[Muir2]

By Erin Bolen

There comes a time in every collector’s hobby life where something sends them over the edge.

It might be looking at a credit card bill or losing an auction for that one card you’ve been trying to find for years. It might be a trade gone south or something lost in the mail. Everyone has had those moments where they just want to throw up their hands and say, “I quit.”

For me, that moment was the release of 2005-06 The Cup. As a player collector, the sheer amount of seemingly unattainable cards pushed me over the edge in a hobby I was already growing fed up with at the time.

So I quit.

No, not completely. I’ve obviously returned, and I kept the vast majority of my collection intact over my year off. But taking that time away from the hobby was probably the best decision I ever made.

If there’s one thing that defines us as collectors, it’s the somewhat obsessive desire to own a complete group of cards. But that obsessive tendency can turn what should be an enjoyable hobby into a chore.

We chase after white whales and endless lists of commons and parallels with a zeal and financial commitment people in other hobbies often gawk at. We become obsessed with value – what we own and what we need – to the point it becomes another job rather than something fun.

When you reach the point where it’s not fun anymore, there are three paths you can take.

The first is to try and slog through it, forcing yourself to keep up the collecting even though your heart’s not in it. The second is give it up completely, sell off your collection and permanently divorce yourself from the hobby.

The third is a combination of the two, and the route I chose. I took an entire hobby year off – from the release of the first Cup to the release of the second edition just a few months back, and although my player collection percentage took a hit, it was the best hobby decision I’ve ever made.

A break, even an incomplete one where you occasionally bust packs as I did, can reinvigorate your passion for the hobby. It reminds you that the world does not end if you don’t pick up that rare card that’s been haunting you, or if you can’t find the sell sheet for a product due out in two weeks.

In my case, I stayed away from message boards and eBay, kept myself off the Beckett marketplace and out of most card shops/aisles. If I really got the itch, I would buy a blaster box or loose packs, but I would never seek out singles or high-end packs.

The important thing is not to force yourself back if you don’t want to. A lot of times, collectors feel obligated to finish what they started, but this is exactly the attitude that makes collecting feel like a chore. You never have to finish a collection.

If you ever find yourself traveling down this path, here's my main recommdation: don’t immediately dismantle your collection. Leave things in the closet until you’ve had some time to reflect and make a final decision to rejoin or leave the hobby.

About a year after I started my self-induced hiatus, I wandered onto the hobby sites and realized how much I missed everything. When I returned, I realized my entire attitude about the hobby had changed. I no longer got overly emotionally involved in a chase for a card, and in general I was a much happier collector.

It’s not for everyone, and sometimes I do kick myself when I see a card I need sold a month before I returned, or when I can’t find a parallel that would have been relatively easy around the time of release.

But the experience was an overwhelmingly positive one, and I would recommend it, even in a shortened version, to anyone considering giving up on the hobby.

Sometimes a short rest goes a long way.