Leaving hobby? Why?

[EurekaDave]

I have seen lots of "leaving hobby" sales these days. I would to hear thoughts about your leaving. Just curious.

1. Maybe it's too expensive?
2. Maybe too dishonest?
3. Maybe the natural ebb and flow of interest?
4. Maybe other family consideratons -- kids, debts, time...

I'm just curious.

[Shipp_96]

Re: Leaving hobby? Why?

I believe all the reasons you posted are valid, and the top two reasons probably come into play more often than not.

The ones I find disturbing are when the person claims to be leaving the hobby, makes some sales and then starts posting brand new items again .

[TBTwinsFan]

Re: Leaving hobby? Why?

I think some people just get bored with it.

It just happened to me with modern baseball cards. They just became boring.

[kellsox]

Re: Leaving hobby? Why?

Saturation of market. Especially in baseball. Teams have increased the items that they put out each of the last few years and will keep doing so.

[frikativ54]

Re: Leaving hobby? Why?

While I haven't left the hobby, if I jumped ship, my number one reason would be the competitiveness. I'm not against competition per se, but I find the fights and jealousy between collectors for a piece of used clothing to be insipid.

Compete over awards, compete over academics, compete over art. However, what's the point of getting all hung up about game used memorabilia? While I enjoy owning my jerseys, hats, and cleats, they are merely possessions.

[rdeversole]

Re: Leaving hobby? Why?

I find the fights and jealousy between collectors for a piece of used clothing to be insipid..... While I enjoy owning my jerseys, hats, and cleats, they are merely possessions.

+1

[mad87man]

Re: Leaving hobby? Why?

I think its b/c the market is getting over saturated these days. Every team knows what they have and are willing to make that buck so they all sell it. I also think the competetion is there too. Instead of people helping one another a lot of people hurt each other. I also believe that the expense is alot too. People have to pay top dollar for jerseys that don't deserve it.

[Preston]

Re: Leaving hobby? Why?

For the most part we collect different things which is GREAT! I know there's another Titans collector on GUU (ALoving) but we're friends and we pass along info to each other. We help each other out. That's what it's supposed to be - A FUN HOBBY!

Yeah it can be expensive. Yeah it sucks when you have a drought and can't find anything for a while. Yeah things happen. But a collector is a collector.

[larry bourget]

Re: Leaving hobby? Why?

Times change, people change, interests change, mortality starts to set in your thinking also, for the older collectors.

LB

[ahuff]

Re: Leaving hobby? Why?

Saturation of market. Especially in baseball. Teams have increased the items that they put out each of the last few years and will keep doing so.

I agree with you entirely...I too have recently sold off a huge amount of my collection. I did so for a few reasons, but the oversaturation was certainly one that made it much easier to part with items for me.

[emann]

Re: Leaving hobby? Why?

Probably for most 1 & 3... It is an expensive hobby if you want to own star player items, unless you're lucky or willing/knowledgable enough to take risks with old bats at flea markets.

No offense to the forum, but think the loss of a sense of community contributes... If there was a really vibrant community of collectors who were in constant contact, I think that would have a huge effect on casual collector participation; encouraging new ones, reinvigorating old ones, etc... Alot of this community aspect is what we as fellow collectors make it...

I also think the average sports collector is more "blue collar" than other areas of collecting (antiques, books, art, cars, etc) and this affects the dollars flowing in and out during times of recession. I don't think it's a coincidence that you see auctions closing lower than expected or people deciding to pull the plug on collecting for now.

... but, if anybody is considering "leaving the hobby" without their Red Sox items, feel free to drop me a note.

[David]

Re: Leaving hobby? Why?

I used to a be a big photograph collector. When I realized I had a large pile of photographs on a desk I hadn't looked at for two years, I realized it was time to sell the collection.

I am involved professionally with collecting, and do enjoy following the various areas, but am not a active collector at this point.

[sox83cubs84]

Re: Leaving hobby? Why?

While I haven't left the hobby, if I jumped ship, my number one reason would be the competitiveness. I'm not against competition per se, but I find the fights and jealousy between collectors for a piece of used clothing to be insipid.

Compete over awards, compete over academics, compete over art. However, what's the point of getting all hung up about game used memorabilia? While I enjoy owning my jerseys, hats, and cleats, they are merely possessions.

+2

Dave Miedema

[G1X]

Re: Leaving hobby? Why?

Times change, people change, interests change, mortality starts to set in your thinking also, for the older collectors.

LB

+1 As an older collector, I can relate to all of these quite well.

I also agree with just about everything else stated so far in this thread, especially the over-saturation issue. For some collectors, the"chase" is part of the fun, and when there is no chase because your favorite team is continually flooding the market, part of the fun is suddenly gone. All that is left is deciding whether you want to pay (over-pay in most instances) when this year's uniforms are made available. This can become both boring and expensive very quickly - or at least it does for me.

Mark Hayne
Gridiron Exchange
gixc@verizon.net

Always looking for WFL uniforms

[chakes89]

Re: Leaving hobby? Why?

Compete over awards, compete over academics, compete over art. However, what's the point of getting all hung up about game used memorabilia? While I enjoy owning my jerseys, hats, and cleats, they are merely possessions.

And art, awards and academic achievements aren't merely possessions? What's the point is getting all hung up about some old paint on a piece of paper? Why care about competing to get an award? Why strive for anything tangible? Sounds like a biased double standard to me.

Your argument is flawed in the sense that, at the end of the day, everything short of what you mentioned is merely "stuff". Who is to say where the line should be drawn and what should be included/excluded? To each his own and who cares what the other guy does as long as you are happy? Who cares if someone beats you out on a bat or a jersey? I have lost out on quite a few items during my collecting days and I don't pout about it for more than a day, if even that long. Life isn't fun if you spend your time dwelling about trivial things.

Just a thought, for what it's worth