Collecting Fatigue

So I should add a little more elaboration to this to add clarity but when I say cut and dry I am of course only really referring to my experience in English and Japanese cards. Starting up collecting again Japanese to me was a huge mystery, but all of the information I needed for said cards was at my fingertips with a simple google search whereas In regard to merch, that information usually is not around and/or false due to poor research by others in this realm (I like to think of it as the early days of the TCG when people didnt know how many copies of the illustrator there were or not knowing the release info of x trophy). I never ventured beyond english/japanese just because to me anything there only seemed like a “copy” for lack of a better word since 99.5 percent of the time its just variants of a non exlcusive art featuring maybe a stamp or different holo pattern. That was always why going beyond the two main languages never seemed appealing to me because I just didnt feel like chasing the same thing over and over again with a mild difference. Of course im not sure on language exclusives that exist beyond eng/japanese if there are any, but yeah its just not desirable for me.

So with that being said, after i ran through all the bulbapedia lists and talked to many people here all my card needs were met quite quickly due to the time period and ease of information whereas in merch im still trying to figure out mystery after mystery of missing release information while also discovering new products weekly.

1 Like

This is something that hit me during the pandemic. Collecting used to be an infinite pursuit for me. I bought what liked. I set goals, achieved them, then set new goals. But as the cost of doing this because so monstrously high, it would have been very demanding to keep doing this.

The financial burden of having thousands of dollars tied up in things I bought “just because” became too much to for me, so I started selling sections of my collection. Goals that were too expensive to complete took the fun out of acquisition, so I started abandoning some goals and liquidating my progress. I took a hard look at what I was collecting, why I was collecting it, and what I really wanted my “permanent” collection to look like.

I am now in the process of redirecting my entire longterm goal towards a totally different endgame that’s completely unlike the endgame I had in mind when I started. But this has been good, I think. I am glad I’m doing it. But the process of getting here was was not without its stress.

3 Likes

I’ll echo what people say about social media. I’ve never considered myself as part of any pokemon “community”, I think it’s a big reason why I’m never truly fatigued, beyond straightforward money issues.

I’m a member of one Facebook group that I check once every 3 months for all of 5 seconds until I see something that makes me wanna puke. I don’t have an Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, Tiktok, Whatnot or any of that. Other than two friends and maybe one family member, the closest anyone has been to see my collection is my collection thread here.

Actually, it’s two Facebook groups, it’s been so long since I checked it that I forgot I was even a member. :rofl:

4 Likes

My goals have definitely changed since I began. I didn’t get back into cards until 2019, before then I only collected figures, plush and other merch. For awhile I wanted to collect every single piece of merch of my favorite pokemon. But I slowly realized they would release new merch it seemed like every week and I couldn’t keep up. Now, my goal is just to collect what resonates with me. When I get bored of it and it’s no longer special to me I’ll probably just sell it.

Not sure if this counts as “fatigue” but I also get “collecting existentialism” where I wonder “what’s the point?” and get self-conscious about the amount of time I’m spending on the hobby and wonder if I should be using that time more “wisely”. It doesn’t help that I’m self-employed so it’s very easy to get sucked into an eBay / yahoo japan rabbit hole and find the whole night gone lol. But at the end of the day I guess, if it’s something that brings you joy and it isn’t consuming your entire life, is it really a waste?

7 Likes

Had this thought as well and brought this up to my SO. She compared it to pretty much (outside of a date night); Going out for drinks, attending a festivals/concerts, shopping for clothes/make-up, a night-in/out with her friends.

Thought about it, and as much as I love the newer sets that Pokemon came out with, I’ve stopped shooting myself in the foot for buying em’ after hearing what she said.

She even brought up that people buy, and probably buy more, drugs/alchy/cigs than I’ve ever spent on my most expensive Pokemon haul. You can be addicted, but you can also get the same satisfaction since satisfaction is subjective to everyone. Don’t be self conscious. We can resell our collections/downsize at any given moment.

5 Likes

Even though i have gotten and occasionally still get small collecting fatigues it’s mainly everything else fatigue i have and i wish i would have more time to go through my collection and sort it in a way i like it (and ofc get more of it when i have enough funds for it). Collecting still is a safety haven for me and an escape place from everything else and unless my modern collections get blown up by the amount of new releases i find it difficult to see any serious fatigue of collecting for me. The only thing i’m tired of is searching for certain cards for years and years but luckily i’m down to one card on that so when i finally find that topps chrome sparkle muk i’m in search of i hopefully can shake of the last bits of fatigue in collecting for me

4 Likes

To quote my college pastor, “if you’re not happy with what you already have, what makes you think that by getting more of it it will make you more happy?”

Collecting fatigue has happened with me on and off since the beginning of this year. I found myself getting into a really bad habit of always wanting more than what i had. i cared more about looking at ebay for cards that i didn’t have than looking at cards in my own binders!

i have gotten into a good headspace about collecting lately, and i think that stems from me coming to terms that my “collection” or “status amongst other collectors” is not going to fill me up/satisfy my desires.

16 Likes

Whenever I feel particularly apathetic toward my collection, I take a moment to revisit it. I try to comb through my entire collection monthly or quarterly to remind myself what I value about it, to determine what I am willing to part with, and to set new goals and expectations.

The “ebb and flow” of collecting also keeps me levelheaded. Some weeks are busier than others due to the nature of rare/scarce items coming to market.

6 Likes

Just happened to me. Once you almost reach your goal, you kinda think about how cash is king right now.

Binders and 90s magazines help me rejuvenate. They are very personal, and are a nice break from the daily noise and competition.

13 Likes

I’ve had to admit to myself that I’ve felt some collecting fatigue in the past few years but probably not the same way as most. I’m not worried about completing collecting goals at all because I’ve set the reality to myself that some cards are out of my reach because I won’t pay x amount of money for some cardboard. Which is why my Rayquaza collection will never be completed, lol. But I’ll get what I can and what I feel is good to me.

I just kinda took a step back and started losing interest in sharing everything. Updating my collection thread or posting on Instagram started to feel like a shore instead of being something spontaneous that I enjoyed doing so I just stopped it and haven’t updated them for a long time.

I also feel super weird about my graded collection. Between 2015-2019 I built quite a big collection of graded cards from scratch. Most of them I graded myself through middle men. While I’m happy with the cards that I own, now that I look at them I often think why didn’t I just stay in binder collecting only. During the pandemic I stopped buying graded almost completely when things got crazy and I started to appreciate binder much more again. I’ve stored the graded cards away from my sight because there are too many to be displayed. I really don’t know what to do. Part of me thinks maybe sell the ones I also have in binder and keep the ones I don’t. But it does annoy me let’s say to have some Rays graded but at the same time those exact cards are missing from my binder. You get what I’m trying to say? Like I’m on this debate and idk what to do. Should I crack some to move them to binders? No, that would be insane too and basically the same as flush money down the toilet.

I’m very much enjoying binders again like I said. My Salamence binder collection is complete atm (all English and Japanese variants) and I’m doing great process with Flygon too. I’ve just been doing this by myself and not really sharing. I haven’t stopped at any time, but the pandemic has really shifted things for me. Not just that but changes in import tax in EU (pay tax for everything that comes outside the continent), Japan Post not sending anything to Finland because of the war in Ucraine so having to ship stuff from Japan with DHL or Fedex… everything is just more complicated now. Lately I’ve been discovering CardMarket and it has helped a lot but of course some things are just harder to find there. Plus Europeans tend to put a premium on Japanese cards too, probably because everyone knows it’s harder to import them over these days.

15 Likes

I’ve only bought one card this year, the collectors fatigue has been real but i’ve had lots of real life stuff happen too, got married and that kind of things so prioritizes have been elsewhere.

4 Likes

I’m personally getting tired of modern. The sets are too big, so many cards that are valuable and terrible pull rates. Too much $ to invest in cards that just came out for my taste. Don’t get me wrong, I do like opening packs and buying some modern singles still but to a much lesser extent now.

The majority of the Youtube content is getting super boring, stale, and redundant. Every channel is either a 2-6 hour long podcast-style discussion with 2-4 guys live discussing the same two topics (Moonbreon and Charizard UPC) while also picking questions out of the Live Chat, or PSA returns flashing up dollar signs for every grade reveal.

14 Likes

To be fair, how much variety can there be? It’s a fairly simple hobby - especially when it’s focused on modern.

1 Like

This year has been exceptionally slow/boring for me, buying additions for binder collections has been really unfrequent and I do believe only 3 graded cards have made their way to graded card case during summer ( maybe I should finally update collection thread with them ).

That’s a really bad sign when great events like Secret Santa won’t turn around your mood, been in it since the beginning yet somehow I feel I haven’t deserved a spot this year. Luckily there’s still couple days to decide about participating.

Also it simply feels like there’s so much to do irl and whenever I sit on computer I’m stuck reading updates about war in Ukraine.

7 Likes

Really sorry to hear that you’re feeling this way about collecting. I hope that you decide to join Secret Santa 2022 - who knows, it might improve your mood and reignite the collecting fire.

I don’t watch much tcg-related Youtube anymore either. The podcast stuff is pretty much unendurable, don’t care about modern and the “museum” videos have all been watched to death.

Except breaks of very special things I can’t stomach those either. I’d rather watch some of the old classics of the same sets, but again those have all been watched to death.

1 Like

Aww man, I am sorry that you have these feelings. I know things get better eventually. I also hope you do decide to join the Secret Santa event, simply because I feel that just trying to put a gift together for someone else can be a form of catharsis. There is no collection to fill in, no list to check etc.

As @Dyl mentioned, it could possibly reignite the passion since you are trying to make someone else day / season / year and get a new perspective on things.

Cheers!

1 Like

Ive experienced build up/burn out a few times and there is nothing wrong wirh stepping away for awhile when you need to. I collect a few cards here and there but ive found a real love for reselling. For me reselling allows you to psuedo collect cards you like but dont need to own. Even for a short amount of time its nice to just get your hands on some fresh cardboard.

4 Likes