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Tuesday, November 22, 2011

I'm Just Not a Player Collector...

Lately I've been spending some time really analyzing my collecting habits, looking at where my collection is currently at, at where I want it to be, and at what the best way is to get there. One thing that I came to a realization on is that I'm just not a player collector. I'm a set collector at heart. As much as I feel an affinity towards certain players, I just don't have what it takes to keep up with a player collection. Constant eBay searching, scouring every new checklist that gets released...at some point it feels more like a chore than a hobby.

So, going forward I will continue to be a player "accumulator" for Tony Esposito, David Krejci, etc. This means that I will gladly accept any cards of these players and will pick them up myself when I see them on the cheap, but will not be pursuing them as a top priority or trying to track down every new card that comes out.

As luck will have it, just as I was making this evaluation I was contacted out of the blue by a reader who was interested in a few of my David Krejci cards. We went back and forth and ultimately I decided to part with 8 of my Krejci's at a price that we both found fair:









I had no problem sending these away knowing that they became part of a Krejci collection that was far superior to mine (over 135 unique Krejci cards and counting!). While a couple of these were among my better Krejci cards, I've still got over 40 left including some great rookies and autos that I don't plan to part with.

The best part is that I used the funds from this transaction to add two awesome cards to my hockey collection. Both cards that I picked up are superstar rookies, and one has been on my "white whale" list for quite some time. I will be showing them here as soon as they arrive, and you can decide how you think I did.

Are you a player collector? Have you ever given up on a player collection? If so, what did you do with all the cards?
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4 comments:

  1. Baseballislife1984November 22, 2011 at 7:42 PM

    when I stop collecting a player, I sell off the better stuff and then most of the low end stuff just sits in 5,000 count boxes with other base.

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  2. AnonymousNovember 22, 2011 at 11:17 PM

    I was never much of a player collector either. I keep a number of binders with interesting dupes of star players, but even most of those haven't seen new additions in 20 years.

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  3. Greg ZakwinNovember 23, 2011 at 3:03 AM

    I'm a player collector first and foremost, with Matt Kemp, Clayton Kershaw, and Russell Martin being the main guys I target. Hockey-wise, Ryan Getzlaf all the way for me.

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  4. CaseyNovember 23, 2011 at 5:52 PM

    I have a few different focuses on my collection and only recently have I put considerable energy into complete my Marty Barrett and PJ Axelsson collections. So I guess, yes, I am a player collector. And an enforcer collector. And a B's collector. Etc

    ReplyDelete