I collected a couple of players 15 years ago. It got to the point where I just didn't really find enjoyment in it anymore once I got to what at the time was 75% of the cards of the player. The cards were harder to find and the lower number stuff a lot of it just never even surfaced because chances are whoever pulled it thought it was a nobody. After getting triple digit autos and game used cards it became more of a chore because really why do I need another one? One of the other players was heavily collected and the prices just skyrocketed and it just didn't make sense to me to pay the prices to get some of the low print run cards.
I switched my focus to something I thought was sustainable. I moved to collect a rookie card and auto from every player that played for my favourite team and a graded rookie and auto for as many hall of famers as I could. Both get new additions each year so it's a fun but not overwhelming. I also feel it's a better investment as instead of quantity I can focus on quality of cards and there is a major variety with all the greats of the game.
