I've thinking about this for a couple of years as Master Set have become more and more difficult to collate but I've finally decided to give up collecting.

Over the next couple of years I will disposing of my collection. I'll still be doing shows as a dealer for a couple of years as I've so much stock to get rid of but the only cards I will be buying is for old customers who don't use the internet.

My main interests were;
All Trek
Stargate
Farscape
Babylon 5
Dr Who
Breygent Sci-Fi/Movie Poster Sets
as various other bits and pieces.

I know I will not get anywhere near what I paid for my collection but I will still get a fair amount from all the top end cards I have.

I will still post from time to time as I will still keep in touch with the hobby through friends who still collect.

I know this has been coming for some time but I am still sorry to hear this Alan.

Very sorry to hear this Alan, but good luck with the dealing and selling.

That suck Alan, but I understand where you are coming from, I am taking at least the first half of this year of as well. Even though there are alot of sets coming out that I would love to get I just cant afford it right now.

Sorry to hear that you are leaving the "game"...

I have contemplated leaving the "game" many times but I always come back.

I even sold a lot of my collection once to narrow it down a bit.

I know my day will be coming soon.

I wish you the Best of Luck with Everything.

If it's the right thing for you to do then I wish you the best.

That said, if I could give any advice, maybe refining your collection would be the 'better' thing to do?

I reached critical mass a few years back where my heart just wasn't in it to chase down every single card that was coming out for my main interest (Bond), the cost to do so was getting larger with each new set and I wasn't even bothered about adding some cards to my collection (namely small name autographs or millions of costume cards). To continue to add these items with all this in mind made the hobby more obsessive than fun.

This feeling of discontent led me to the conclusion that I should probably just sell pretty much everything off, and lord knows I could put the money to more sensible usage.

After a year or so mulling it over, that didn't happen. Why? Because I am a collector. Always have been, always will be. If I were to have sold everything, or sold much of it without real thought I would have regretted it.

So I decided to trim my collection to the few sets/specific cards that genuinely give me pleasure. I have sold off many very rare and high end cards and honestly not missed them because I still have my favourites.

treksearcher, I for one have always enjoyed your input and know for a fact you have been a very passionate collector of Trek cards in particular. I could never sell my Pierce Brosnan autograph card, would you not miss your favourite auto card of Shatner, or Nimoy (insert name of choice).

Sometimes less really is more. Could you not maybe keep just one binder for yourself with your 'best' bits? Some favourite promos? A chase set you love the look of? A costume of your favourite character? A couple of autos from your favourite characters/actors? The truly best cards in your eyes; not the rare or expensive cards others may covet, but the cards you were excited to add to your collection once upon a time.

If you intend to keep being at shows and being around cards, I think you will find it challenging to not have your head turned by new product, or even the old product you may end up getting rid of.

Do what is best for you, but I would urge you to not do anything too rash as I reckon you'll have some real gems in your collection.

All the best,

I think X said it very well. Collectors tend to have an all or nothing attitude. We are either all in or all out. We have to complete it or leave unfulfilled. And I think there comes a point where unfulfillment in one area starts to poison the whole experience. That's when you have to take a step back and reevaluate what you may have that still means the most to you.

The only good reasons to liquidate a whole card collection that has taken many years to acquire is if you need funds or don't want to put the burden on someone else. As long as it's not an immediate problem of cash or health, you should take the time to choose what you want to sell and when you want to sell it.

Trimming is a great idea when you have lost the passion, but please take the time to think twice before letting that favorite title or the hardest fo find gems go. Even if you get rid of 90% of your cards, there is still that irreplaceable 10% left. If you look at the totality of your collection I'll bet you could not afford to put it together in this time. And someday you may feel like building on what you might want to keep again.

Best of luck whatever you decide to do.

If this was a long time coming then I hope you get what you are looking for when you sell.

I think we all have though about it. Until Recently, my son and I used to store all the autograph, sketch and costume cards together that we had collected. A few months back we went though and he got the cards that were "His". I am sure there are hundreds of autos/costume/sketch cards I should sell/trade. I am just not there yet.

Hi Alan,
Sorry to hear this too, but I think very soon there will only be a handful of collectors left, and every time someone like you leaves, there's one less master set purchased, and print runs will keep shrinking, or sets will keep getting bigger.
I agree with the comments above, and I found it quite cathartic to go through my collection and play the 'do I have an emotional attachment to this' game
Sometimes a lot of us have to complete our sets, and actually going through your collection and paring it down would be a good place to start. I found stuff I didn't even remember buying, never mind trying to complete. I sold them, generated some cash and created some space. There's stuff I couldn't part with, but maybe next time I'll be tougher on myself

Like Allan I was a master set collector with the exception of some of the higher end cards, now I only buy/ trade to complete the holes in my collection and have ignored the new sets from my Star Wars focus almost entirely.

For me it is the Manufacturers driving me away from the hobby, sad to say it for the same reasons already covered in this thread already.

Just my two cents worth. I was all set to do the new THOR set from Upper Deck, but was not up to date on what was in it. I bought 4 boxes, was pleased with what I got, then decided to see what else was available. I checked E-bay for a few minutes, then took everything I had and just put it away out of sight.

Appreciate the comments made above. It's taken me a lot of soul searching to reach this decision. This was supposed to be a hobby but the cost of trying to make master sets was getting out of control.

I wonder if a U.K. member could give me some info on "That feebay Site". It's several months since I sold on that site and it appears that the screens to input the selling details have changed dramatically. It does not appear to allow the seller to limit which countries you ship/post to, it's either the U.K. or Worldwide. There are some countries/Areas I would rather not sell to due to major problems with their postal system. Anyone having the same problem?

quote:

Originally posted by treksearcher:
Appreciate the comments made above. It's taken me a lot of soul searching to reach this decision. This was supposed to be a hobby but the cost of trying to make master sets was getting out of control.

I wonder if a U.K. member could give me some info on "That feebay Site". It's several months since I sold on that site and it appears that the screens to input the selling details have changed dramatically. It does not appear to allow the seller to limit which countries you ship/post to, it's either the U.K. or Worldwide. There are some countries/Areas I would rather not sell to due to major problems with their postal system. Anyone having the same problem?

There is a section to create a postage exclusion list underneath the section where you nominate UK or worldwide. Never used it myself so not sure how it works.

quote:

Originally posted by Triple-Frog:

quote:

Originally posted by treksearcher:
Appreciate the comments made above. It's taken me a lot of soul searching to reach this decision. This was supposed to be a hobby but the cost of trying to make master sets was getting out of control.

I wonder if a U.K. member could give me some info on "That feebay Site". It's several months since I sold on that site and it appears that the screens to input the selling details have changed dramatically. It does not appear to allow the seller to limit which countries you ship/post to, it's either the U.K. or Worldwide. There are some countries/Areas I would rather not sell to due to major problems with their postal system. Anyone having the same problem?

There is a section to create a postage exclusion list underneath the section where you nominate UK or worldwide. Never used it myself so not sure how it works.

I've always used it in the past but it does not appear to be available now?

quote:

Originally posted by treksearcher:

quote:

Originally posted by Triple-Frog:

quote:

Originally posted by treksearcher:
Appreciate the comments made above. It's taken me a lot of soul searching to reach this decision. This was supposed to be a hobby but the cost of trying to make master sets was getting out of control.

I wonder if a U.K. member could give me some info on "That feebay Site". It's several months since I sold on that site and it appears that the screens to input the selling details have changed dramatically. It does not appear to allow the seller to limit which countries you ship/post to, it's either the U.K. or Worldwide. There are some countries/Areas I would rather not sell to due to major problems with their postal system. Anyone having the same problem?

There is a section to create a postage exclusion list underneath the section where you nominate UK or worldwide. Never used it myself so not sure how it works.

I've always used it in the past but it does not appear to be available now?

That's strange, I have some auctions ending today and it is available on them . You could try asking Ebay direct via their online chat. It's worth listing today if you can as it is a free listing weekend.

EVER THOUGHT THE GREMLINS DONT WANT YOU TO GIVE UP ?????????????????

quote:

Originally posted by Triple-Frog:
It's worth listing today if you can as it is a free listing weekend.

Not for everyone it isn't

Gosh Alan, it might be still a ways out in the future, but it would be great if you could end up retaining some of the passion of selective collecting - once you overcome the frustration of dealing with the impossible Master Sets.

The only real way to approach completeness these days is to be heavily into buying in volume and supporting customers, and it's easy to lose the satisfaction of *collecting* and enjoying the material. Me, I found partial satisfaction out of chronicling the releases. I used to have a list of cards to watch for to complete my sets, but the list kept getting longer and longer, and I haven't sat down for an eBay-searching weekend in quite a while. I can go to a Philly Show, find out that I forgot to bring my lists, and not regret it much.

I've wondered whether I will expand my involvement some day when/if I retire from the day-job, but I also know that I haven't been a fanatic for these pieces of cardboard for all of my life. With earlier hobbies, I found that my interest started declining when too many *people* I shared the passion with stopped participating.

So there will be a role for "trekearcher, the Senior Spokesman" or "Expert Emeritus." You'll know more when you've divested most of the top-end cards, and find out whether what's left keeps sparking your interest.

Just an addendum to my previous post and a reason to never give up. I was so discouraged by the high end Thor Dark World cards, BUT, I still bought two more boxes, thinking, what a dummy I am!

Until I pulled the Chris Hemsworth autographed costume card out of one of the packs. The set is still way down on my list to complete, but meanwhile, I'm a happy camper.

I am sorry to hear you are leaving the hobby.
I thought about leaving but I instead have cut my spending way down. I only open a box or two or just get what I want off E-Bay or at a show.