How do cards affect your mood?

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SNobles

Patrick Roy BTP Collector,
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I’ve noticed recently that with mail being so bad and not receiving cards from eBay, COMC or group breaks on a regular basis that I am bummed out.

I keep hoping day after day that something with will be in my mailbox but day after day, week after week I am disappointed.

I find myself not wanting to buy anything else at the moment.

Generally speaking being involved in group breaks are a pick me up so it sucks that I am not really interested right now.

Jeremy’s YouTube show has been a bright spot in the hobby as of late and I am thankful for that.

So what in the hobby is making you happy or bumming you out right now? What are you doing to make your hobby fun right now?
 
This is a ****ing great thread.
Cards make me happy because I have boxes and boxes of **** and a short memory.
I can pick up the same card and find a new appreciation for it. I gave up waiting for cards to arrive to be happy. I concentrate on what is within arms reach. That is all i need..
 
I find that while it does suck to not receive mail, it definitely makes it sweeter when mail actually does show up.

I've gone from being disenchanted with the hobby and slowly working on 1 set, to thoroughly enjoying the hobby and picking things up left and right. For the first time in years I typed up a tradelist, and enjoyed the back and forth of working on deals. Made almost 10 trades over the course of a day and a half, so that was a lot of fun.

I had made plans for this year to basically be a year of fun. I had Raptors tickets, Tampa Bay Bucs tickets (my mom and I are huge fans, and then look at the additions to the team this year!), my gf was supposed to be visiting for 3 weeks during her study break, I was supposed to go to Thailand and Europe on separate trips..... All that has been squashed, so cards has been a fun way for me to stay entertained throughout all this. Always try to look on the bright side!
 
Sometimes when I feel that way - I just sort or organize my cards. Sometimes I pick out some stuff for sale. Sometimes I adjust my organizational method!

Just spending time with the cards is as good as getting new ones!
 
Box breaks, cards, and my museum project give me solace and a safe place internally.

I am a law enforcement officer who has been suffering from PTSD that has made me unable to be fit for duty since December. Opening packs, talking about cards, getting new museum relics in the mail and following the forums (plus my martial arts) helps me with staying normal and gets my mind off of some of the "lovely" things I have seen over the years that stick with me permanently and occasionally come for a visit like an unwanted stalker.
 
I think there's a dopamine hit when it comes to buying and selling cards, as well as busting boxes. Like gambling, or when you buy something new at a store. It improves my mood, but for me the bigger question is whether my better mood is sustainable.
 
Cards have definitely been a happy place for me through all this. Even though mail has been wildly hit or miss, I just do my best to not let that bother me at all. Instead, I've enjoyed focusing on my 2003-04 master collection and scoping out cards for that project. I've always been able to find a few big PC cards over the last few months, which has been very rewarding!
 
I have a lot more fun in the hobby opening older boxes than “collecting”. I haven’t considered myself a real collector for years. When I had a great player collection of Datsyuk it was fun at first but after a while it seemed like nonsense to obsess over a completion rate. Of course that is my opinion and I respect the guys that can stay dedicated to player collecting but I can’t really do it any longer.

Now I try to squirrel away some high end cards and pick up the rare boxes I want to open for YouTube. I also participate in too many modern box breaks.
 
I feel your pain man, especially if it’s a big PC Card or two and slow incoming mail can get the best of us sometimes, especially the times we’re all facing right now.

I’ve always appreciated this hobby as a place I can escape to and take a break from ‘real life’ when I need to. This hobby has been there for me since I was a teenager and now into a young adult, so it definitely has a soft spot for me as it’s something that has grown with me as I get older. I have carved out my own personal niche in this hobby and I’m glad I can participate in whichever capacity I choose.

I’ve also started my blog which has also provided me with a very positive and enjoyable outlet to write about this hobby I enjoy. I’m no poet, but writing is something that I’ve always enjoyed in my personal life as well, so starting a hockey card blog was a natural fit for me.

The recent Collectors Corner blog posts is also something I’ve had a blast with. I find learning and seeing about other collectors and their collections has been very fun and allows me to appreciate their cards on a new level.

So this hobby affects my mood in many ways. While there has been a lot of negative things like losing out on a big PC Card, slow/lost mail, getting ripped off, etc. I try to focus on the positive and touch on those points instead of dwelling on the negative.
 
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Thinking about same thing lately.

I have been buying older cards 80s, 90s to fill in the gaps in my Whaler PC
plus expanding some of my favourite former Whalers to include non Whaler issues.

I too can't wait to check the mail and see the bubble mailer peeking out but I also feel the disappointment when the box is empty

I started on Instagram this past week and have enjoyed posting cards - Whaler birthdays and "on this date", etc. especially when there are no new PC cards that day. I find it helps my mood and I like to track down cards in my PC that I can post. Plus I get to see other people's cards I normally wouldn't

Today I came home looking for an older card and came across long forgotten cards from 30 years ago and older. Was fun to flip through and see what I had but have since forgotten

Hockey cards are great diversions and those diversions can take many forms

:beer:
 
One piece of advice I would give is just purchase more cards it will increase your odds that you get something each day. I had three show up today. Just change the odds so they are in your favour, insert smiley face here
 
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I don’t really get packages any more (maybe one a month). This site is more of a lifeline than the cards of late.

If you really want to extend yourself, send cards to folks that need what you have. Often time their value is secondary, but the sense of helping someone out can get you pretty jazzed.
 
I have cards that I consider to be live and can be sold or moved in a heartbeat. I have some great Vladimir Guerrero Jr cards in my PC that I do enjoy looking at but what makes me happy is my binder that is FULL of cards from the early to mid 90s (and older!) that reminds me of collecting as a teen.

Stuff like Shaq RCs, Lindros RCs, Brett Hull RCs and 2nd year (anyone remember the hype around those in the early 90s?) and baseball RCs of Todd Van Poppel and the like. I can skim through that binder and remember shows I went to, shows I set up at, people I knew, friends I made...that's where I get my joy. Memories.

The new stuff is exciting and expensive, but the older cards contain the most value. I recommend everyone build a binder with cards that LEGIT bring them joy because when these ruts happen (and they happen to all of us), you have these cards that you can flip through and give yourself a recharge.
 
I feel your pain... I’m waiting on a “whale” that really jump started my collecting during this pandemic... I traded a very sweet card to get it.. And Now Canada post, has stopped tracking on it 10 days ago when it left Montreal... ugh.
 
I LOVE this hobby, since this pandemic started I’ve started Instagram, made trades and talked trash with more people than I can remember, IndyMan, love your IG posts, and Jeremys sports cards live is awesome, I’ve been picking up more baseball as well, mainly Bellinger rookies before they go outta my price range and some Buster Posey stuff
 
I'm still getting some nice cards in the mail (mostly eBay), but the extra time has given me the push I needed to dive into my 90's hockey cards. I had boxes in a closet that I hadn't looked at for quite awhile. I'm loving some of those older subsets (eg. 1999-00 Black Diamond "Diamond Might") and for the most part they aren't expensive cards to pull in. COMC also has a great inventory for browsing. My old Instagram account that I hadn't used for years has been resurrected, and I'm really enjoying the activity over there.
 
I love taking an hour before going to bed, look at messages boards, work on deals a bit, package a mailer. That's a bit of quality time that I enjoy taking for myself.
 
My mood is ok.... Spent a lot of time semi-sorting a s-load of cards(basically boxes are sorted by product ie. 2015/16 UD IN THE same box..... crown royal might be in with other stuff i only bought a box or less of) eventually ill put stuff into sets(probably get some of it done while im off.
Many of my buys are letang exclusives..... Have more than 20 of the same card(s) /100. Horded a bit. Not so much the /10 but have some of those too(not many if any dupes.
 
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Virus or no virus, it has been a quiet few months for me in the hobby. Almost no pickups to speak of; in fact, I've sold more than I've bought. Streamlining my collection down to the best premium cards has helped me appreciate those premium cards more. Though the asking prices of Murphy cards on my Ebay watchlist are high enough to leave me pretty frustrated, just seeing them surface is often encouraging. And even a small base card, parallel, show card, oddball or team issue can be enough to keep the fire burning. Jeremy's show has helped too, learning about the hobby from some of the major players. Their passion is contagious and reminds me why I still enjoy it to this day. I may not be that active in it right now, but I'm always on the fringes and enjoy the community we have here. A few bubble mailers again would be nice though :)
 
For me I have not spent a penny on cards since the pandemic and so far I have been fine. I get my hobby fix by going through my cards and posting cards on IG from time to time and going on Breakers and YouTube to watch my favorite breakers.

I am starting to miss purchasing cards and will most likely buy some SPA this week, but other than that I have been totally fine.
 

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