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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Indiana Jones" data-source="post: 897910" data-attributes="member: 8425">[Another Site; Jan 18 2009, 09:38 AM](Responding to "How did you get started in Collecting?")In 1977 I was 9 and was exposed to baseball cards for the first time. I was a flipper for about 2 years. Then got re-introduced December 1991 when I was 22. I thought  they looked pretty cool in those lucite screwdown holders and became enamored when my friend mentioned that rookie cards become valuable. The very first SINGLE I bought was a 1991 Stadium Club Randall Cunningham.Well, a lot has happened since then. I went through these phases:- Insertmania- Scarcest RCs- 1st refractor parallels- bought packs and boxes to try and beat out the high insert pricesI didn't get much enjoyment out of them so I quit in 1999 when I was 31.Lessons learned: Those inserts I tried to beat out by buying packs and boxes now go for a fraction of what they once were. Most items will NEVER hold their value - they always start out high and then you can buy them for much less down the road. I never built sets, so it just accumulated as junk. I will never buy a box to chase after something ever again. Singles means never having to say you're sorry.And then got re-introduced in 2005 when I was 36 and went through these phases after putting in thought:- Museum-type collection- Player collections- Team collections- Rainbow collectionsBut it just grew too fast for me - again.Lesson learned: Don't veer off the path; it's easy to get swept up in the moment/trend. Other items may look enticing, but stick with what you are focusing on. Love what you do because you enjoy it. Greed will make it worse.So here I am in 2009. 40 years old. I bore down. Now I placed restrictions on myself and would select only the pieces that interest me and could possibly hold value at the same time. It took some thinking to do, but I think I have it down now....- absolutely no sticker autos- absolutely no manufactured ANYTHING (numbered rarity, patches)- I will respect the sport by accepting only whole game-used equipment - no game-used cards (see previous statement)- no event-used cards (wow, he wore it once  <_< )- the only thing I will accept on a card is an autograph written right on the card or nothing at all- the RC doesn't matter to me anymore, only that it's nice-looking with an autograph on it (some of this year's RCs are just plain ugly!)Stay on the path....</blockquote>

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