I chatted with Eric on the Fat Packs Podcast (formerly known as Beckett Radio) for about 30 minutes today on my collecting history, the burn out and also what I see in the future for my collecting. We talked about how it happens to a lot of collectors but it's not talked about much.
I'm curious everyone's thoughts, both on the interview itself, and in their thoughts on hobby fatigue. Have you felt it? What was your course of action? Please let me know in the comments below!
You can listen to the episode below, in your browser, and you can also find the show on iTunes.
I've been avoiding that podcast like gas station sushi, but for you, I'll give it a listen tomorrow or the next day and try to provide some useful feedback.
ReplyDeleteThat was really specific...I just avoid sushi from any locale!
DeleteI took a ten year break from card collecting, burnout being the primary reason -- and with the way I've been feeling lately, I kind of wish that I had never come back to it.
DeleteAs for the podcast, well, I can at least now say that I've listened to an episode, or half of an episode... I am definitely not the target audience for this show.
In fairness, I'm not the target market for it either. :-)
DeleteWait, Jon, why you have been avoiding my podcast like "gas station sushi"
DeleteIt was somewhere around '94 or '95 & it just seemed like I was trying to collect everything. Well, almost. While I was busy putting sets together of baseball, football, hockey & a couple of basketball releases, my wife had decided that she wanted to dabble in non-sport cards. It got to the point where we had 30 or so sets mostly finished & they just kept coming out. It was about this same time that our 3 LCS started procedures to shut their doors. I was ready to step away altogether, but instead decided to focus my collection back to where I started as a player collector. I went even further by completely removing box/pack purchases & went after strictly singles.
ReplyDeleteI have so much respect for your ability to get to the specific focus point on only player collecting. Unfortunately, I have so many "projects" that I want to complete.
DeleteI've taken breaks a few times since I started collecting in the early 80's. Most recently was back in 2001 when I needed to choose between collecting cards and buying a place. I ended up choosing the latter. Returned in 2008 and have thought about taking time off a few times. Haven't actually done it though. I might cut back on spending here and there, but haven't experienced complete burnout. Don't anticipate it anytime soon either... but who knows.
ReplyDeleteI've definitely found it...ummmmm...interesting when I've needed to save for something, and stop buying cards, just how much money I have. A house is next on my life agenda, so we shall see.
DeleteHey Kin, great interview (I still have about 10 minutes left to listen to on my commute) and I think the majority of people have taken breaks for a while to refocus. I took a break from 1994-2000 mainly due to the baseball strike and card companies producing too many sets. Got back in the hobby in 2000-2001 timeframe focused on sumo wrestling cards and haven't looked back.
ReplyDeleteYour focus is certainly a different one and that could work for me as well. I don't think that I'll ever lose the love for the vintage Indy 500 related cards. I've certainly thought about scratching the rest and just focusing on those.
DeleteThanks for listening and commenting!