The Question of the Day is a way to facilitate community discussion to help members ponder the unanswered questions of the world that are somehow relating to the hobby. Questions are many times open ended and up to interpretation. Feel free to post your thoughts in as much or as little detail as you’d like.
Helpful Considerations may or may not help some people focus their answer, these are blurred to not bother those who have their own ideas.
Today’s Question: QotD: If you lost it all, by accident or disaster, could you find it in yourself to continue collecting?
Helpful Considerations: [spoiler]
Is there a cutoff for how much youd have to lose before you stopped? Go without looking back or always keep an eye on it? Build it back better?
[/spoiler]
If I lost it all, I think it’d be 50/50 if I continue. I’m not nearly as obsessed with collecting as I used to be and have considered downsizing my collection for quality over quantity.
This might be the push to leave collecting behind.
Alternatively, if I did continue, I think my collection goals would be much more focused. I’d probably only collect some of my all time fav cards, maybe a species collection of my favorite pokemon.
I would be devastated if I lost my collection in an accident/disaster. However, I could not see myself quitting. I am far too stubborn.
I may enjoy some aspects of rebuilding.
I will get to form new memories with cards that I once cherished.
I will not be tied down to prior collection goals. This will be like restarting a Pokemon video game with a new starter and team.
Some cards in my collection would be irreplaceable, either due to their rarity or my sentimental attachment to them. Never seeing those again would be a constant source of heartache.
The level of commitment would be long gone but i think i would find a way to form a collection goal where i could still keep collecting on some level, heartbroken but determined
My rebuild would look very different. I wouldn’t have it in me to rebuild my original goal, not just financially. I would get the rookie card (yes, Dyl) of each Eeveelution and then maybe just a few favorites and call it a day. Would probably frame them and put on a wall instead of doing binders
Initially I said if I lost everything I would completely exit from Pokémon entirely. Sell everything. In hindsight, I wouldn’t sell everything else, but I wouldn’t try to start over either. I would buy a couple of my favorite cards back and call it a day
To be honest, this isn’t really a hypothetical for me. Its my Origin story for coming back to collecting/playing. I never really wanted to bring it up for multiple reasons. I really dislike thinking about it, especially right now with prices what they are. All the negative emotions.
Point is, I’m here now. Whatever that says about me I suppose. Take good care of things you value and keep them close to you.
Im in my mid 20s, so it wouldn’t be too hard to rebuild a collection, but it would be impossible to exactly rebuild mine due to many unique cards that are very hard to find or obtain.
Losing a six-figure collection would be devastating, but with time on my side, ill try to rebuild what I can.
Similar questions like this were the reason I dont even keep my collection with me anymore. It got too valuable for me to want to keep possession of it.
After some creative break I’d most likely start again by obtaining complete Neo sets and work my way up from there.
The overall experience would be totally different compared to current moment: less sealed vintage items and multiple hard to grade sets, more enjoying what modern has to offer while also picking favourite cards from all eras.
I would definitely continue on if I lost all of my collection. I think it would be pretty difficult knowing how hard it would be to replace some of the items in my collection, but at the same time I would be able to have a fresh go at it and hone in on my collecting goals after dialing in on my larger interests over time.
Probably not. I actually considered getting back into collecting around 2015 but couldn’t bring myself start because I couldn’t find my childhood collection. Something about reacquiring things I previously had just didn’t seem appealing. Luckily (or unluckily) for me I found it years later which reignited my passion
I think I would keep collecting. It would be devastating to lose the collection but perhaps as much or even more devastating to stop collecting all at once. It is just part of who I am and I don’t know what as meaningful thing would replace this hobby.
I think I wouldn’t collect the same cards that were lost but set some fresh goals for “new era” as collector
I would NOT try to continue collecting. I have a few other collections, and I do it mainly for the impulse and gratification. I would however continue to buy for investment. I’m not dumb. THere are great opportunities to be had, but losing the collection would largely halt my continued collecting efforts. Kinda like loding an old friend. You can’t get it back, but you do have memories.
New things will never be the same, maybe better, but never the same.
I will continue collecting, but won’t have the motivation to pursue my PSA goals. I’ll probably end up joining bindergang and complain about how “grading is a scam”
I would buy a 4 pocket binder, set a budget ($150) and buy a mix of inexpensive vintage and modern cards that are nice to look at and didn’t own before.
I wouldn’t have the energy to hunt down the cards that I’d lost, but I would still like to have a small collection.
