I’ve been collecting since 2016. I set some collection goals then and I’m pretty close to finish them off, but now that I’m almost done with the objectives that got me to collect in the first place, I’m not sure what I’ll do next.
On the one hand, I’m super happy with what I’ve managed to collect and I really enjoy the hobby (I listen to podcasts, I read you all here, I watch Youtube videos…). On the other hand, I’ve spent more money that I initially wanted and the hobby has become much more expensive than what it was when I started collecting.
So… I’ve been thinking about two options:
a) I finish my goals and leave the hobby.
b) I finish and I keep being engaged, buying singles that I like and that are within my means.
I’m yet to decide, but I was curious to know if any of you has ever left the hobby and come back after some time. If so, did you regret having left the hobby for a while? Were there any major downsides or benefits? What would be your advice for your “past self” who left the hobby?
I left the hobby for ~1-2 years. I’d say the major downside is that it took me a while to get back to the same level of enjoyment I had prior to leaving. I’d personally go with B
I stopped buying cards for about a year, but I just got bored and came back and bought some nice looking cheap raw holos. When I got them in hand it kinda re-lit the flame and I set new goals for myself and it’s just been downhill since then lmao
Now, I don’t really have one big goal (apart from that buzzwole buy thread I made please go check it out if you have it @ anyone). I just go on ebay and buy whatever I like. It’s a lot more stress free, and I’m having the most fun in the hobby that I’ve ever had
I left for about 5 years. Was barely collecting when I was in school because I had no money, and then I left, and well, life distracted me. There was also a feeling of hopelessness that I would never be able to actually get the cards I wanted to get. I got back into it in late 2019.
Started collecting around age 5, 1999. Played competitively and slowly upped my collecting habits for 15 years, now I’m just a collector. My interest has waxed and waned over the decades but I’ve never gone more than a few months without touching a card.
I’ve always had collection goals, just now started actually writing them down and focusing on the cards I want the most. Luckily I’ve been liking the direction of new art so hopefully that continues, then the goal is always out of reach.
Even if cards/art goes in a direction I don’t like, there’s so many I’ve never seen or heard of from years past. This is where I’m basically at with the competitive game; today’s decks and gameplay is so far removed from what I loved 10 years ago that I just don’t play current formats, instead focusing on old decks from past formats and cube. The depth of TCG cards to collect is similar, it’s very possible to never get “bored”.
In the end, I think it’s all about self-pacing. Some people want to do this for a living, others do not - so everyone is going to approach this hobby from a different angle and have different wants/needs.
I took a 2 year break a little while back and it helped revive my love for collecting. It helped me get new perspectives for collecting, introduced me to new people and changes, as well as get excited for what sets or cards I had missed and now needed catching up to do. Narrowing my focus helped in my circumstance by setting new limits and “rules”, as it were, on how to go about collecting.
I know that if I somehow magically completed my collection goals, I’d probably stick to opening a Japanese box or two per set.
How you want to be involved will change in time. I know my involvement in the hobby grew a ton this year much due to Covid limiting my abilities to socialize, so sticking around here really helped with some fantastic friends. I know once the weather gets warm, I’ll likely spend less time on E4, but still try to be engaged. As much as I found my 2 year break needed, I did miss this during that time.
Most notably for me I got back into it in 2015 then a year later when I was graduating university and short of money I sold off most things except my childhood cards and a binder full of holos I liked. After working for a few months I started heavily buying in 2017 and things weren’t that much more expensive than when I left, nothing like the price increases we have seen in 2020. Had I sold my collection before 2020 I can only imagine it would be one of the biggest regrets of my life.
Since 2017 it’s been very on and off for me, sometimes I’ll be on ebay loads and others I won’t be on it at all for long periods of time. I’ve not been buying as much recently and lost interest in a lot of the Youtube channels now but still go back to them occassionally. You don’t need to clear-cut leave, you can just come and go when you feel like it
Ive finished my immediate Pokemon goals, so probably wont be buying anything pokemon, at least for my personal collection, for a while. Don’t plan on leaving necessarily, but will start to focus more of my free time on other hobbies as opposed to the majority of it being collectibles as it is now. (Basically stopping the hourly ebay check lol).
I left the hobby around summer 2000 and didn’t come back till 2017. I didn’t think much of it since I still religiously watched the anime and played the games, I did buy some packs in 2003-2004 (this actually was the last time I’ve brought product at retail). Over those 10+ years I did consider getting into collecting again when TCGO started but was too focused on work/school to bother.
I got back into Pokemon around the start of 2020, after a couple of years away, because in the back of my mind I knew I had some cards I’d need to deal with in some way. When I did leave, it wasn’t a conscious decision, but it came from a kind of fatigue and I just drifted away. While I rarely felt like I missed the hobby during my time away, looking back at the last year I realise now how much I did miss out on. Not financially speaking (though that too I guess), but more in terms of the excitement and emotion that Pokemon can provide when life gets hard. One lesson to take from this is that you may never know how much you missed something until you’ve gone back to it (PSA: this doesn’t mean call your ex).
Maybe this is the ghost of 2020 lingering, but today Pokemon feels kind of like a friend that’s always by your side. It’s not the only friend you have, and there are definitely times that this friend needs to shut up for a second, but overall life is more fun when you’re with them. If there are still aspects of the hobby you enjoy, then I don’t see why you have to deprive yourself of those. As has been discussed a lot recently, there are a million ways to engage with Pokemon; once you complete your goals, you can always start something completely different.
If I were to speak to my past self, I would ask: would you be happy sitting at home knowing that the party you left is still going on? Then I’d drag my ass back to the party because past me would still be hesitant.
Also I defy anyone to look at the new Celebi promo and think “nah, this hobby is not for me”.
I would stay in the hobby mainly for educational purposes. It’s truly a unique lesson on economics and modern history, e.g. how supply and demand affect prices, how long a bubble can last, what kind of items move first, how fast the overall sentiment in the hobby can change, how political and world events can affect a collectible market, how a single video can move prices up 500% etc. If not for the fun and hobby itself, I would definitely keep myself engaged just for the knowledge.
I see a lot of similarities of what is happening now and what happened between 1924 and 1929 in Europe, such as money overprinting, lots of business going bankrupt, state debt spiking etc. so let’s see how the hobby reacts. It will be super interesting to see and compare with history. If you leave the hobby now, you might miss some important developments.
As for the Pokémon itself, I am not buying anything at the moment. I am happy with the collection I have built throughout the years while not selling a single card so the current market is obviously not for me. I am not profiting on the hype whatsoever and I would very much prefer having my collection zero value and continue collecting than not being able to buy anything.
So as a buyer, I have pretty much left the hobby last year. But as a Pokémon fan, I am still trying to watch all the talks, log-in on E4 every day and engage and absorb as much information as possible to discover any similarities with historical events and plan accordingly. So I think it’s worth staying for this if not anything else.
I’ve personally been in the hobby since 2009 as a buyer and seller hobbyist. I have taken several little breaks over that stretch of time and it’s not quite right to say I’ve regretted leaving, but I just kinda fell into something else so I didn’t have to regret or worry. However, what I do regret was selling some cards that I shouldn’t have. Cards that I wanted for my collections, but at the time I was more worried about making money back from lots I purchased. (I would buy the lots and keep a few cards per)
As I’ve seen others say, it’s all about your own priorities. I would personally switch between Yugioh and Pokémon for a few years, Pokémon was my side, fun thing, Yugioh was my competitive thing. Then after Yugioh died off for me, it went to Weiss Schwarz. Then Pokémon again, then Weiss, and finally back to Pokémon. And it’s been at Pokémon for a little over a year now.
I agree with some others that just buying what you enjoy is definitely not a problem. And if you happen to save a lot of money and want to buy that trophy card, and it’s financially acceptable to do so while you’re on hiatus, why not. There is no need to be 100% engaged. I learn new things every day even though I’m probably 20% as engaged as many of the individuals on here. I don’t research things actively right now. When I get time, I hope to. But for now, I can rely on quick check ins and chatting with people casually to get some info.
In the end though, it can be a freeing experience to give you more time to devote to something else in life. I rotated through collectible hobbies, but maybe you can rotate through other hobbies. I think it can be worthwhile to disconnect every once in a while and let other creative juices flow. Either way best of luck!
Hey Alicia, I’d say I was/am in a similar position as you are right now and that I chose option B. I’ve kept a small part of my collection but I chose to sell off other parts because of what they were worth and what I could use the money for in other parts of my life. Tough decision to make but it was the right one to make for me. I decided to keep a couple of binders for myself to keep building on slowly because I didn’t want to lose touch with the hobby and community completely. There are parts I still really enjoy and parts of the community I really enjoy partaking in, efour being one of them. I completed my initial goal of collecting what was on my checklist but I chose to keep a couple binders to work on because I felt that was the best way for me to stay connected with the hobby and what was going on in the hobby while balancing my focus/money elsewhere. I didn’t want to sever the connection completely because, ultimately, I have no intention of leaving the hobby. I’ll take breaks, months at a time, but I always come back still. I don’t need a lot to stay in the hobby and I’m happy that the binders I have are affordable for me still and a pleasant reminder of the journey so far.
Iv been involved with Pokémon / E4 for four years. I was very active in buying/selling and just thinking about Pokémon a lot up until these last 2-3 months
I’m not a goal setter and there is honestly not much else I personally want for my collection, for both pokemon and yugioh. And I also don’t have much at all I want to sell right now. I don’t love using the word “content”, but that’s what I am for Pokémon at the moment. Very content and happy with my collection, with plans to just sit on it for a long time. Maybe sell a few of my wotc boxes to help fund other experiences I want to have or if anything pops up.
I think it’s good sometimes to just step back and not force anything
Option B is where I’m at personally. I think it’s a great in-between approach. This way you still get collect, but without stressing about goals or spending too much. After attempting to leave the hobby several times, I’ve come to the conclusion that leaving for good just isn’t realistic if it’s forced. The day when I fail to notice that I haven’t checked eBay in a month will be the day that I’ve left the hobby. It should be organic IMO.
I do the same for my collection as I do for my portfolio, there will be lapse of 3-6 months where I am not too worried about value or growth and simply wait until I’m into it again.
Everyone needs to take breaks, I’ve came back into the hobby in 2016 as well and I’d say its not uncommon for me to take long breaks every 2 years or so.
Currently in a break. Its been about a year since i bought anything pokemon related. Still love the hobby and read here all the time. Im just not that willing to spend lots on cards right now. I dont see anything as overvalued, i just cant afford it. I dont sell my collection so everything i buy comes from my worked cash. I might save up and look to buy more big ticker stuff in the future but im in no rush and im very happy where i am woth my collection as is.
Made a Break 2015-2016. Life went crazy and there was no Room for cards even when i dont want to stop, i had to.
Pokemon was always escape and Relaxtime and will have a high Priority for me.
2021 could be the first Time i choose to make a Break. Too many Eyes at Hobby, a lot negativity, too many People where i dont believe in their true passion/motivations.
Thank you so much, @ everyone. It’s been so heartwarming reading all your responses… I feel very thankful to each of you that took the time to write about your experiences.
After having read all of you, I’m leaning more towards option B. Even if I don’t buy anything new, I think I’ll keep engaged with the hobby. I might cut off some Youtube channels here and there so that I can disconnect a bit more, but I’ll definitely keep login here every now and then to read and talk to you. There’s truly an awesome community on this forum.
I think I’m just a bit tired right now. I started too many goals at once and it’s been so difficult for me to complete them. It took more time and money than I had anticipated when I started, but on the other hand… I’m very happy with my collection. I still have some cards to complete a couple of sets, but I expect to get them soon.
Actually, I’m really curious to see the hobby from a more “laid-back” perspective. The thing about “having completed your sets and just buying whatever you like here and there without strict goals” that some of you mentioned sounds really gooooooood. I think I kindda burned out myself with so many goals at once.
I’ll definitely slow down and give me a break from buying and setting new goals. But I think I’ll stick around even if it’s “just” to learn and enjoy the hobby in a different way.
Thank you so much to all of you.
And PS: @caughtatpoint (I think it was you who mentioned it), the new Celebi promo definitely made me remember why I love Pokémon cards. Just wow.