General Forum

The baseball season is wrapping up and I wondered if anyone collects "differently" during the offseason? 

I'm still working on finishing up the Topps 2022 series 2 base (which I hope to finish before next season starts!) but I've thought about trying to start some other small project within collecting,maybe some smaller insert sets,

Just curious what you all do differently during the offseason (if anything)?

I don't necessarily collect by season. Just because it's now football and hockey season and baseball offseason (shortly) I don't change focus to just those sports. I have enough things to chase down that I can focus on getting best value regardless of sport. What I do notice is that there are some sellers, eBay and shows for example, that will adjust for seasons. If they want to discount because it's an offseason, especially if they are clearing the way for next year's products, doesn't bother me none.  

Always a good time to complete some sets.  Although is there really an off season in collecting? 

I collect by wants and need.....but watch for newly released material....which in season most of the time...

For me Topps Heritage Minor hasn’t been released yet.  So if any of my favorite team is in the set I’ll spend the next couple months chasing those and parallels of it.  Otherwise, I guess I slow down considerably, but don’t really stop collecting.  

I guess I try to spend the collecting offseason like my fantasy baseball offseason: resting and prospecting. I definitely feel a bit baseball'd out, so although collecting never really has an offseason I do tend to think less about the Red Sox (and anything Bogaerts and Devers) than I would have if they were still playing nearly every day. Things will ramp up in March, though.

I also tend to look over how some minor league players have been doing and maybe see if I can trade for a fun prospect or two to see if they turn into the next big thing. Bowman definitely doesn't leave many stones unturned... it can be exhausting to try and not bite on everyone. This does remind me that something I've been meaning to do is look up every Sox prospect I've collected and see how they actually turned out. A lot of names that never made it to a Topps card...

There is no offseason in baseball card collecting for me.  Baseball products are released every single month throughout the year.  Heck, 2022 releases will even continue well into 2023!  

For me, there has never been an off-season to collecting. Even back in the 70s/80s, there were always cards available just about anywhere I went, so nothing changes for me.

No real difference for me.

At this time of the year, I'm usually just looking for the last few rookie cards that I want from the Topps update set. I start to focus more on non-sport and this year in particular, selling so I can fund my non-sport wants.