I am a player collector. I am also a 'completest'. Or so I thought? It's something that has been weighing on me for past few weeks.
When I first started collecting Trevor Linden cards, I wanted to track down one of EVERYTHING he had. Regular issues releases, oddball items, yearbooks, programs. Heck, I was even keeping newspaper articles.
After a while, it felt like a little bit of overkill for my liking so I stuck mainly with cards (and stickers). I would pick up the odd item here or there that wasn't on my wantlist, but I passed by a great number more.
Lately though, I have seen a lot more 'unofficial' items that has me on the fence as to whether or not I should go after them. Things like Pacific 'proofs' that were never released, or uncut panels or sheets. While I'd like to add them to the collection if the price was right...I don't put them on my wantlist. Mainly because they are not really trackable in terms of what's out there (or how many).
Today I received in the mail a cool item - it's a Linden card from the 2007/08 'Hockey Card Game'. Again, not really an official release, but it's now scratched off my list. Am I happy to have it - you bet. Would I have been searching it out if I didn't know where to get one? I don't know.
It's a dilemma I've been pondering for a while.
One thing I do is look at the other Linden collectors' lists of card they have or are going after. Part of me has the mindset that if it's good enough for them....then it's good enough for me.
Another aspect - now that Linden is in full retirement mode - there are more cards of his released in products than I've seen in a while....and the prices for some are ballooning. Do I keep going after his stuff? Where do I draw the line? I've seen some collectors (one, a Sakic guy) not include any cards after his retirement year. Those are his parameters and I respect that.
I've been thinking of doing the same thing, but would I feel comfortable doing so? I don't know if I would.
Casting the net for the cards you are looking to catch can be super simple at times - or extremely difficult. Right now, I'm in a bit of a difficult mode. I think it's because of the abundance of product out there currently. It might be easier if there were only a couple cards here and there.
Nonetheless, it's not something where I'm going to make a quick knee-jerk reaction. I've been fine with the parameters up until now, so I'm going to see if I can ride it out to the off-season. We'll see what comes in September.
What kind of parameters do you set for your collection or project? Do you stick to them? Are you happy with them?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
100% or bust for my PC's. To break it down a little further, I do not include 1/1's in my official totals, but I do include oddballs at my own discretion. I basically want 1 of everything, and I will go for multiples of low numbered stuff if the price is right.
ReplyDeleteAs time has gone on I have seen that 100% is becoming more and more unattainable for certain players (bordering on impossible), but it's the chase that makes it worth it.
I am of the same belief. I want to get one of everything. Obviously with some of the 1/1's in other Linden collections - that's not possible. But I try to keep track of who has what.
ReplyDeleteYou said it best...the chase makes it worth it.
Cheers!