Ruthlessness or compassion? Time of day or talk to the hand? Yours.......or mine?
What side of the fence are you on?
As a kid, buying packs of cards and then trading off the doubles for the singles I needed to complete my set was the epitome of teamwork. My friends and I would always be looking out for one another when it came to building our sets.
Sure, there was a bit of competitiveness when it came to who could finish their 396 first, but in the end we all worked together.
That's what card collecting should be about......right?
Enter the 90's. I was a little older, knew the value of a dollar a little more and card collecting became more of an industry than a hobby for a lot of people. There was a little more......heck - a lot more competitiveness going on when trying to acquire singles. Ebay didn't help with that either.
I'll admit, when I started my Linden collection, I was more about tracking down stuff for myself. I wasn't too worried about what others were doing and if they were looking to purchase a card I wanted, I had a little more 'me, me, me' in me to go and get it.
It wasn't until a few years ago that I realized it might be easier (and more fun) to work together with fellow collectors rather than against them. Actually e-mailing them - communicating with them - made the whole experience of getting cards I needed a lot easier and less punishing on the wallet. Most importantly, I got to know some of the other die hard collectors out there who share the same passion for hobby that I do.
I like being able to help someone out with their collection. And I'll admit - I love it when someone else can help me with mine. Especially with those nasty rare Linden parallels from 10 years ago. :)
I still see a number of instances where collectors have tunnel vision when it comes to their projects. Sure, it's ok to focus on your wants, but to do it at the expense of other hobbyists or the camaraderie of a collecting community just doesn't sit well with me.
There are days where I go to a card show or a hobby shop and I feel like I'm back in junior high - clique city. Other days, it's a great experience where I can share my collection with others and they can do the same. Listening and learning without question has made me a happier hobbyist. Sap city eh?
Door #1 or Door #2? I'll take Door #2 every day of the week.
What are your thoughts on how other hobbyists fit into your world of card collecting? Do you enjoy dealing with other collectors? What if they collect the same thing you do?
I love finding people hits to their player collections, especially if it's someone a little obscure. And it's even better when they've just started collecting the guy and still need base cards and such.
ReplyDeleteI've developed a sort of trading friendship with another guy who supercollects the same football player I do. Lucky for me, he's way ahead of me and sends me his extra stuff that I don't have. We used to unknowingly bid against each other, but now communicate when we find a seller that has a bunch of our guy to see what we're after in particular.
I also have a team collection that I potentially add to when another friend collector asks if I need any of the dupes he picks up....
The down side of other "collectors" is that sometimes you find people that aren't really in it for the cards, but are more like dealers in that they flip the hottest hyped rookies and break boxes and cases just to find one guy. As a set builder, it makes it tough if they have singles of a set that I need, but won't bother to sort through them to find me some since all they want in trade is super x-fracto chrome mojo hits anyway. No win situation.