Hi All,
I wanted to ask you all how you focus your collections/acquisitions. I’m a huge fan of the saying “Buy what you like”, but that’s a double edged sword for me when I like so much! Vintage, modern, graded, ungraded, sealed, there are things I want in every category.
Does anyone else struggle with finding direction for your next step, and how do you handle it?
Will
If you are having trouble limiting your focus, instead try limiting your goals. Pick the category of cards that means the most to you and limit yourself to only collecting those cards until that collection is complete.
I’ve struggled with that. What I do is just set a VERY lofty goal (one that will take years to achieve) and just continuously work toward it. The goal should, of course, involve cards that you like. I sometimes veer off track and just acquire random items I like that don’t help achieve a goal (i.e. sealed product), but I try to make the majority of my purchases in service of specific collecting goals that I have.
But there’s nothing wrong with just buying what you like if that’s a satisfying approach for you. There’s no right or wrong way to collect. You ultimately just have to collect in the way that is most satisfying to you.
I consider all of the goals I want to accomplish, then compare the estimated total cost of the goals, then think about any other hobbies or money sinks I might have going on, then pick the collection goal that best suits my current position
Just to throw the opposite view out there - I find that it’s easier and more engaging when I have a number of different goals or projects on the go. Sometimes I find I can get less engaged if I focus all my attention on one specific goal (a set, or particular card), so like to have a few on the go at any one time. I can then dip from Japanese to English, vintage to modern, raw to graded as I feel inspired by conversations or content.
There is also the benefit that I don’t feel obliged to commit financially to one goal either; I vaguely monitor a few hard to find or expensive cards from each goal I have, which increases the likelihood of one popping up at a price I’m comfortable with. This makes it easier than having that single, roadblock card that you may end up overly focussing on.
I usually just research a few cards that if I could buy them right now I would but factors like rarity or available funds are things that limit me in acquiring those. And depending on the ability to acquire them down the line for a more expensive price but not as much as another card in my “goals” I decide then whether I would go for It or not. So overall, I feel like there will come a time where ‘saving’ is actually progressing you towards your collection goal more than you buying cards. but thats just what I see.
I think there are many ways to go about this, but one that might help is to steal the misattributed Buffet method.
Make a list of the top whatever # of goals you have, circle the top 3 or 5, and ignore the rest.
It seems kind of limiting and dumb for collecting, but I think if you have limited funds/time/energy it might help narrow your focus.
Alternatively, imagine you can only fill a 100 (or 1,000 or 10,000 depending on where you’re at…) card binder, and if you get another card, you have to throw away an old one.
What do you keep? that might give insight into what is the most important to collect.
if you have multiple goals, try organizing them by their level of difficulty to acquire/achieve. Pick a card or handful of cards that might be more difficult to come by or don’t come up as often like a somewhat rare promo or something and set those as higher priority to get. Conversely, if your goals include set cards, which are almost always easier to come by in terms of availability, maybe set those at a lower priority or if the most expensive card in that set comes up then think about going for it. Pretty soon you could have yourself a fun little tier list of cards that, if you see them available, you gotta snag em!
imo It’s more important to have a financial restriction than a scope restriction. Larger goals = more time. But it’s not a race so it doesn’t really matter how long it takes. The more cards you are hunting at once, the more willing you are to wait for the right deal too.
The problem is that it’s easy to buy a lot at once if you have a lot of goals. That’s why it’s better to worry about the budget more than how broad your goals are
Amazing! I came here to say something very similar to this. My family practices a sort of financial minimilasm when it comes to our money. We have a strict budget that we stick to, and anything outside of that budget is something we actually save up for. We give ourselves an allowance at the end of the month for discretionary purchases. And let me tell you, it feels great to pick up a card that you have worked towards, rather than just buying it on a whim because you happened to want it that day. Collecting with a budget in mind narrows your focus dramatically, and forces you to think critically about every purchase. For me, it makes collecting all that more enjoyable, and is gradually sculpting my collection into something I’m more and more proud of. Could I afford to go out and buy that Raichu EX that i want today? Yes, I could. But on a budget, the thinking is more along the lines of: “Okay, I want that Raichu EX. How long am I willing to wait to get it? Is there something I want more than the Raichu right now? Will I want the Raichu this much in a week, in a month? Are there other cards I want that I’m willing to wait even longer to get if I buy the Raichu? What is the absolute highest price I’m willing to pay? Can I hold out a little longer for a graded copy?”
This is my method too, you’re much more likely to get good deals if you’re casting a wide net.
My only addition is to make sure I have small goals (2-5 card mini sets) included in that wider spread of big goals, that way I at least don’t feel like I’m miles away from all of my goals.
That sounds exhausting.
Id rather just spend and worry later
edit: quote trimming on pro boads sucks
To also play the other side, are you in a situation (money, time, space) where you NEED to focus up in order to free up resources? If you’re in a good spot, enjoying yourself, then just keep doing what you’re doing. This is a hobby after all, and you have to go about it in a way that sustains you and keeps you wanting to continue. For some folks, focusing up and limiting themselves leads to boredom and general disinterest in the hobby.
if its not for a specific collection goal I try not to buy. However thats mostly for graded cards, I can’t and never will pass up a mint raw to set aside for grading if I stumble upon one (from any era really even if I have no intention of keeping it)
At the beginning when I started collecting I was just like you! I loved pretty much everything so it was hard to focus on specific collection goals. While buy what you like is great advice, it can be hard to buy what you like when you don’t really know exactly what you like the most. Sometimes it takes time to figure that out, and there’s nothing wrong with that.
Don’t worry that you aren’t doing things “right,” just buy cards you enjoy (ideally nothing too crazy) and in time you’ll find yourself gravitating towards a specific area. If you have some cards you bought along the way that you no longer enjoy as much, you can sell them off to fund going after your new goal, or just put them aside and maybe you’ll come back to them later on with a new enjoyment.
Personally I’ve found having multiple collection goals to be helpful. This past year it’s been a lot more difficult to make progress on my English EX Series goals due to price rises, so I’ve been returning to some other areas of interest which are more within reach. However you don’t want to go too crazy, as @pkmnflyingmaster mentioned you need to keep in mind the financial constraints. Having a goal hierarchy is helpful for focusing your buying with financial constraints, decide on a main goal and you can focus the majority of your resources on that.
Personally I barely focus at all haha
I asked myself this at the beginning of the pandemic last year. I was buying graded cards but I realized I wasn’t satisfying my childhood dreams - collecting every set card. Since I figured that out about over a year ago, I’ve been working toward the seemingly impossible task of completing every English set. Originally I wanted complete master sets, though the rising costs of staff and other variants far outweigh my interest in them, so I happily shifted goals to simply complete every set.
The problem I encounter is that, as a completionist I have to own every card, meaning any card that comes to market which I don’t own is technically part of my collection goal. However, like @pkmnflyingmaster said, money and budgeting is important. I constantly watch many different cards while looking for deals and only buy when something is affordable and a good deal. I don’t like overpaying because I know that I can complete my goal at some point in my life, and I am in no rush. Some cards are higher priority than others but, ultimately, a set card is a set card and there will always be another.
My last three significant purchases were all over the place: I bought a near complete ex Legend Maker set, then I bought various BW holos and holofoil variants, and today I purchased all C/UC/R/RH cards from Chilling Reign, as well as several inexpensive URs and a few cards to fill in some of the gaps of my Darkness Ablaze, Vivid Voltage and Battle Styles sets.
So to fully answer your question: I buy what I like, which roughly translates to buying cards I don’t have, because I really like the feeling of obtaining new cards in my collection, no matter how inexpensive or common they are. I am able to buy near-worthless commons from the latest set while passing on the opportunity to buy rare vintage cards because I prefer to save bigger purchases for when I can spend more. I realize this isn’t the smartest decision financially, but if I only bought a handful of cards a year, I would miss out on the joys of filling binders and completing sets. I know that the timer on my collection goal is only limited to the remainder of my time alive, so I am able to enjoy picking up inexpensive cards or sets <$1,000 here and there with the confidence that in the future, I will be able to make bigger plays to fill in the gaps I have today.
Thanks all for the responses. While I’m not new to buying Pokemon cards, I feel new to collecting if that makes sense. Back in college pretty much the only thing I’d do is try and buy ebay lots of WOTC holos for less than $1 per card. Then I’d just look at them from time to time, but never had any direction.
Then, when the pandemic started, I got back into things buy buying a cosmic eclipse booster box on eBay and opening it. Rekindled that interest for me. Since then, I’ve been buying random things, but do feel like I’m beginning to gain some focus. I like the idea of setting multiple goals, I think that could help me reign things in.
Thanks all for the thoughtful responses. I really enjoy seeing different perspectives!
Will