Beckett Message Boards

Hey guys Ive been on a leave of absence on the boards for a few months now and while Ive kept up with my PCs something feels different. Im not at the point where Ive lost interest in the players I collect (listed in my sig) but its more of a how long am I going to collect these select players???

Ive collected Marino since 1996, Jason Taylor and Zach Thomas since 2006 and Lamar Miller right from the get go from his rookie season of 2012. While in general the next big addition still brings a smile to my face I find myself enjoying the pickup less and less and just mark it off the need list and move on to the next big addition. More like a job routine rather than a hobby really.

My budget gives me no flexibilty as well. If I were to pick up a nice card or two of other players and something I needed popped up Id either have to wait until the next one or buy it and then have to tap into the next months budget. Needless to say this cant be a one foot in and one foot out decision.

The point of this thread is asking for advice from anyone who is willing to take a few mins and let me know what you did in a similar position. How did you feel letting 1/1s go to others because you retired from that player you collected for so long? All the time, energy and money spent for decades on a player and suddenly its over. Yes its a hobby but at the same time its also a lifestyle.

Lastly there are a million players I would like to add to my pc. Ive had set ideas for years that Ive yet to start. Id also like to start collecting current players rather than retired players all the time. Id also like to add more dolphins legends stuff to my pc ie Griese, Csonka, Wakefield, etc. The hometown Bears have a handful of guys Id like to have some cards off. Im also a Cowboys fan and have virtually nothing of them. Mahomes, T.Y. Hilton, Baker Mayfield, JJ Watt, Deshaun Watson, Drew Brees, Christian Mccaffrey, Saquan Barkley etc. are just a handful of names Id love to have an auto of. That said I know I will still look at Jason Taylor and Zach Thomas stuff and something will pop up and I will wonder if Im doing the right thing by switching hobby interests. It feels like a lose lose when it should always feel like a win win in a hobby right?

Thanks for reading and Happy Holidays to everyone!!!

Interesting questions! I go through this a little bit every time someone on my team gets traded or released, but I only get rid of some of the cards and keep the ones that originally caught my eye. In other words, if I like the look of the card, I keep it regardless of the value or whether I still collect the player. But, if releasing a $50 card would not only help me afford some other player new on the team but also make somebody else giddy about the hobby, then it's okay to let go. Like you said, it is a hobby that is supposed to be fun and have that winning feeling. Good luck!

I've actually been feeling the same way! I started collecting Vontaze Burfict in his rookie year (2012) thinking it would be both an investment and fun. Well, I realize I blew the investment part, but it's still been fun! However, I have allowed myself to miss some of the crazy priced cards, staying to a smaller budget. I prefer more working on his rainbows than on having that 1/1 jersey card. If I have the money, and it's within the price I believe is fair, I'll still snag it, but I know I am also competing with one other super collector, so I know they will be going to a good home in most cases. But like you said, I end up usually checking off a need, and moving on.

I'm so scattered in my collecting, it's difficult to decide what to spend my money on. Aaron Rodgers, LaDainian Tomlinson, J.J. Watt, my SB MVP collection, or my Patented Penmanship collection. Then there are rainbows I'd like to do of some of my favorite players like Lynch, Fitzgerald, LT, Patrick Peterson, and other running backs. John Kuhn. Where does it stop?! I've been trying to answer these questions lol. I've decided I want one auto of each of my favorite guys, like Rodgers, Brees, Manning, Fitzgerald, Peterson, AP, Megatron, and many others. I want to display them so I can really enjoy them any time I feel like looking at them. I grab Watt cards here and there as an investment, and because I like the guy. I guess that's my solution. Being able to display them better would make the hits and bigger cards feel more "fun" than buying them only to stick them in a storage box where I have to dig through them to see them. Hopefully that makes sense. So maybe I need to take a month or two away from cards and buy display cases to showcase my big gets. I hope this conversation continues, maybe we can help one another work through our issues!

Years ago I retired my Peerless Price collection (who was subsequently replaced by Alshon Jeffery). I saw there was a member here was interested in collecting Price so I was able to make a connection easily to pass it along to someone who would appreciate it more than I . One thing you can do is donate some of the cards you aren't as interested in to other collectors who would be pumped to add them to their collection.

Since Jeffery signed (and won a Super Bowl!) with the Eagles I've been pretty cool on acquiring more of him. I like where the collection is at and in the future if I ran across someone who was a big South Carolina fan or another Alshon collector I'm sure I could work out something pretty easy for any of my non-Finest cards.

I decided to settle on set building and it's been a blast back filling Finest cards from the 90s and 00s. It's a bummer Topps isn't producing football cards anymore but it does reallocate my budget for previous issues. Set building also provides a sense of completion since a checklist is only x-number of cards then done. Player or team collections I think are a bit harder since it's forever open ended.

I certainly go through lulls - like with the Tigers right now, they really aren't that good on the field and the cupboard is pretty bare in the minors other than a couple of pitchers.

I mean, you can only collect so many Miguel Cabrera cards and then they all just sort of start looking the same.

However, I do have about 8 different PCs, having been born in Michigan, raised in Sacramento and attending college in Southern California.

So I'll rotate through whichever one is the most appealing and add new stuff either through trades or pack busting, though I've cut that back about 95 percent the last few months.

Im deciding to stick with Jason Taylor and Zach Thomas but as far as Marino and Lamar Miller Im only going to add very select things or when they are convenient so I can have the flexibility to add some new players to my PC. Its not ideal but its the best solution I can come up with at this time.

Now the fun part deciding what/who I want to collect lol. Mahomes and T.Y. Hilton are definitely on my short list.

Best of luck! I think variety is a good thing, gives you things to bounce back and forth between depending on your mood.

I've slowed down quite a bit on Bledsoe cards in the past few years, but that is mainly because I have nearly everything I want and the cards that I don't have are so rare that I usually can't find them available for sale.

I'm still actively looking for those cards, I just have a very hard time finding them.