections. Even these days I toyed with collecting Topps Heritage,  but their practice of having short prints be a part of the set irks me to no end. So, primarily Topps, but I have no idea what football I will collect in 2016, after collecting a vast majority of Topps Football sets since 1969, and all Topps Football standard sets since 1973.

Yes this has been driving me mad since my reemergence into heavy collecting around 2004/5 or whenever it was I discovered Ebay had trading cards and just before or around the time the Expos moved to become my Homie Nationals.

SHort Prints.... Don't get me started I will only rant and rave and jump up and down about the 2012 Topps Archives Bryce Harper SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSP RC that never sells for less than $100 which is at least $50 too much. Sheesh, a player on my homie team that fast became a fave player and I can't even get one of his first cards (and one of the better looking RC cards of his). Oh that is another Rant What the Heck "IS" an RC Now days? That is another rant for another thread at another time. 

Base sets, Update sets, and Factory Bonus sets.  

Have to agree with everything said in these posts.- especially about acptkirk42 comments on RCs. It is simply ridiculous to pay big bucks for a hyped rookie, i.e. Kris Bryant. I have only been collecting team sets for the greater part of the time I started collecting with my son in 1989.   Parallel sets are another - no more than 1 paralllel set in my opinion.  For Goodness sake - if you collect cards fort fun of it-they are the same card only a different color when it gets down to it. The only real parallel I collect is the Topps Rainbow foil.

Anyone noticed the absurd number of football sets also - who wants to buy a football set that comes out in March for the previous season.  Also  think baseball autos are high - just check out some of the football autos for the players chicken scratch.  Really unafforable.  If we  want to be brutally  honest TRIX (cereal ) may be for kids, but sports card collecting has definitely become an adult thing.  What kid could afford these cards?

Are you listeneing Topps and Panini?    NOT!

Another rant - today  for the most part sets are smaller (except Topps) and whatever team set you get  get has less than 10 players which does not a roster of players make.  For instance, when I collect Green Bay Packers  the cards are Rodgers, Nelson, Lacy, Matthews and maybe Clinton Dix  and Davante Adams..  How many cards do I need of the same player? Give me fewer sets with more players - like the old days.

Check out Favre - has over 3000 cards in this database! Why are card companies still making cards for him? Baseball same thing - collect Tigers - do I really need any more Ty Cobb cards (dude is dead long time now) or Al Kaline (no offense Kaline6) cards.  Granted both were great players and Kaline is Mr.Tiger - but enough is enough! Its like Miguel Cabrera now - yeah I know  he will HOF some day - but 4/6 inserts of the same guy is overkill!!!!!!!!

You want to give me Tiger inserts - how about some of the greats of the 60's (Freehan , Northrup, Hortion, Lolich, McClain and  80's (Trammell, Whitaker, Gibson, Morris, and some of thee other Boys of Summer).

Though I agree with everything said / ranted about above, I don't let any of the hobby's quirks bother me anymore.  As some said above, it is not realistic to think that one can collect everything out there since 1995 (early 1990s are still possible) and I have long ago accepted that.  When I got back into collecting, I quickly narrowed my hobby to one sport - baseball.  Though I started in the cards issued at the time, I found more interest in the vintage cards and spend most of my money in those cards e.g. recent purchase of 1968 OPC Ryan RC.  But I have also found enjoyment in the purchase of large lots of more recent issues.  I spent 4 years in Toronto and accumulated over 400,000 cards, mostly commons.  I pulled one of every card there was, completing some sets all the way down to having a single card in a 500 card set.  At one time I thought of selling the lot for $400 but am happy I did not.  Since I found this site, I have traded away probably 1,000 cards and by doing so, have acquired cards I did not have.  No I will never trade awaay all 400,000 cards nor will I ever acquire every single card issued but the enjoyment of the hobby is finding / trading for another card you did not have in your collection for somethign you did not need. 

I guess what I am saying is, instead of being frustrated that you will never be able to get everythign because there is too much out there, enjoy the chase for the cards you want, sometimes findong one that you did not even know existed.  I believe C2 recently found a couple of errors that even though so-called experts did not even know about.  This should have excited Bob who collects all error cards adn I am sure that he went searching in his piles of doubles to find out if he had these error cards.  Fun!

Yeah, this is why I've pretty much abandoned any real effort to collect cards of active players. Too much to keep up with. And chasing down the really hard to get older cards of retired players is more fun (to me). But then it probably also helps that retired players (unless they are HOF types that keep getting new cards from insert sets) generally have a more finite set of cards. Player X stopped playing in 1998. That means every time I find on of his I didn't have previously, I can really feel like I'm making progress on the collection. Trying to get all of the current year's cards knowing that next year will just bring a whole new deluge of cards just wears me down.

sandyrusty wrote: Though I agree with everything said / ranted about above, I don't let any of the hobby's quirks bother me anymore.  As some said above, it is not realistic to think that one can collect everything out there since 1995 (early 1990s are still possible) and I have long ago accepted that.  When I got back into collecting, I quickly narrowed my hobby to one sport - baseball.  Though I started in the cards issued at the time, I found more interest in the vintage cards and spend most of my money in those cards e.g. recent purchase of 1968 OPC Ryan RC.  But I have also found enjoyment in the purchase of large lots of more recent issues.  I spent 4 years in Toronto and accumulated over 400,000 cards, mostly commons.  I pulled one of every card there was, completing some sets all the way down to having a single card in a 500 card set.  At one time I thought of selling the lot for $400 but am happy I did not.  Since I found this site, I have traded away probably 1,000 cards and by doing so, have acquired cards I did not have.  No I will never trade awaay all 400,000 cards nor will I ever acquire every single card issued but the enjoyment of the hobby is finding / trading for another card you did not have in your collection for somethign you did not need.  I guess what I am saying is, instead of being frustrated that you will never be able to get everythign because there is too much out there, enjoy the chase for the cards you want, sometimes findong one that you did not even know existed.  I believe C2 recently found a couple of errors that even though so-called experts did not even know about.  This should have excited Bob who collects all error cards adn I am sure that he went searching in his piles of doubles to find out if he had these error cards.  Fun!

All of these comments are accurate. Thankfully, that's why we all have a specific concentration in this hobby, otherwise you'd be greatly disappointed. I collect the regular (Non SP, non RC SP, non #'d) base set. There are like 8 parallels specific to each store. Then on top of that, those have a #'d or refractor (or both) version. Then you have 25 insert sets, most of which are boring. Then you have a relic version of those. It's way, way out of hand. I'm also not into the big RC craze. To each their own, though.

Good stuff.

?There were enough replies and earlier posts enabling me to continue reorganizing and develop a tentative CCP [Card Collecting Plan] We will see!

?Limit my collecting to Baseball and Football. [except where noted later]

?SETS - continue to complete what I have, pre 2000. Post 2000 as many suggested "pick and choose" I like the Archive  and Heritage look.  Really thinking only base sets as welll. I also like small Boxsets, Food Issues and the like to add. Probably cheap ebay buys.

?ERRORS & VARIATIONS - My collection is quite extensive and valuable not to continue to add to it.

?STICKERS - Same as my E&V collection, too much invested.  My "new" Team Logo collection is just an extension of my Sticker Collectio, easy, complete and inexpensive and FUN!.

?STARS & ROOKIES - I have  "a lot"  of them from @1950s up to 2000 secured. Obviously I don't have everybody, so I would tend to add older vintage cards that catch my eye.

EAGLES, A's and PEYTON MANNING - Always looking to add to this collection when their is an oppurtunity.

?NON-SPORTS - Just started to rejuvente my collection of 50s and 60s only. If a current  historical set, music set or old TV set catches my eye...I might add.

?HOCKEY & BASKETBALL - I have decided these cards must go, NO more adding, however, I think as I sell /trade these cards, I will pull any HOF and/or RC cards to save.

?OTHER SPORTS - Must be really interesting to me and just a sampling, Tennis Cards..nah, Olympic Cards...yeah.

?I'm sure some are saying in the immortal words of Phil Rizzuto "Holy Cow" that's alot of collecting. However, remember most is an add here or there...I also like adding in lots as opposed to single cards.  Naturally my excess, is mine to share with you and trade and add much of the above to my collection.

My CCP plan

?~BOB~