[zeprock]

I'm a player collector but I don't consider myself a "super collector" of any player. I collect over 100 different players (including every HOFer) so there are a gazillion options for me.

However I don't go on the hunt for specific cards. I collect any card (one each) of any player that I don't already have. I have favorites and I gravitate toward cards of them first. For example, in the late 90s - early 2000s I would try to get any Nomar Garciaparra card I didn't already have but when he was traded to the Cubs, I stopped chasing his cards so vigorously. I still collect him and would welcome any card of his that I don't already have.

Now if I'm trading here on Beckett, I look for Pujols or Jeter cards I don't have. Next it will be Griffey and Maddux then Yastrzemski and Ted Williams and so on. If I don't see cards of them that I don't already have then I move on through other favorite HOFers and other potential HOFers. I can almost always find something to trade for and I always have a lot of HOF dupes to trade. I don't do so much "high end" but with so many different players to collect, there are plenty of low-end cards I can collect.

I've been collecting this way for the past 20+ years of my 45 years of collecting and I haven't gotten every single card of any player yet.

[rad_1205]

I agree with Matt 110% I have a very wide variety of cards. I consider myself a player collector, but I did the same thing with Barry Bonds back in the day. I've collected Bonds for 20 plus year but totally screwed myself in the process. It wasn't a bad investment while I collected him but the last 5-6 years have been brutal watching his cards drop. I do love my bonds collection however I missed out Jeter, griffey, pujols, and a ton of other players because I wanted nothing but bonds.

So this is my advise to you don't miss out on harper, trout, bryant and abreu. These guys are a rare breed. Keep chasing goldschmidt but expand your collection and move the cards you don't care for.

[animie67]

I've come to terms with the fact I'll never be able to super collect him, I simply don't have the funds to compete with others for his top stuff

Same here. I was going to collect only Yogi Berra cards but a lot of his stuff is either very rare or I don't have the money. I've decided to just buy Yankees or go after a certain set if within my budget.

[DrMitchJ]

Maybe I'm not the right guy to give advice since I have collector ADHD
Diversification vs. Concentration has many pluses and minuses ... The chance of your single player collection tanking or soaring on the success or failure of your single players performance is directly linked. Diversification of your collection ensures that not everything will tank and not everything will appreciate.
That being said ... And since this is starting to sound like a stock trading analogy ... 'Long shots' can be bought cheaper and there's a chance for greater reward but bigger risk. 'Sure things' are going to cost more, have less risk and less reward potential. But anything can happen.
The only way to insulate yourself from all that stuff is to buy what you like, buy what you enjoy and not give a darn about the upside or the downside and enjoy yourself. Don't pressure yourself.
I collect Jeter, but can't afford his high end stuff, so I don't bother even looking at most of it. I collect Abreu autos because they're nice, I like his auto, he's a newer, unproven talent that if he tanks like so many other ROY winners ... Oh well. If he's a HOF in 20 years ... Then that's really cool! I'm gambling a little on Arismendy Alcatara this year. If the Cubbies have a great year, my pick ups will be great ... But I love the guy's signature. I collect Casey Kelly ... An unproven prospect since 2008 ... Will he make it, or fail this year? Either way, I don't care. I started to supercollect Ubaldo Jiminez ... Did his 'stock' decline over the years? Certainly, but I had fun picking up his stuff.
That's the bottom line ... Fun. When it's not, give it up.
Wow ... That took up most of my break-time .... Later! Hope this helped

[ryanmo5]

@DrMitchJ Lol well thanks for giving up your break to try and help I appreciate it! Honestly I collect every card of Goldy under 8.00 in value and I'm only missing 44 cards so far. I put them all in my goldy binders and honestly, getting a card in my binder I don't have yet makes me happier than getting a new auto or relic for him.

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I agree with Matt 110% I have a very wide variety of cards. I consider myself a player collector, but I did the same thing with Barry Bonds back in the day. I've collected Bonds for 20 plus year but totally screwed myself in the process. It wasn't a bad investment while I collected him but the last 5-6 years have been brutal watching his cards drop. I do love my bonds collection however I missed out Jeter, griffey, pujols, and a ton of other players because I wanted nothing but bonds.

So this is my advise to you don't miss out on harper, trout, bryant and abreu. These guys are a rare breed. Keep chasing goldschmidt but expand your collection and move the cards you don't care for.

Good advise, I've had several nice cards for all those players except Abreu and have traded every single one of them. I had at one point 3 trout update rc's, the walmart and target versions, 2 finest and several earlier cards and gave them up for money for goldy. That was right before his rc's got hiked up the last time...Go figure lol. I'm gonna expand and collect guys I loved as a kid like Bonilla, Will Clark, Frank Thomas and others as well as some current players.

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Another idea I've wanted to do that I will probably start when I get back to the hobby is have a player PC of a player and put a limit on the # of cards that can be in the PC... Say, 50 cards, a number you can't exceed. If I want to add to the PC, I need to find a card to sacrifice and sell or trade from the PC. If I can't find the card to give up in the stack of 50, then I must not REALLY want the new card. I think this would help keep the cards fresh, and ones you enjoy, and never have any compulsive need to hunt down or overpay for a card. Either it makes the top 50 or it doesn't. Also, it will largely help pay for itself with the selling of the card, unless you are making a huge value upgrade with the replacement card.

That's a great idea man, I will still collect all his stuff under 8.00 but I think I will apply what you said above to his higher priced stuff. The base cards and cards under 8.00 are usually really easy to pick up and that is the one thing that keeps me excited about the hobby. My sacred goldy binders lol, the cards in them aren't worth a ton yet I wouldn't trade them for the world!

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If they hold no interest to you, let them go. The catch here is if you change your mind, you gotta go find them again. I did that once with Rickey Henderson and regretted it. Hopefully that was helpful.

There's the rub lol, I've done it before and it sucked trying to get them back, which inevitably was a pipe dream cause there's no way I could ever get back to what I used to have. I wouldn't be letting go of a lot of his pc but would give me a good foundation to make some trades for others.