The thin line between hoarding and collecting

[kprst6]

Re: Difference between hoarding & collecting

We all marvel at the collectors who have diverse collections of the same player and admire their length and breadth. Why is being so focused on one item from that player any different or less impressive?

If you had 10 Matt Diaz bats from the same season, none of which were anything special (milestone bat, home-run bat, playoff bat, all star bat etc), I would argue that they were all basically the same common bat and wouldn't want to look at all 10 of them because once you've seen 1 common 2010 Matt Diaz bat, you've seen them all.

If you had 1 bat from each season for 10 seasons, I would be much more interested in each bat individually than seeing 10 bats from the same season. At some point, the nostalgia is lost when you see how easy an item is to obtain and you see multiples of the same thing.

If you are literally able to obtain every single jersey worn by a player, I would argue the value would decrease simply because no one cared enough about that player to keep the item. There is a huge difference between an item being rare because they just don't exist in the market like a Troy Polamalu game used jersey, vs an artificial lack of availability because 1 person bought every single item. If you are the only person willing to hold on and collect a particular players items, then that means there is little to no market for that player and are probably worth more as kindling for a fire. To you, the collection might be worth $2,500 a jersey, but to everyone else, they probably wouldn't pay $100.00 per jersey.

[cliffjmp33]

Re: Difference between hoarding & collecting

This is a tough one as I think to each their own in a sense. And as I remember reading when I first joined, we should collect what we like. And if that is 10 Matt Diaz bats, so be it.

However, if you're living outside your means and put buying a Matt Diaz bat that has no real meaning to you other than "I want it", but can't pay your utilities or such, then it becomes a problem in my eyes.

Personally, I have about a dozen items in my collection and don't see it expanding a ton. If I am going to add, it's going to have some sentiment for me. I may have to part with certain items to obtain others, but I want to be able to have heat in the winter instead of freezing and staring at an NFL football.

And I hope our mentioning of Matt Diaz's bats only help increase their worth for collectors!

[frikativ54]

Re: Difference between hoarding & collecting

The sheer number of bats used per player per season must be near 150 or more. Even a 4 season player would use over 600 bats. Superstar players like Derek Jeter over his 16 seasons using only 100 bats a season would have gone through 1600 bats. Puts a guy with say 100 of them or 1/16th of them in perspective, doesn't it?

The problem with this reasoning is that it assumes that all of a player's bats are available for purchase. Truth is that no matter how many bats are used, only a fraction of those make it out to collectors. Some are discarded, some are cracked so badly that they aren't even offered, and many are kept by the players and their relatives. Assume that the teams keep several, which they most likely do, and you are left with not too many bats left for collectors.

If a player collector starts buying over ten bats per player per year, there simply aren't enough bats for everyone who wants one to enjoy having one. As a result, many of the people who would be thrilled with just one bat don't end up even being to obtain them. This is all as a result of hoarding, which in all honesty, does not impress me like honest collecting does. Just remember that every bat you hoard is a bat that someone else is missing out on.

[MarinersFan34]

Re: Difference between hoarding & collecting

The difference.. is how you want to judge and label that person.

Do we really need to start doing that? Honestly who cares what you collect and why would anyone here care what someone else thinks of what they collect?

I wouldn't label anyone here a hoarder because I have no need or desire to start judging collections and labeling them.

The only time would be perhaps if their house resembled that of those profiled on the show "Hoarders: Buried Alive" and replace the "stuff" with game used items. When you have so much you have to walk on top of it to get around, then yeah you're a hoarder.

Also, who cares about monetary value either, other than another way to judge someone and what their collect might be worth on the secondary market. One of the guys I collect is Sexson, his stuff has very little market value but because I'm a big fan, I should only buy 1 unique item and stick with that? So I can make someone else happy that they can't label me a hoarder? If I have the expendable cash to buy it or win it at auction, it's fair game and it's mine if I choose.

Is it the value of the player that is the problem? If I owned 10 Sexson bats (50 total) from his last 5 seasons, will anyone care or even notice? If I owned 10 Pujols bats (50 total) from his last 5 seasons, I'm a greedy hoarder?

Can it be frustrating that others have multiples of a bat or jersey I want while I haven't seen others for sale, I guess so. If I start to take the hobby so seriously that I get angry or have to label that person, I need to walk away cause it's not a fun hobby anymore.

Collect what you want and care less about what others might think of you, just enjoy the hobby!

[gingi79]

Re: Difference between hoarding & collecting

The problem with this reasoning is that it assumes that all of a player's bats are available for purchase. Truth is that no matter how many bats are used, only a fraction of those make it out to collectors. Some are discarded, some are cracked so badly that they aren't even offered, and many are kept by the players and their relatives. Assume that the teams keep several, which they most likely do, and you are left with not too many bats left for collectors.

If a player collector starts buying over ten bats per player per year, there simply aren't enough bats for everyone who wants one to enjoy having one. As a result, many of the people who would be thrilled with just one bat don't end up even being to obtain them. This is all as a result of hoarding, which in all honesty, does not impress me like honest collecting does. Just remember that every bat you hoard is a bat that someone else is missing out on.

Les I respect this opinion and understand what you are saying. I respectively disagree that if my focus is obtaining all the bats I can (and I am not even a bat collector, just using the analogy) of my favorite player than why should I care about what others are collecting? If we both want a Bagwell bat and I never owned one, what right do I have to say to you "Look Les, you already have Bagwell stuff, you should just let me buy this one." It's part of free market economics to say everyone has the same shot at something whether they own 1 or 1000 of them already.

I'm not looking to fight just wanted to continue what I see as a very healthy debate and discussion.

If you don't mind me asking, has this happened to you? Is there some collector hoarding Bagwell stuff? You just seem to have a very personal response and I am wondering of it is coming from personal experience and if so, I understand exactly why you feel this way. You don't have to answer, just wondering.

And I hope our mentioning of Matt Diaz's bats only help increase their worth for collectors!

I really hope to one day meet him and have him sign my bat. I am proud to own his pink Mothers Day bat as my own mother's ancestry has many women who suffered and died from Breast Cancer. It's already priceless to me. However, I agree his bats should be worth and selling for so much more than they are but I am a biased hoarder.

[dcgreg25]

Re: Difference between hoarding & collecting

Collect what you want and care less about what others might think of you, just enjoy the hobby!

Jeremy, well said. I could not have put it better myself. (says the guy with a few significant player collections).

[gingi79]

Re: Difference between hoarding & collecting

The only time would be perhaps if their house resembled that of those profiled on the show "Hoarders: Buried Alive" and replace the "stuff" with game used items. When you have so much you have to walk on top of it to get around, then yeah you're a hoarder.

I'd replace "hoarder" with "epic and awe inspiring" I am sorry if it makes me sound like less of the philosophical genius I normally am on this board but I would LOVE to see an episode of Hoarders: Buried Alive with thousands of untold and buried treasures of the game worn world. In fact, I'd rent a van gather up all of my friends from this board and go to their home with the intent of helping them unclutter their homes while increasing the clutter in about a hundred of ours.

[MarinersFan34]

Re: Difference between hoarding & collecting

Lol, I can imagine the Halper collection(no need to stray off on the authenticity here) but just the amount of items he had, and dump them on the floor all over the house. Oh man, having to walk on top of it, ruining stuff, breaking things I'm sure. It'd be a sad day to see that but I agree it'd be neat to see the treasures uncovered.


Over the years players use so many bats, jerseys, sticks, etc. that there should be plenty to go around for everyone, sometimes it just takes years of patience.

[solarlottry]

Re: Difference between hoarding & collecting

I think that if you collect what you like then go for it!

If I want 20 Steve Young shirts and I can afford it why cant I expand the collection? Am I a hoarder because I like to collect that many Steve Young shirts?

Now there are times when sharing is in order especially when friendships and relationships are taken into account. Also when a certain jersey greatly enhances another collectors collection but just adds another shirt to mine, then I will let it go. With that being said I would expect goodwill in return from the people involved.

I think this hobby can be fun if WE keep it that way and never get too greedy! Friendships and the ability to share what you have with other fans and collectors is what makes this hobby even more fun for me and by allowing some items to go to other collectors with similar interests only benefits us all.

Now if an item pops up that is special-a Steve Young playoff shirt or a jersey from a year I have been looking for then I will try and work something out with the other collectors I know before a bidding war ensues. Sometimes there is an item that just must be added though but thankfully those are few and far between!

Always buying 49ers gamers!
Paul
garciajones@yahoo.com

[Dach0sen0ne]

Re: Difference between hoarding & collecting

I don't think it matters whether they are common players or not. Having over ten bats of the same player from the same season - superstar or not - means that you are a hoarder. Sometimes people on the forum post photographs of their lumber, and I have to wonder what drives that sort of obsession.

I'm not sure why you need to label anyone because they have more than a certain number of bats that "you" think is acceptable. I guess I missed the 10 bat cutoff limit in the player collectors handbook.

Why can't people share? Are they like adult kids who are insecure that somebody else may have access to their toys? Are they so possessive that they need every bat a player used in a given season? Is it an issue of needing absolute control of the market?

I'd be more than happy to help anyone acquire an Austin Jackson item, but I control the market and the prices are going to be very high. I've only had a few people ever ask about buying a Jackson bat and I was more than happy to help those people out. Sharing is caring.

[Texstros]

Re: Difference between hoarding & collecting

I think its a stretch to call someone who buys of 10 of any one thing a "hoarder". I was buying Chris Johnson Astros bats long before anyone else even noticed them sitting at the kiosk at minute maid park. Once he became "Hot" everyone started to get frisky & started buying them. By then I was getting phone calls from people to who wanted to sell me his bats & now that hes not so hot im still getting phone calls. I think of the bats like shoes, everyone of them is a little different & each has its own character.
Now my wife thinks of it as hoarding but she does not understand, LOL

[eGameUsed]

Re: Difference between hoarding & collecting

Not really sure what the point of this thread is or what relevance it has on game used memorabiliai. Sounds like it is intended to start an argument and cause problems.

People can and should do (collect) what they want, for any reason, without being questioned. Everyone has a special reason why they collect a certain team or player, and that is OK. Whether it be an experience, potential investment, or just something that peaks your interest.

Part of this forum is sharing those passions and showing off what we each collect and obtain. I have acquired countless items from other forum members that see that I collect a certain player or team and offer those items that might not fit in their collection. This is what collecting is all about.

This "equal distribution and everyone gets a fair share" mentality sounds very political. Not the point of this board.

My 2 Cents.

[frikativ54]

Re: Difference between hoarding & collecting

If you don't mind me asking, has this happened to you? Is there some collector hoarding Bagwell stuff? You just seem to have a very personal response and I am wondering of it is coming from personal experience and if so, I understand exactly why you feel this way. You don't have to answer, just wondering.

Yes - I have known of people who hoard stuff of players I collect. To give you an example, there was this guy on eBay several years back who would hoard Bagwell items, especially cards. Every time I got a high bid, he would summarily outbid me. He needed several duplicates of every card, even if they were rare inserts. The only hope of winning stuff was through BIN/BO auctions where I could make an outright higher offer. The interesting thing is that while he is still on eBay today, he doesn't bid nearly as much on Bagwell stuff. The hobby has probably gotten tiresome for him. Would it have hurt him to let those duplicate inserts go? Did he need to make it very difficult for me to collect what I love? At a certain point, I had to lose out just because of some psychological need within him that caused him to buy everything he saw.

[godwulf]

Re: Difference between hoarding & collecting

The only time would be perhaps if their house resembled that of those profiled on the show "Hoarders: Buried Alive" and replace the "stuff" with game used items. When you have so much you have to walk on top of it to get around, then yeah you're a hoarder.

When I hear the term "hoarder", this is what I think of, as well (maybe because I regularly watch that show). Also, what cliff mentioned - about spending so much on GU that you can't pay your utility bill. Some "quality of life" issue that has been created by the sheer mass of what you've accumulated, in other words.

I think it's plain that frik is using the term "hoarder" in an entirely different sense, however; it doesn't seem to matter to her (and, Les, please correct me if I'm wrong) whether the collector/hoarder in question is stumbling over piles of bats and eating dogfood, or living in a mansion with everything neatly displayed in a room the size of Vermont. She's using the word in a very negative, judgmental sense, to describe somebody whom she feels has more of something than he or she "needs".

[xpress34]

Re: Difference between hoarding & collecting

Yes - I have known of people who hoard stuff of players I collect. To give you an example, there was this guy on eBay several years back who would hoard Bagwell items, especially cards. Every time I got a high bid, he would summarily outbid me. He needed several duplicates of every card, even if they were rare inserts. The only hope of winning stuff was through BIN/BO auctions where I could make an outright higher offer. The interesting thing is that while he is still on eBay today, he doesn't bid nearly as much on Bagwell stuff. The hobby has probably gotten tiresome for him. Would it have hurt him to let those duplicate inserts go? Did he need to make it very difficult for me to collect what I love? At a certain point, I had to lose out just because of some psychological need within him that caused him to buy everything he saw.

Les -

Just curious. Did you ever have contact with this person? Do you know for a fact that they went out of their way just to keep YOU from getting an item? (When you say that 'he' would 'summarily outbid' you, it's sounds like you believe it was personal)

Maybe they were collecting for other people as well - their kids for example. I have a friend here who has three boys and when it comes to cards - even inserts and parallels - he buys 4. I for his collection and one for each of the boys.

Unless there was some type of contact (eMail, phone, etc) between you and this person, you don't know their story anymore than they know yours.

Just a different perspective on your example.

- Smitty