Do people think you're crazy for collecting?

[Takuleechch]

Do friends, family, even yourself at times think you're crazy for investing so much time, money etc into the hobby?
Just wondering because someone recently told me I was pretty much an idiot for doing it lol. I'm not wealthy so get what I can when I can and I guess that played into his mindset that it's not worth it if you can't get "big" items

Oh well either way I think it's awesome!

[michaellechner]

I've experienced this with my family.

My brother thinks I'm wasting my money, and that I should put it towards things that "really matter".

I've actually considered starting a thread like this in the past.

Of course not everyone is unsupportive, but it certainly can be discouraging when they are.

[Takuleechch]

I've experienced this with my family.

My brother thinks I'm wasting my money, and that I should put it towards things that "really matter".

I've actually considered starting a thread like this in the past.

Of course not everyone is unsupportive, but it certainly can be discouraging when they are.

Yea funny right! My wife hates it
What's funny though...a forum member is actually the one that sent those messages to me. That's why it got me thinking.

[rufusandherschel]

"One person's trash is another person's treasure." Sound familiar?

[beef]

I've finally gotten my girlfriend to understand why I want to collect stuff but she still doesn't get why I'd want dirty jerseys. She always tells me to wash them lol

[cjw]

It's interesting. My wife never understood my passion for collecting "old, stinky jerseys and equipment" until a $26 purchase turned into a $8K sale and we went on vacation. Now she puts up with my obsession!

[HawaiiSportsNut]

Quite a few of my friends think that I have gone bonkers with my Kurt Suzuki collection. The best part of this was my wife would always say "NOT ANOTHER ONE!", now she gets excited when we add a new item to the collection, However she still complains about how much it all cost. :D

[ChrisCavalier]

My wife was born and raised in China. That said, she totally understands why grown men here spend their money to buy other people's used jerseys, pants, shoes, gloves, etc and turn them into collections.

Well....now that I think about it, she's never actually said that but I'm sure she does ;)

[sox83cubs84]

Back in the 1980s and early 1990s, before I had a falling out with my two older brothers, they would routinely dis my game-used collecting, not because of what it was in itself, but for the fact that it didn't make me a multi-millionaire (which they were nowhere close to being either).

After another swipe taken at a family event, I then posed them a question. I asked them "Most people desire fame and fortune as part of their lives. I admit I don't have the fortune, but, in my hobby, I definitely have the fame. Which one do you guys have?" The fact is, they had neither, and the question stunned them to the point that their attitudes about my endeavors totally changed.

Dave Miedema

[jtnatalierica]

This is called a HOBBY. People collect things, anything. Earrings, vases, state spoons, coins, etc. Ask your brother if he can even spell HOBBY and spot him the HO. What if someone bowls in a league. Not a cheap night out. To do what, knock down some pins? What if people go out to bars with friends once a month regularly, to do what, pour alcohol down their throat? What if people go parachuting, for what? To hope the chute opens before hitting the ground? Most people like to do things to keep busy in life. Most everything beyond working is a deterrent to going insane. For those to quantify what someone else LIKES to do in their spare time, qualifies as being a MORON. Fat, dumb and stupid is not a hobby, it's a trait of life. Everybody knows a moron, whether outside the house or inside the family. Nuff said

[carbonrosa]

Yea funny right! My wife hates it
What's funny though...a forum member is actually the one that sent those messages to me. That's why it got me thinking.

What I'm curiosus about is why a forum member would question why you collect with such negativity when I'm sure he collects himself?

[beaglegypsy003]

Friends would question my hobby of collecting University of Hawaii alumni gamers, programs, etc. But over the last couple of months I've been setting up a room to display part of my collection. When they see photos of some of the displays they change their minds and think it is pretty neat. Some still cannot understand the amount spent. That will probably nwver change.

[paul457]

I used to collect sports cards heavily. I guarantee that my collection isn't worth anywhere near what I spent on it.

So now I find myself in the same situation today, only now I'm collecting dirty laundry, that costs a lot more...

So personally, I think I'm crazy for spending the money I do on GU stuff. I can only imagine what my friends and family secretly think.

[sox83cubs84]

This is called a HOBBY. People collect things, anything. Earrings, vases, state spoons, coins, etc. Ask your brother if he can even spell HOBBY and spot him the HO. What if someone bowls in a league. Not a cheap night out. To do what, knock down some pins? What if people go out to bars with friends once a month regularly, to do what, pour alcohol down their throat? What if people go parachuting, for what? To hope the chute opens before hitting the ground? Most people like to do things to keep busy in life. Most everything beyond working is a deterrent to going insane. For those to quantify what someone else LIKES to do in their spare time, qualifies as being a MORON. Fat, dumb and stupid is not a hobby, it's a trait of life. Everybody knows a moron, whether outside the house or inside the family. Nuff said

+1

Dave M.

[3arod13]

It's interesting. My wife never understood my passion for collecting "old, stinky jerseys and equipment" until a $26 purchase turned into a $8K sale and we went on vacation. Now she puts up with my obsession!

Same here. When I started selling a few things and used the money for buying things for around our home, she now thought it was awesome. Unfortunatley, she now says, "when are you going to sell some stuff, so we can buy this or that." I created a monster!!

[Sotystl]

Im lucky to have a wife that loves the stuff i collect. It was HER idea for me to have a room (which is in progress).

Havent got too much "your crazy", then again most dont know what ive paid for some of my stuff haha.

[godwulf]

I believe there are really two questions being posed here: Do non-GU collectors think you're crazy for collecting, period...and do other GU collectors think you're crazy for wasting your time collecting stuff they don't think is worth the effort.

I'd have to say that I've gotten negative feedback from both groups.

My own collection of 1200+ bats ranges from, at the objective monetary value high end, a gamer cracked by a future Hall-of-Famer in a World Series game, to, at the other end, some bats given to me by independent league players who will never spend a day in affiliated Baseball. If I had to rank my bats as to how much I actually like or value them, the WS bat probably wouldn't make the top hundred...'cause lots of others have good memories attached to them, or were used by players I happen to like a heck of a lot more.

I also routinely shell out 10-20 bucks on bats used by players in the low minors, and I've had other collectors suggest that I was wasting my time and money doing so. If anything, some of my fellow collectors seem to think less of my collecting that stuff than people who don't collect GU at all, which is kind of odd.

Last year, at an independent league game, there was some old guy (I know...look who's talking) at the gate, asking the folks taking tickets if the games were "worth watching". He was griping about the cost of the ticket (five bucks). And when I happened to mention to him that I was collecting foul and home run balls from these games, getting them signed and displaying them, he looked at me like I was some kind of idiot. "They're never going to be worth anything!" he said. "Yeah", I said, "but they don't cost a dime and I enjoy it." Needless to add, I didn't convert him to my way of thinking, and he went on his way. His loss.

[mbrieve]

Collect what you love and love what you collect. Let's face it, the vast majority of collectors have at least some limitation on what they can spend on their collection. Just like anything in life, you have to pick and choose what you can and cannot have. My bank account doesn't currently provide me with the ability to collect the current all star players from my favorite team, but my patients has paid off by collecting some of the former all star players from my favorite team once the prices come back to earth.

Additionally, I may have no interest personally in what others collect, but I can appreciate the meaning to them. My one bit of advise to most collectors starting out would be to by quality over quantity. Again, I know that collecting style isn't for everybody, but as I get older I realize there is a finite amount of space to display my collection. Therefore, I have had to liquidate things that would otherwise never be displayed and I have in turn reinvested that money into better pieces.

Just my .02

[UTeric3232]

People get really creeped out by my mannequins....lol

[xpress34]

People get really creeped out by my mannequins....lol

My wife doesn't want to go in the basement if I'm not home because of my Mannequins!

[jmeekins33]

My wife thinks I'm a little crazy. She's very supportive but I don't think she fully understands why I'm so into it. It's a hobby. You have to have something in life even if it doesn't make sense to anyone but you.

I can't stand negative comments from people. There in no reason for them to crap on something you care about. Maybe they are just unhappy people.

[3arod13]

My wife thinks I'm a little crazy. She's very supportive but I don't think she fully understands why I'm so into it. It's a hobby. You have to have something in life even if it doesn't make sense to anyone but you.

I can't stand negative comments from people. There in no reason for them to crap on something you care about. Maybe they are just unhappy people.

People collect different things. Unless you are a collector, I don't think you can fully understand it. I saw on TV this morning, someone wanted to buy a Andy Warhol Soup Can Dress for $3,500. Even as a collector myself, I think they're crazy.