Explaining the hobby to friends and family

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  • David
    replied
    Re: Explaining the hobby to friends and family

    A Topps executive once said when asked about baseball card collecting, "Collecting is like a disease. And if you don't have the disease, you don't understand it."

    A lot of people won't understand collecting anything.

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  • David
    replied
    Re: Explaining the hobby to friends and family

    I should add if someone showed my his Michael Jackson sparkly concert worn jacket that cost $100,000 I'd think him weird. I mean, I guess I can understand purchasing a concert worn item, but spending $100,0000 would make me question his priorities in life.

    So it's not so much what you collect, but how much you spend, how much you own and how much time you put into it is what lay people find strange.

    If I have an one of those little rubber ugly troll thingies on my desk, people might chuckle or think it cute or say "I have one of those." On the other hand, if they find out my home is lined with hundreds of them, they might question my mental health. So it's degree and amount that often is the key to how people view you.

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  • David
    replied
    Re: Explaining the hobby to friends and family

    I do think a majority of people appreciate some significance or interestingness of a jersey worn in a game by a famous baseball or football player. They might not be willing to pay $10 for it or have an interest in owning it themselves, but they can understand the jersey as an interesting artifact.

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  • David
    replied
    Re: Explaining the hobby to friends and family

    I think if you showed about any adult American a bat used by Babe Ruth in a game, they'd appreciate it. It would be on the order of showing them General Patton's helmet.

    I think when you have a closet full of game used pants from last month's Brewers' game, they'll think you're weird.

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  • David
    replied
    Re: Explaining the hobby to friends and family

    I'm an art historian by trade, specializing in the identification and dating and dealing with forgeries of art and artifacts. With friends and other art historians who know my trade, I've explained that people collect equipment used in old sports events and this material is sometimes faked for material game, and they seem to appreciate the concept. They usually think it odd that people would spend so much for an older jersey, but they they can understand the concept of collecting items. They already understand the idea of collecting.

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  • mad87man
    replied
    Re: Explaining the hobby to friends and family

    No matter what i collect people never really understood it. I have collected wrestling figures, diecast cars, and now game used. Some people think its cool while others thing its weird. I don't see what the difference is if i have a 5 game used helmets or a girl has 40 pairs of shoes. I really understood that but never really questioned it so i guess its a mutual understand of sorts.

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  • zookerman182
    replied
    Re: Explaining the hobby to friends and family

    Everyone i try and explain it to doesnt get it.

    And if they do get it, they really dont understand the significance of everything.

    Then there are the friends who are afraid to touch the items, that cracks me up.

    My wife actually understands i think more than anyone else, because she knows how much i like the brewers.

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  • brewcrew
    replied
    Re: Explaining the hobby to friends and family

    Eh, my friends and family don't really get it. My husband tolerates it, though. They all know how "into" history I am and know how much I love sports, but it's just an unusual hobby for them to understand. It doesn't much bother me, because I think the stuff I have is pretty cool.

    Besides, I think the main thing they're concerned about is when they'll have to make that call to A&E to put me on "Hoarders." I keep telling them my collection is really, really small compared to a lot of the guys on here.

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  • Number13
    replied
    Re: Explaining the hobby to friends and family

    For me, it is easy to explain to people. I am a history nut and love the connection it has with the past. When I put that spin on it, most people can make a connection to their childhood. I enjoy it more when people think I am either crazy or weird because of what I collect

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  • ivo610
    replied
    Explaining the hobby to friends and family

    Just wondering how peoples friends and family react to your passion for collecting GW items?

    Today I showed a good friend part of my collection. He had a hard time grasping the whole video/photo matching part of it. Being a non collector he was interested in what kind of authenticity the item had. Trying to explain to someone why authenticity isnt really a good thing to lean on was trying.

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  • trsent
    replied
    Re: Do People Think You're Crazy?

    When I was in high school my father used to harass me that he wanted to see me take my baseball cards to pay my bills.

    About ten years later my father was short with a down payment on a new house, you know where the money came from...All those baseball cards he harassed me for buying.

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  • jboosted92
    replied
    Re: Do People Think You're Crazy?

    I think I get the most joy out of displaying/ and helping others fans and not fans of Collecting understanding what each peice means.

    Bats, Balls, etc...

    I Collect items, that have a Significant history or attribution to a time/player/World Series..etc.

    So I can place myself, or that person I am talking to right in that ballpark, when the player was using it.

    For instance, I have a 1933 Al _ All star signed baseball.

    Now its not game used, but as you can imagine, all the players, sitting in the dugout of the 1ST ever All-star game passing MY ball around signing 1 after another...

    Players leaving the sweet spot available for Babe Ruth to sign... then 3 hours after he signs it, he goes out and hits a HR (which the HR ball just sold for 710,000).

    Or a Bat I own that quite possibly have been used in the First world series.

    Or Bats of HOF;s or Star;s that performed heroic on the field in there generation.

    I also have played baseball my entire life, so maybe I have a different connection to the diamond than some. But understanding the talent and skills of theses individuals, and at the same time the History taking place, puts me in that history. Sort of

    Thats what I enjoy.

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  • Yankwood
    replied
    Re: Do People Think You're Crazy?

    I think we're all just basically social misfits, but that doesn't bother me.

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  • Swoboda4
    replied
    Re: Do People Think You're Crazy?

    Sometimes I look at the family room in the basement with all the baseball G/U items and wonder if I just didn't grow up enough. But then you go to Cooperstown and certain other museums ,and say to yourself this stuff looks great I guess I'm O.K. As long as items are framed and showcased well that's what makes the difference.

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  • skipcareyisfat
    replied
    Re: Do People Think You're Crazy?

    No one's ever told me I was crazy for collecting dirty, used equipment. My family and friends have always been supportive about it, although I don't really talk about it with most of them so I'm not sure if they really know how much I'm into it. My wife is pretty cool with it, too. In fact, just the other day we were watching a baseball game on TV and the camera was on Marcus Giles, who was batting. Almost as soon as they showed a close-up of Giles, my wife said, "Look how dirty HIS helmet is." I told her to back off and find her own obsession.

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