my poor zelf voting yearly 
3 Likes
Of course.
@wooltchi hit the nail on the head. When you are tired you go to sleep, when you are hungry you eat etc. Try not pursue for the sake of pursuit.
2 Likes
Absolutely. The answer is to enjoy what you’ve already collected. I’ve taken very long breaks where I’ve simply stopped buying and appreciated what I had. Sometimes you might even end up selling something you’re no longer interested in. When something catches your eye that you’re actually interested in again, the chase is back on.
2 Likes
I haven’t hit that slump yet, but I second what others have said about non-TCG. There’s always super cool and interesting vintage Pokemon stuff that’s out there. I really would like to collect some non-TCG sets, but I don’t think my budget can be stretched so thin, so I’m trying to stay focused for now. But if you’re into Gen I pokemon, there is an amazing world of awesome vintage non-TCG items out there. (But there’s still awesome stuff for later gens too!),
Species collecting is also something that’s pretty fun 
Especially if you get into the Japanese side, and your species is found in difficult-to-find unlimited Japanese sets—then the hunt is on!
4 Likes
-
Chasing too much and too quick. Personally, after I purchased my “chase” card I have been eyeing for awhile, the card seemed to lose its “grail” value after I have it in my hands. I then start to look for the next “chase”. All this hunting for the next grail and the struggle of deciding whether I should pay this much financially makes me hit a slump.
-
Focusing too much on condition. I started out collecting by being hyper focused on the condition of my cards, to the point where I am not enjoying them when the condition is not perfect in my eyes. This wore me out quick as I search for copies that satisfies my standard.
What I did was to refocus on my binders, focused less on condition, having appreciation for binder cards as well as apprecating my current “grails” that i own. Makes collecting more sustainable and fun for me.
14 Likes
I feel both of these points
Point 1:
Have found myself doing that as well. Once the grail is in hand, the rush is gone and like you said you set your eyes on the next thing. It’s like the dopamine rush goes away once you secure the card.
Point 2:
Been down this rabbit hole as well. Tons of “good” condition cards that look fine…but the pursuit on finding that near mint/mint copy in “your” price range can suck out the fun after awhile.
3 Likes
Thanks for the replies everyone. Thinking about it I think I went through my shadowless base set goal too fast and I’m burnt out. Will probably take a small break and see what catches my eye over the coming months
6 Likes
Collecting is not your career, it is your hobby.
Pick it up and put it down when it suits you.
12 Likes
Oh yeah, I know from experience collecting too fast will burn you out. Over the last year or so I’ve reduced my collecting to really just two goals and have taken my time with it. I can be a pretty impatient person (something I’m legitimately trying to work on) so when I got back into the hobby I had to learn that the hunt is half the fun and to enjoy the journey.
2 Likes
Pick up a binder and start filling it with commons and uncommons from your favourite set/era.
Can fill out a binder over weeks and months with beautiful cards for pittance, it allows you to still be engaged and excited without it being a financial burden.
5 Likes
I agree that you should take a break. I have done several times and always returned feeling fresh and excited for a new goal. You never know when inspiration will hit you, whether its a new artist that inspires an artist collection or a new artwork of a specific Pokémon that lets you see it in a whole new light and now you must have them all etc.
Never collect because you feel you should. Collect because you love it.
4 Likes
Some fantastic suggestions above! I’ve done pretty much all of them at some point.
Binder collections are definitely a great option, I’m doing most of the wotc sets as binders, also I started collecting modern AR cards for beautiful art but not much cost. I also collect some LOTR cards and Dragonball hondan for a change and the Dragonball hondan cards are beautiful and don’t cost much for most of them!
I really keep thinking about doing a species binder collection, but it’s another cost at the moment. Not an expensive Pokémon just one of my favourites from childhood memories and the anime and games.
I also think taking time out for a while and maybe a holiday or trip away not thinking about cards for a while is good. Im going skiing soon so won’t have any signal or be able to browse the internet most of the time. Stuff like that helps 
4 Likes
I think the important thing to note here is that everyone hits these slumps and gets burned at out some point in time. I’ve changed my collection goals several times over the last few years and I’ve come to separate current goals in one of two ways: passively collecting binder copies of whatever whenever, or saving and being patient to obtain something a little pricier and rarer. Even if I get burned out again, I know I can get rid of my binder stuff while still keeping the significant parts of my collection (festas, stamp promos, other bigger goals like AA).
Taking a back seat and not forcing myself to buy things that I’ll get tired of hunting after two years has been great. I still participate in the community, go to events, hang out, and I basically sit in the discord all day. Don’t let yourself leave everything behind for a break if you can help it!
4 Likes
I found that taking a break from expensive cards and trying to fill a binder with more affordable cards has reinvigorated me at times. Currently working on some ex reverse holo binders that I can buy a bunch of without going broke. Feels good when you check a handful of the list at a time, mail days, sleeving them into the binder etc.
3 Likes