Take a break from collecting?
 

I wanted to ask this to the baseball community here on BO because it’s the most active I think.

Has anyone taken an extended break from collecting? I’m not at the point where I want to sell any cards and there are definitely ones I would not sell unless they were an upgrade.

But I’m just feeling burnt out from some circumstances in life and what was once felt like a fun hobby now is just scrolling and watching YouTube to distract myself from things.

I may be overthinking things but I wanted to see if anyone has felt the same at some point


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I may at some point.

I used to collect in the 90s, then forgot all about it becasue of life.

Came back very strongly the last 3 years, but also feeling burned out, because I noticed no matter how much you try to complete stuff, there is no end. There is always one aspect of collecting that is connected to another aspect... and the string keeps going.

Here is an example:

I've been collecting autographs of my favorite player, and initially kept focusing on just finding gem mint conditions of his autos, until I stumbled on a personalized auto that wasn't gem mint. That led me to wanting to find more personalized autos until I came across his oldest autos that were neither gem mint nor personalized, which led me to wanting to find more and more of his oldest autos. So, you see... one thing keeps leading to another, and it never seems to end.

At some point, I'm going to just give up altogether... and collect more gold coins or something.

The best thing about this hobby is that you can come and go as you wish. I’ve taken breaks several times in my life and restarted again from scratch when the fire was relit. The cards will never disappear and there will always be something new to chase when you return.

If it’s no longer fun…..take as long a break as you need.

Yea I’ve done it. I’m actually just now starting to come back. I’ve been collecting my whole life and was going hard from 2011 to 2021 then I just got so turned off by all the loud mouth breaker flip boys and Topps turning up the printers to the max trying to shove taco refractors down our throats .. so I took a 3 year break and now I’m digging it again.. plus I started collecting hockey cards which I never did before so it’s a whole new avenue and it’s fresh and exciting and not tainted by fanatics yet .. (not saying upper deck is perfect by any means lol) maybe that helps you . But I did miss the good people on this forum and the chase


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[QUOTE=Geoff G;20185654]Yea I’ve done it. I’m actually just now starting to come back. I’ve been collecting my whole life and was going hard from 2011 to 2021 then I just got so turned off by all the loud mouth breaker flip boys and Topps turning up the printers to the max trying to shove taco refractors down our throats .. so I took a 3 year break and now I’m digging it again.. plus I started collecting hockey cards which I never did before so it’s a whole new avenue and it’s fresh and exciting and not tainted by fanatics yet .. (not saying upper deck is perfect by any means lol) maybe that helps you . But I did miss the good people on this forum and the chase


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Did you take a break from the social media side as well?


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[QUOTE=hermanotarjeta;20185652]The best thing about this hobby is that you can come and go as you wish. I’ve taken breaks several times in my life and restarted again from scratch when the fire was relit. The cards will never disappear and there will always be something new to chase when you return.

If it’s no longer fun…..take as long a break as you need.[/QUOTE]


That’s a good way to put it. Feels like the fire is gone a bit from collecting


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I took a break during college. I was mostly collecting comics then, but yeah, I was so poor during college that “having enough food to survive” took up most of my excess income.

Go take a break, focus on other things and come back when you're ready.

Life can sneak up on you if you're not careful. Take care of yourself!

I wouldn't sell like you said. I've taken multiple breaks throughout the years and never learned my lesson. I'd liquidate everything then when I got back in those cards I sold were now double/triple what I paid for them and never could afford them again. I'm a sucker because I've done that more than once. Put them in a box in a closet and forget about them until you're ready to get back in.

I bought 3 cards since last February. I don't want to buy anymore until I sell some of my stuff, but I really don't want to sell any of my stuff.

So....i guess you can call this a break.

[QUOTE=Jeter1020;20185650]I wanted to ask this to the baseball community here on BO because it’s the most active I think.

Has anyone taken an extended break from collecting? I’m not at the point where I want to sell any cards and there are definitely ones I would not sell unless they were an upgrade.

But I’m just feeling burnt out from some circumstances in life and what was once felt like a fun hobby now is just scrolling and watching YouTube to distract myself from things.

I may be overthinking things but I wanted to see if anyone has felt the same at some point


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I initially collected from 1990-2012 and I dunno just got completely disinterested in the hobby and was getting more into full game used memorabilia. I ended up selling off basically everything to acquire more game used stuff, which is hindsight was a mistake because of how the market blew up. I took a break until mid 2016 where I randomly just got the bug again and have been back since.

[QUOTE=Jeter1020;20185650]I wanted to ask this to the baseball community here on BO because it’s the most active I think.

Has anyone taken an extended break from collecting? I’m not at the point where I want to sell any cards and there are definitely ones I would not sell unless they were an upgrade.

But I’m just feeling burnt out from some circumstances in life and what was once felt like a fun hobby now is just scrolling and watching YouTube to distract myself from things.

I may be overthinking things but I wanted to see if anyone has felt the same at some point


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How long have you collected for?

[QUOTE=oldgoldy97;20185734]How long have you collected for?[/QUOTE]


Sports a few years. Cards overall since 2018


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Thank you for the kind words everyone


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I've taken several breaks from collecting over the years. I collected as a kid until about my first year of college. I packed them all away & mostly forgot about them for over 15 years. I dug them out & collected pretty heavy for about 5 years & then packed everything away again. The last 4 years have been off and on depending on what else is going on in my life at the time. I'll actively collect for 3-4 months & then not look at them again for 6 months. If you don't need the space or money just throw them in a closet or something out of sight. If you get the itch to collect again down the road you can dig them back out.

After casually collecting as a kid during the 90s, I collected hard in about 2006-2010 before collecting fatigue plus grad school life pushed me in other directions. I regretfully disposed of a few cards (but kept most of them) to help fund other hobbies over the years.

I got back in during the summer of 2024 and I regret selling off most of the pieces that I did before. I didn't think I would be back, but life is funny. Some days, I feel a bit of burnout again already but I know that if I take a break I'll circle back and therefore I've decided to keep everything this time around.

So, my advice would be to step away if it's not enjoyable (or as enjoyable as it was) but keep what you have. Because you'll most likely be back at some point. My two cents.

I took a break for about 10 years from start of high school to after college. I missed out on the whole 90's insert golden age. Do what you love!

I find my collecting vigor (spend) coincides with stress levels at work. The more stressed I am, the more I collect. I think its pretty much how I cope. I've been buying a lot (for me), lately.

Thank you for taking the time to respond everyone. I’m going to do what is suggested. Put everything away in the safe and take a break. I’m not going to sell anything because like you said I’ll probably be back at some point. I appreciate everyone’s help and input


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I took a break from roughly 1993 to 2001.....Topps Heritage is what brought me back into the hobby.....

[QUOTE=NYRE2PECT;20185936]I find my collecting vigor (spend) coincides with stress levels at work. The more stressed I am, the more I collect. I think its pretty much how I cope. I've been buying a lot (for me), lately.[/QUOTE]

This speaks to me. The more I get stressed, also mostly work related, the more I need a mail day to look forward to.

I did from 2023-2024 after a relative of mine passed away and I helped a lot with his collection.

I wouldn't say I stopped completely but I felt refreshed coming back except I can't afford wax anymore...lol

[QUOTE=SaveMeTheGum;20185910]I took a break for about 10 years from start of high school to after college. I missed out on the whole 90's insert golden age. Do what you love![/QUOTE]

Remarkably similar arc here. Collected from '84-'94 then focused on the second half of HS/college/social life. I popped back into the hobby for a few months when LeBron came up, when KD/VY emerged as Horn heroes and then for Strasburg/Harper mania but didn't really get back into collecting until 2018 when my middle daughter seemed to take an interest. Been back ever since...

Luckily, my dad kept collecting when I was at college so I have a couple decent '90s inserts but he mostly bought retail and piled up big stacks of base RCs. But there are definitely times where I wish I had kept collecting during what must have been an incredible time to collect in the late-90s-early 2000s.

I took a break in my 20s. I didn't sell anything just never felt like actively collecting. Started dipping my toes back in a little bit in my early to mid 30s (2016-2021) got whole hog back in it in 2022. I went pretty overboard the first year and half I was back in it. by the end of 2023 I settled into a better groove of only collecting my team and a handful of other players. I'm still too general but much better than I was 2022-most of 2023.

There's always something to collect and you can always go back and find cards from the years you were out of it (I definitely have) that you decide you really want.

I'm glad I didn't sell anything during my break so would recommend you don't if you think there's any chance you'll be interested again sometime down the line.

Go spoon with FCG

You’ll be fine

You guys are nuts