BY MARK A. LARSON
“Baloney!”
That’s what I say to hobbyists who claim sports memorabilia collecting is all cutthroat competition and politics and isn’t fun anymore.
Collecting can be as enjoyable or as serious as the individual wants to make it. For instance, many collectors are tired of hearing about how some dealer’s business is slow or who did what to whom, etc. My advice: Stick to what you like to collect and ignore all the other facets of the hobby/business you find distasteful.
If you’re worried that prices are rising too fast to complete your baseball cards sets, then ask yourself why you’re collecting. If it’s for the pure enjoyment of the cards and the history of sports, then why not settle for a less expensive card in a lower grade? After all, a VG baseball card with some corner rounding and minor creases can still bring back a load of memories. And by buying a lower-grade card, you can actually touch it and not worry about harming it and watching its value plummet.
Another alternative to high-priced baseball cards is other sports collectibles. What about football, hockey or basketball cards? What about yearbooks, scorecards, media guides and other publications? What about reprints of classic baseball card sets?
Are you let down after you’ve purchased your new complete sets every year? You need not be. Why not go back and put together sets the old-fashioned way … one card at a time by buying wax and rack packs? That way you can stretch out your enjoyment over several months. With the “piece-by-piece” method, again, you’ll actually be able to touch and “play” with your cards.
Joining a Rotisserie Baseball League or Fantasy Football League can help increase your interest and enjoyment of sports. This, in turn, should help increase your hobby fun.
Trading cards and memorabilia can be pleasurable if it’s kept low-key. Where do you find traders? Ask around at shows. See if there’s a sports collectors club in your area. Try putting a classified ad in Baseball Hobby News. Set the ground rules beforehand (what price guide you’ll use, if any, condition, etc.) and your trading can be a satisfying part of the hobby.
If you think certain aspects of the hobby are stupid, avoid them. If your feelings about 1989’s Fleer Billy Ripken card with the obscenity were negative, then by all means, don’t buy cards like that. However, if errors and variations (even ones with the “F” word, boxes and silly scribbles) interest you, then go after them realizing, of course, you may have to shovel out some big bucks.
Continue reading publications like Baseball Hobby News. This is not a paid advertisement for this publication. However, in my 23 years in the hobby, I have found that BHN consistently offers some of the most informative, memory-laden and thought-provoking articles on the sports memorabilia collecting scene today. Most importantly, BHN emphasizes the simple pleasures of collecting. Other publications are good and they should be read as well.
Now what if a dealer or storeowner rubs you the wrong way? Do you just up and leave the hobby because of that particular person? No, just don’t deal with him again. And if you feel like it, tell him why he’s lost your business. Every hobby or business has a lot of good people and some jerks. Be assured, the jerks will weed themselves out and the good people will still be around in the long run.
Remember, the whole idea of a hobby is to have fun. If you’re not happy with collecting, ask yourself why. If it’s because of a bunch of external factors, then refocus your collecting interests and disregard the rest of the hobby scene that irritates you, including the business end of it.
There is no reason why a hobby that’s also a business cannot be fun for the collector and profitable for the dealer. The two are not mutually exclusive. The “hobby” still can be a hobby for those who truly want it to be.
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• Originally Published in April 1990 “Baseball Hobby News” •
THIS ARTICLE FROM “BASEBALL HOBBY NEWS” MAGAZINE IS REPRINTED WITH THE PERMISSION OF BOTH THE EDITOR/PUBLISHER AND THE AUTHOR. IT HAS BEEN RETYPED, BUT NO CONTENT HAS BEEN CHANGED (EXCEPT FOR VERY MINOR ADJUSTMENTS, CORRECTIONS TO TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS AND CHANGES TO GRAPHICS). COMMENTS OR INFORMATION IN THE ARTICLE MAY BE OUT-OF-DATE.
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