[scottzoe]

Great replies guys...it's fun reading everyone's thoughts.
For me, what I want to accomplish is to have every Red Sox card issued!
Ok, so I know that will never happen, but I still love to finish a team set, whether it is a 2015 base, 1980's stickers, or T205's.
I jumped on the Red Sox bandwagon, like many people, in a year when they had a winning team and hot rookies. Yes, 1975 was a great Summer to be a kid in Boston! I have not fallen off the bandwagon since.
For me collecting is about happiness. The happiness and joy that I get from a small envelope, with a couple of pictures of men on cardboard, is amazing. I get to cross them off my lists, sort them, scan them, and read the stats on the back.
When I do get rid of my collection, I'm sure it will only fetch 5 - 10 cents on the dollar, but the years of enjoyment I have gotten from playing with my cards is priceless.

Scott

[jhyde77]

I collect off and on because of all of the good times I've had collecting. I'm 37 and I've been collecting since '89. Some of the best collecting memories have been trading with friends in the early '90s, going to card shows with friends, following the homerun chase in '98, following the Braves teams of the '90s, building a '92 Bowman set with packs (at $3 each), and recently pulling a Ripken rookie from an '82 Donruss pack at a Flea Market. Book value doesn't matter that much to me. Pulling the Ripken was more fun for me than pulling a $100 autograph.

If you want to take a break and have a hard time stopping, put a '94 regular Bowman set together with boxes. Opening those packs will make you question why you collect.

[ryanmo5]

I collect cards for one reason and his name is Paul Goldschmidt. Sure I'e collected on and off since the late 80's and have several players I really like such as Griffey Jr, Kirby Puckett, and Randy Johnson. Paul Goldschmidt however made me get back into the hobby full steam ahead. I have collected him since 2011, not because I knew he would be the best player in baseball but because of his story and how great of a person he seems to be. I've had the pleasure of meeting him twice so far and he sure didn't let me down. He was humble, soft spoken, and a really nice guy. The first time I met him and got an autograph from him it was at fanfest 2013, he signed my jersey and a shirt which is now framed and in the man cave. I was so excited I forgot my marker and walked away. While I was walking away he got up and said hey here's your marker back. Thought it was really cool, maybe some think that's cheesy but I thought it was a pretty cool thing to do. He wasn't highly touted like Trout and Harper, he was drafted late because everyone overlooked him. Worked out great for me though cause my team drafted him and the rest as they say is history. I have over 440 different cards from him and could care less what they are worth. I do it cause he has revitalized my love of the game and is living proof that if you work hard enough anything can happen! The guy is making 1 MILLION dollars this year guys and he is happy that he finally got a house lol. The article below is old but is a great one, great info into what type of person he is!

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb...o/2454333/

[redsoxfan1534]

Thans for the awesome read!

[jonathani]

When I do get rid of my collection, I'm sure it will only fetch 5 - 10 cents on the dollar, but the years of enjoyment I have gotten from playing with my cards is priceless.

You're doing this for the right reasons, Scott.

[DrMitchJ]

Happy 4th of July, sports card fans!

I've said it before and I'll say it again ... I'm in awe over you guys that have a clear vision to your collecting M.O., because I'm a total ADHD collector. Sure, my focus is usually Yankees, then I'd say Marlins and Dodgers, as far as team collecting, but I have many PC players, new & old, too.
I guess what happens is, many of my Yankee wish list (Mantle, Jeter) is too expensive and I get sidetracked and start PCing something / someone else that's more affordable. I really don't care about the card value increasing, but I'm also not going to spend $50 on an unproven near-rookie.
I was a set builder in the '80s and '90's, but sets aren't THAT important to me anymore. I like small 100-200 card sets, but 770 card sets are just too huge to manage for me anymore.