General Forum

Why do you collect what you collect? And, what does it say about you?

Griffey -- childhood memories lifelong mariners fan (got to go in the dugout his rookie year before a game and hang with the players... highlight)

Joe Harris, Nets -- (his dad was my coach, i still hang with this family, got to BBQ for him last year fellow Chelan High Alumnus) Also collect Steve Kline for the same reason

Rey Star Wars -- (the new trilogy my daughter and i really got to bond over the new movies, + I have a nerd crush on Rey)

Tom Brady -- (cause hes a legend and although i am a seahawks fan and a cougar and he got the job over my now 2nd favorite FB coug drew bledsoe, all he does is win win win)

Russell WIlson -- (seahawks fan, probably the second best seattle athlete ever behind Griffey, super good guy).... 

So i guess it says im loyal to my hood, long for the good old days, and will score cards wihunt for cards with good looking scavengers....

I document history. I do big picture- the entire history of three sports, automotive history, comic book history, military history, general historical subjects.

I collect stamps, coins and currency for the same reason. 

I used to collect Star Wars because I loved the movies and every book and comic published for them. Disney era, they threw away everything that made it great so I don't really collect anymore.

I collect and build scale model cars because I want to collect real cars to the same level I do cards. Unfortunately I can't afford that, never will, so I have to stick to scale versions.

I collect comic books because I love to read and I love the format, the characters, the continuity. 

I collect books and magazines because I love to read. 

What does it say about me?  That I'm a hoarder and don't plan my spending well (If I didn't have so many hobbies I might be able to actually afford a real car or two...)

I collect Philadelphia Flyers cards. If you couldn't tell that from my user name. I also collect any player with the last name Chamberlain. I collect because I enjoy it and gives me something g to do on my few days off that I get. I really like the trading this site has to offer.  

I collect Philadelphia Eagles and Phillies it reminds me of my mom and dad when they took me to a game i live in Giants Territory now but i will always be a Birdfan

Cards are my main collecting passion.  But I do not like sets.  I always like to say that my collection is on random.  I like to collect cards of my favorite teams and players.  Some other stuff I have collected are autographed photos, pucks, and baseballs.  Also a small but happy collection of beer cans.

I reckon I collect because it makes me happy when I look at the stuff.  I know it sure brightens up my office area here at the ole homestead.

I do it for the nostalgia; at times reliving memories of players I've watched either rooting for or against. One player (Alvin Dark) I collect as a way to remember my dad who died in 1972 when I was 15, and Dark was a manager of the Giants who my dad liked because of his Christianity. 

I collect less-and-less football and basketball, but still have vivid memories of players I collect going all the way back to Elvin Hayes leading the University of Houston Cougars over Lew Alcindor's (now Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) UCLA Bruins in the Astrodome to seeing Pete Maravich and his sagging socks do unimaginable things in the NBA that would be normal for a Harlem Globetrotters game to Hakeem Olajuwon destroying David Robinson in the playoffs after the Admiral was awarded the MVP Award back in the early 90s. The Dallas Cowboys tandem of Dandy Don Meredith and Bullet Bob Hayes, Doomsday, Roger the Dodger, TD, the Triplets, all have etched so many thrills in my heart that their cards lift my spirits when I see them.

So in essence, I want to live forever, and I do it through my collection.

I collect sets.  Always been that way.  I pretty much avoid 1991-2015, except certain players or Angels maybe.  With the way Topps releases 45 sets nowadays, I have to limit.  I don't even bother with flagship.  Big League seems more like collecting when I was a kid (80's) and I collect Heritage.

I have a few PCs.  Ted Williams, Rod Carew, Mike Trout, Rhys Hoskins.  Carew was my favorite as a kid.  Williams my favorite as an adult. Trout is the best player on the planet, playing for my team.  Hoskins went to my high school and my college.

I collect the Dallas Cowboys, and Topps football sets from ~1986 and earlier.

So yeah... pretty much a product of my childhood.

When I was a kid I had friends that collected, so I did.  I have been collecting since then.  I am mostly a team collector.  I collect my favorite teams such as the Los Angeles Rams, and Los Angeles Kings.  I also collect my favorite players such as Jack Youngblood, Issac Bruce, Aaron Donald, Luc Robitaille, and Ron Cey.  I do collect some sets that I am able to buy blasters at Target.  I have tried other hobbies, but interest after a while.  Being a member of this wonderful site lets me enjoy my trading collection more.

Such interesting reflections. 

Many ways I might respond, but here are a few: 

1. set collecting for me provides an artificial sense of order (in a world that increasingly seems disordered). the goals are neatly defined. the tasks are straightforward. other than this online community it's a solitary exercise for me. it's relaxing, a good release and the stakes are very low. 

2. collecting sets from my childhood allows me to reconnect with a tiny bit of the lost magic. a chance to relive those feelings of opening packs and studying new cards. the adult reality never matches the intensity of those lost feelings. but the memories are still powerful and largely positive. 

3. sports cards were always and still are a window into the larger world. i learned bits about canada and (the french language) through hockey cards. football cards of the 1970s exposed me to HBCUs like grambling and Jackson State. pre-internet, baseball cards taught us some baseball history with fun facts, compiled statistics, and all-time leaders cards.   

i'll let others interpret meaning, but that's a bit of why i collect (and it's really only been the past 2 years that i've returned to collecting).