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I have a simple question for you today:
What is the worst part about card collecting?
There are many possible answers here (and I'd love to hear your answers in the comments) but a few possibilities jump to mind immediately for me:
- Short prints
- Gimmicks
- Error cards (real or otherwise)
- Sets too big
- Sets too small
- Parallels
- No more gum with card packs
- No more cigarettes with cards (ok, this one is a good thing)
Seriously though, those are all possible answers - but none of them are my current #1 pet peeve when it comes to card collecting. You know what my answer is?
9 pocket pages.
More specifically, I have been collecting cards ever since I was eight or nine years old. In that time, I've bought thousands (and thousands) of 9 pocket pages. When I was little, I would buy the cheapest pages available. Today, I try to stick with Ultra Pro pages...but when you look at my collection in its entirety I have a ton of different 9 pocket pages.
And I hate sorting them.
You see, I'm sort of OCD when it comes to my collection.
I would love it if every card I owned was housed (in order) in a binder...and if every 9 pocket page was an Ultra Pro page. However, that's not feasible since it would require me to buy a TON more pages...and it would require me to un-sleeve and re-sleeve a large number of 700+ card sets (something I'm not anxious to do). I would also run into the problem of what to do with all of my old 9 pocket pages...I wouldn't want to throw them out but I also don't really have room to store hundreds (maybe thousands) of unusable pages.
No, instead I do the following. I first try to sort all of the 9 pocket pages into like piles. This sounds easy in theory, but if you've ever worked with some of the "off brand" pages, you know that they are often very similar...and yet, different. It's super annoying.
Once I get them sorted, I then try to find the appropriate size stack to use for a set.
The other day, I finally got around to putting my 1996 Upper Deck Collector's Choice (Series I) cards in a binder - and I used some of my recycled (non-Ultra Pro) sleeves for that set. I figured the whole set is probably worth less than the (recycled) 9 pocket pages so why not? You'll also notice that I leave a blank spot where each missing card will (eventually) go. My 1996 UDCC want list is still quite large (just in case you have some sitting around)...
Now that I've finally sorted all my extra 9 pocket pages, I'm stuck with another conundrum. How to store them (and keep them organized) until I need them again?
The life of a collector is never complete, is it?
So tell me, what do you think is the worst part about collecting?
My worse part of card collecting is a personal one, and that is not having alot of time to devote to my collecting. I have assorted packs and trade packages to go through and sort. I have team sets waiting to be put in pages. And just time to go and look for more cards.
ReplyDeleteWorst part is company exclusives. It creates the necessity for logoless cards and stomps on diversity, originality and choice.
ReplyDeleteShort Prints and rookies saturation in every product run close second and third.
"Worst part is company exclusives." I 100% agree with GCA. This has really let companies with exclusives sit back and take a nap.
ReplyDeleteCompetition breeds creativity, but right now the only competition is which company can get the most exclusive licenses...
For me the worst part of the industry I think would be the gimmicks and super short prints (Yeah I'm looking at you super overhyped super overpriced 2012 Topps Archives Baseball Bryce Harper RC #241). OH and multiple variants and parallels for dozens upon dozens of sets. The 1990s might have been the Overproduction years as far as the number of individual cards made, now we are in an Overproduction of limited edition cards era. OH and what GCA said about exclusive rights making other companies making "Unlicensed" cards with no logos or team names if they even bother to make them for that sport anymore.
ReplyDeleteAs for Collecting if has to be currently being unorganized due to first a huge re-organization project stalling. Then having to move a few years later while the collection was only semi-organized. Resulting in a collection that has never been organized in my current apartment I've been in for nearly 9 years. All the while adding to the collection.
I'm the same way about the various 9 pocket pages. A big problem I have is pages from the early 1980s are super brittle and often need replacing due to their age, or they are just too dang bulky now compared to the ULtra Pros and the BCW pages.
I'd say the worst part about this hobby is my problem with storage. This hits in a couple different ways. One I currently don't have a place to house my collection anyways with the birth of my son I lost my man cave so most of my active collection was religated to a high self in the closet and the rest to the shed or a storage unit. Overall card collections and my comic collection are bulky. Plus through in the various ways I store, in binders, set boxes, monster boxes, shoe boxes, etc. Then add on to that the whole issue of cards that don't really fit into my collection, the extras from random packs, the extras from set building, and so on. Plus while I do trade and sell I still have a hard time with what to do with all those extras.
ReplyDeleteI'll cast another vote for exclusive rights and logoless results being the worst part of collecting.
ReplyDeleteIt killed attractive choices in brands for me. If there's one thing collectors can all agree upon...we love choices.
Too many cards and sets. New releases weekly is ridiculous. One of the (many) reasons I'm moving away from modern.
ReplyDeleteAll my pages are stashed under a chair in my modified card room. Can't say I've ever thought about them being a problem.
ReplyDeleteWorst part of collecting these days is something I just mentioned on Twitter a week or so ago: Heritage is the only set that is printed on the cardboard that was used by Topps between 1952-91. The cards haven't seemed as real since then.
Off the top of my head, how about one of the medium sized flat rate shipping boxes from the PO to store the pages. Best part? FREE!!!! And the medium boxes are pretty much 8.5 by 11, so they should fit comfortably. If not, go up to the large size.
ReplyDeleteThat's tough. Pages in general are bad for cards, but for me I would have to say it's the card companies not getting it right. Every player in the league should have a card. Panini had the audacity to call a 300 card set for a 450 man league "Complete" last year.
ReplyDeleteWorst part by far, keeping track of stuff I have and what I don't. I loved zistle for this but it is gone.
ReplyDeleteSince a few already stole the "exclusive rights to logos" I'll go with:
ReplyDeleteLack of decent set for the cheap set collector build. I like the $1 price per pack of Opening Day, but I don't want a re-hash of Series 1 and a preview of Series 2. I want a new design, little to no parallels, a couple of insert sets, and 20+ different players per team. I don't need autos or relics, just keep the price low, the design slick, and the checklist all inclusive.
The worst part of collecting for me is that my collection takes up too much space. I'd love to put every set I own into a binder, but that's never going to happen. I know that I could adjust the way I collect (which I'm trying to do), but I don't want to be a guy who only collects one player or one team. I enjoy collecting cards, because of the amount of variety out there.
ReplyDeleteKeeping it organized is definitely the worst part, especially when I get new stuff from the mid 90s, fill up that box, and have to shift stuff to the next box, which might fill that one, etc. I probably need a system that handles random insertion better if I want to keep it sorted like that.
ReplyDeleteAs for storing your empty pages, maybe just put them in binders to keep the similar ones together? As a bonus, you can fit a lot more empty pages in a binder than full ones.
Coming 3/25, 7:00 Pacific. http://thiscardiscool.blogspot.com/2017/03/card-collecting-worst.html
ReplyDeleteI'm a bit behind.