Almost every collector will go through phases of collecting fatigue. This might include feeling overwhelmed or underwhelmed by one’s collection and the prospect of adding to it.
Do you feel fatigued? How do you move past it?
This topic was brought up recently, and I felt that it deserved its own thread.
I got obsessed with watching pack openings and market evaluations during the 2020/2021 hype. I got completely burned out from seeing Base Set 2 pack openings (biggest waste of time) and realized I’ve seen everything opened up. So I unsubscribed from 75% of the Poketubers I was watching, and man does it feel good to only watch Ass-Em-Pratte and Rusty now.
It happens to me with other collections that I have but not Pokémon. Since Pokemon doesn’t take up much space for me and there are many thing to collect that are related to Pokemon, it’s hard for me to feel fatigued by it. I guess right now If I were fatigued, it would be beneficial for me financially. Eventually though I will have to take a break from Pokemon (not 100% my choice). My other collections however are most likely going to be sold off.
True, he pops up in my non subscribers feed and pop in to some of his videos.
What’s it called when you flip flop between FOMO trying to get a hold of everything before it’s too late, and wanting to sell everything and never collect again?
As a newish collector, I’ve felt overwhelmed about collecting every vintage set released. There’s a difference between loving 10-20 cards from a set, and wanting to build a full set from scratch. If I’m not excited about it, why do it? I already have a day job. Collecting is for fun.
Historically I’ve ranked Pokemon as one of my secondary passions. They all swirl around in my brain with a natural ebb and flow where one takes center stage and another one steps back. I think it builds up, if I get sick of it for long enough I make the conscious decision to put it on the back burner and then eventually it resurfaces.
A bigger problem is keeping myself from spending too much time on these things.
I’ve definitely gotten it (fatigue) when trying to track down certain cards I’m after. For example, there’s been at least few times where I should have bought a certain holo or expensive card I was after, but either didn’t have the money at the time (because I bought other cards) or wasn’t paying attention to the auction because I’d be looking at so many other cards in the same day or week and end up missing out on a deal.
There’s so many things to keep track of at times, and it’s easy to get overwhelmed if you have too many goals on the go at a time. I’ve had to make compromises along the way in card condition or other factors, so it’s definitely easy to get burned out.
I think at times I try and collect certain cards too fast as well. My most satisfying purchases are the ones I’ve been most patient with and gotten a good deal on. I’ve also saved the most money this way, which adds up to being able to buy a lot more cards over the long-term.
It’s hard to balance doing a sprint & marathon with collecting at times. Lately I’ve been going for a more marathon approach, and it’s been working out well for me. I hope over the next year if economic conditions remain tight, I’ll still have a chance to pick some of my biggest targets on my list.
It’s also helped that I’ve worked at home since 2020. $1000s saved on gasoline and other expenses, which has accelerated my collecting goals a lot, but I still need to approach things with patience to make the most of it I feel.
Collecting fatigue is real! Here is a link to a post I made last year before I took a bit of a break.
The collecting fatigue has made me consider what my long game is. I love to travel, and realistically, I won’t be home as often when I’m older, or won’t want to lug a bunch of slabs and boxes around forever. That’s given me a thought of, if I could only have 26 cards (BCW slab holder size), what would they be? I may start thinking of how to refine that list, so I can maintain some longevity in the hobby without feeling the need to keep up with so many cards and goals.
This is one of the major benefits of a vault location (e.g., PWCC, eBay). Access your cards when you’re interested, and store them in the vault when you’re looking to take a break. Of course, this works much easier for slabbed collections and those who live in North America.
My reply will be exactly the same from the other thred linked: I moved into merch.
The beauty of merch for me is the constant search for information coupled with the never ending discovery of new items. Ive been doing merch now for 2/3 years and every week since ive found something new which I never heard of before (and this is only me doing gen 2/dedenne related searches). It killed that fatigue dead in its tracks and even if im not in the process of buying anything Its still fun to research since a lot of the work there is documented so poorly to where youre on your own to figure it all out. Cards to me just became so cut and dry because most (if not all at this point) are very easy to figure out in all aspects. The only new things for them for me is modern, and its really not much fun as opposed to the accomplishment I get from doing my own detective skills in the merch world.
Its definitely not for everyone but hell if youre into the “history” of cards (which most here will claim to be) then you may get a huge kick out of just researching the history of pokemon center japan and the releases theyve had along the way. A lot crosses paths with cards, so its a nice fun activity to cure any tiredness ofthings.
and as a bonus you could talk to me about what you find and we can have some fun comparing notes 
I made a binder of may favorite set 1997 carddass and I almost have it done. And set a lofty goal of getting every articuno card in a binder. Plus just the gaining of even more knowledge has kept me going strong.
A strange one for me. I don’t really get “fatigue” because I’m always interested. But I do go between waves of “fixating” (spending hours per day scouring ebay, marketplace, Japanese sights etc. and spending all my money) and what I would describe as “drifting” and not “fatigue”. I still know what’s going on and I’m still super interested in the hobby, but just don’t actively engage. I am like this with all my hobbies though. I do it with languages, with sports and video games. It kind of balances nicely across a year, each period has intense devotion with all free time spent doing something related to it and then takes the back burner for a bit and I spend no time at all on it. I never feel fatigued though, my brain just switches focus.
There are times in the hobby when you’re supposed to NOT be fatigued?
I don’t think WoTC made a fatigue card, so it’s not on my radar to be collect.
Honestly though, yeah, it’ll always set in when you collect as relentlessly as the modern hobby tries to demand.
I like to either step away and focus on something else for a few weeks (dinosaur fossils are another of my go-to’s), or just chill and pick up some nice cheap cards that you can enjoy for the art, rather than the hype or set completion needs.
Personally, I have recently felt an extremely strong fatigue.
In the beginning, everything was exciting, I was excited about auctions and every day I discovered a new card with a background story that I thought was cool.
However, the initial collecting became a more and more routine exchange of money for cards with the constant observation of market prices. The collection felt more like a small portfolio to me and no longer like trading cards.
My approach to have more fun has been to create small projects that bring back into focus for me the aspects of collecting which were important to me: Networking, meeting new people, and the hunt for the card itself 
For example, I focused on the Shogakukan 2003 ADV promos and my Unlimited Mudkip Gold Star collection.
I also looked at each of my cards and asked myself: would I part with this card for another? Cards for which I could answer the question with yes directly I sorted out from the collection.
In addition, I have also stopped to collect modern cards because I have noticed that I was only on the search for the big hits and wasn’t interested in the other cards anymore. instead of opening a box with each new set I now open every few months a vintage ex booster, I personally have much more joy.
When I get collecting fatigue with Pokemon, I switch over to sports cards. When I get tired of sports cards I switch back to Pokemon. It helps having other hobbies to keep everything interesting
Also whenever I get fatigued with collectibles in general, I try to shake up how I get cards. I recently just completed the unlimited base through fossil sets by trying to obtain them more “organically”, I guess.
I could have easily just went to TCGPlayer, eBay or TrollandToad and bought them all, but what;s the fun in that? I spent probably close to a year or so on it, and I would only buy cards from shops, by making trades with locals/reddit/facebook, and by buying lots on Facebook Marketplace or Reddit. Brought me back to the good ole days of trading
