General Forum

In reference to a recent post of possibly driving up the value of "junk era" cards by destroying thousands and thousands of cards from those years, I realize I may have just traded away my retirement in packaging 32 of these cards, the biggest star being a 1991 Topps #402.  If those who think they can drive up the prices succeed in doing so, a member here is about to "win the lottery".  Of course, I am also getting back some similar cards in exchange so I don't feel so bad.

Seriously, does everything have to be about the value of the cards?  I cringe every time I see a Forum post asking to identify a card and the next question is "Does anyone know the value?". Isn't this a hobby where most of us collect things looking to complete sets, player collections, or team sets, no matter how "common" a card is?  One of the reasons I like this site is that I can trade away for those cards that were always the most difficult to find, yes that common Brian Dubois or Luis Sojo card to complete another set in my collection without having to pay the minimum $0.18 from Sportlots or $0.25 from a local card shop.  I can get 18 cards for less than 10 cents each through a trade (including any value for the cards I trade away which are in my 400,000 card pile of traders). And the cost of each card is even less when making a trade of 500 or more cards (4 last year and already one on the go for 2020). If it wasn't for this site, many of my incomplete sets would remain idle for months if not years as economical access to commons in my area is scarce at best.

So in this latest trade someone is getting 31 common cards from the (IMO "ugly) 1990 Donruss set and the 1 1991 Topps card.  I am getting 36 cards, 32 of which are from the 1992 Topps for Kids set bringing me to 11 cards missing from the set.  If it wasn't for other trades here on TCDB, that set would remain around 1/3 complete.  Thanks to all those of you who truly collect for the love of the hobby and not to build your retirement fund.

You had me scared there for a minute. I thought you traded away your 1990 Fleer Jose Uribe.

Nicely said!  I don't pay too much attention to the value of cards.  I collect cos it is my main hobby.  I love opening a pack and finding a Pittsburgh Penguins, Arsenal or Pittsburgh Pirates player always puts a smile on my face.  I don't do sets as that gives me a headache.  It's a hobby for me something that brings me a great deal of fun.  My only gripe is that I wish there cards for the USL Championship and also Formula 1 racing.

I hate it when someone destroys cards. Those poor cards have not deserved that. If you don't need them give those to some kids and maybe get a new collectors in the future.

Being I'd say a 95% set collector with really only a handful of player collections I am glad that one is able to finish a set here without breaking the bank as it were. I have lost track over the past 21 months being here in just how many sets have been completed through the generosity of others here and trades as well. I think the "value-chasing cards" are here to stay (perhaps unfortunately) but it isn's anyhting that I lose any sleep over. The other satisfaction of course is being able to complete or assist in doing so other members quests be it a set or a particular player. Your final sentence pretty well wraps it all up for me as well.

I too love to collect just to collect. I have many Cards (hits) that I have no special attraction to but they came from my box and I feel they are meant for me to have. I guess that is my attraction. 

I do it for the love of my Nebraska Cornhuskers (football)  The onlly value any other card has is:    What Husker card can I get for it. 

I give up set building years ago.  I really enjoyed that last card of the set.  No more but I get the same felling when I get a nice Huisker card.   

As C2C has stated:   If the value of my PC doubles I will get half of what I have paid for them  I'm thinking more like 10%

You can always tell who is truly a collector and who is a money grubber trying to profit off real collectors. 

Some sociopath just cut a 1/1 card in half because he was having a hissy fit. 

Bru, we think alike. Maybe that's why we've traded so often and included many cards that others may not be willing to deal. I know you've traded me some vintage Nolan Ryan, Reggie Jackson, Pete Runnels, to name a few, and you've gotten some stars and HOFers you collect from me. In fact, I can safely say that I've learned much about trading from you as anyone else, and it's allowed me to enjoy the hobby. 

As was mentioned earlier, even the J_ _ _ Era (I hate that term!) cards have gone across the border between us - not as much as vintage or 80s cards, but enough. Ever since that post from earlier last week, I've checked my Recent Matches and I still get tons of matches for those. And I still have many myself. In fact, let me go public with this (and I stated this to a card shop owner up in NJ last year), one of my favorite sets is 1989 Topps Baseball. I love the card quality and the simplicity that goes with the baseball swoosh.

There are others who are likeminded, and if not for them I doubt I'd be having as much fun collecting as I am. 

And, I may add, I've saved money through my trades with you and hope to continue that relationship into 2020.

Funny, I like 1989 Topps as well. I spend hours resorting and pulling out the many "variations" listed and unlisted. Some of my collections go beyond what's listed here, especially If I have 100s of cards for 1 player. Mostlly color and "blurby" types of variations, but I like them, just cool. Gives the J ..k era a new meaning for me.