How addicted have u been to the hobby?

[nenjabin]

All these stories are similar!!!!

Here's another question for u all which I think each individual needs to answer privately or publically.

IS your card hobby spending stopping you from getting ahead in life?? IE if it was going on a house, car etc how much further ahead would u be?

For me - a little bit - I've been sick the last few days and had a count up of my collection - adding up what I've paid for all my #21 cards in the last 2 years back in the hobby and taking away what I sold my high end LJ's for I'm pretty happy with how it's gone. Probably spend approx $500 in 2 years. For the fun and joy of the hobby over a 2 yr period I think that's manageable - but each to their own.

Short answer? Yes.
Long answer? Yes for now, but having come straight out of Uni (end of last year) and into a job = more money I think going a little wild on something isn't necessarily odd. While I'd like to have probably saved some, I'm curbing the addiction now as Matt (gerco) mentioned (also cause I now have most of the 'larger' pieces to my puzzle) and concentrating on finishing those couple of sets I have started as well as building Korver and my newbie, Jason Smith. These are all my searches are now unless I'm searching for other peoples needs to help them. I'm not saying I won;t lash out a bit again, I will, but as your question brings up, the future beckons also

 

[jimboiitmac]

Jimbo our resident 80 year old

Haven't heard from you for ages Chad, good to see your still chilling around the place!

 

[fastbaja5b]

It's waning for me, I'll be hot and cold about it, I got back in as a thing to do with the guys, but quickly got too high an end collection and now I can't seem to do any trades again locally, I find the forums ok some days and utterly annoying others, and yeah probably spend too much time on it. So don't be surprised if I am "moving" a lot of stuff lately, thinking about a major toning down of these things, and more time on the RC cars.

 

[adhunt99]

rediculously! I think I may collect the sets I'm doing, then cull to the sets plus my favourite others... lotta money spent...

 

[shoesncard4life]

Same here. Check ebay everyday(even have it wired to the phone in case I am in a bidding war with someone). I buy shoes at least once a month. One for playing, one for collecting. You know just like crack I like sniffing my new shoes. With cards I pretty much set a goal. I target a few cards I like that i will "preserve" in my collection. Its pretty much the chase that gets my juices up. Now that I am married I can't freely spend spare money from my salary. All the money I use in buying stuff comes from the money sold from my old stuff. So I am a bit of a re cycler i guess. One day I'll be stoked about a card that came in the mail...the next month you'll be seeing it in ebay. Such is life.

 

[Benny J]

IS your card hobby spending stopping you from getting ahead in life[/B]?? IE if it was going on a house, car etc how much further ahead would u be?

Nope....I would only ever spend cash on cards that i would have spent elsewhere anyway.

Ie...if i purchase a big dollar card, i may not go out on that weekend.

In saying that i think everyone here is a little guilty of buying cards when ultimately you could have put the money on your mortgage/car loan or credit card!!

 

[MetallicA']

I used to be really addicted to the hobby but these days i only chip away at my Ricky D collection, i couldn't be bothered putting in the effort and money to be picking up singles off ebay that cost an arm and leg. At the end of the day it's just cardboard with NBA players signatures or game used attire on them.
I much perfer spending spare cash on CD's and DVD's and i would have to say i have a preety large catalogue these days . I dont see myself trading in my player PC for a long time, to me it's just an easy way to collect at a minimum and still remain active in the hobby.

 

[clarkescards]

Like everyone here, I've been through phases of being addicted, and currently am going through another stage where the income is low, so have to reduce what I'm buying.

I also have been updating my tax records (for my ABN, and decided to split up my spending), and it has been very eye opening what I've spent on cards in the last 3 yrs. Looking at when I originally started, like many others have said, I chased down lots of cards, without a real goal, mostly after inserts from the 90s. As with all things in life, I've gotten smarter on how to buy, and have also narrowed my focus to a select few playes who'll I'll chase, and then a few others that I'll bid a small price, where I'm not serious about winning. Plus also am still looking at completing the GU sets from 03/04 & 04/05 that I'm chasing & the insert sets from the 90s that I'm looking to complete, so my winning is more structured.