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When Childhood Hobbies Meet Adult Allowances
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As a kid, I never collected baseball cards, but I collected all sorts of other things. I collected comic books, I collected comic book cards, I collected Magic: The Gathering cards, and all of these things are sitting in my basement right now, slowly appreciating in value. 
I saw The Baseball Card Movie at Kottke.org and invested ten minutes watching the whole thing, it was great. Not only did the accent transport me back home (the Baseball Card Dugout is located in Brooklyn, NY) but it showed me what happens when a childhood hobby meets an adult allowance.
The Baseball Card Movie
Now before you say it’s absurd for someone to spend a hundred dollars, or four hundred dollars, on a pack of cards, think of the hobbies you have. Before you say it’s crazy for them to be so superstitious about opening packs, think of the superstitions you have. I’m certain everyone does this, just not everyone does this with baseball cards. You can replace baseball cards with any hobby you have… including raising kids.
(You can watch the video in HD at Youtube.)
(Photo: themarkpike)
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Wish I had such a hobby too
My dad collects baseball cards, and football cards. He has tons of packs that he hasn’t opened.
Awesome post Jim.
there’s worse. I play rec league ice hockey. Annual cost: about $1000.
Those fancy new sticks are around $100, and break if you look at them wrong.
And what do I have to show for my little hobby at the end of the season: little aches and pains to remind me that I’m too old to play, and that’s about it!
At least collecting “stuff” you have something to show…
What about the memories? And the good times?
Stuff can just accumulate!
I know exactly what you mean. When I grew up I took on the hobby of collecting He-man @ The Masters of the Universe action figures. I bought a lot of them. Eventually I decided to declutter my life and sold off most of all that I owned. Some of them had appreciated and others became essentially worthless.
If you know what you are doing with collecting it can be a great way of generating income or even an investment. The problem with collectables is that it is hard to predict what the market will do in 6 months or 20 years. You may have the hot item now, but by the time you are ready to sell, there may not be a market for it. It just depends.
Man, I want to go buy some cards now! I could never get past the “don’t open” stage.
Never did have a collection as a child.
However, as an adult I got hooked on Beanie Babies. What a collection I accumulated until Hubby put a stop to my spending.
None of the grandkids are interested in them and their value has plummeted. I may never get back my investment.
Now I operate under the rule of one thing comes in – one must go out, unless it is an article to fill a specific need or place in my decorating scheme.
Husband got into hunting when we moved to Maine. He is accumulating a host of supplies, magazines, etc. This has become his hobby and he throughly enjoys being out in the woods.
Last Fall he got a turkey – no deer or moose yet. He keeps trying, though!
I collected Lego as a kid. When I moved out of my parents house, I had nowhere to put my huge collection, so I GAVE THEM AWAY FOR FREE to some neighborhood kids. I’m now in my thirtys and have started my Lego hobby back up. I’m what the Lego community calls an AFOL = Adult Fan of Lego. I attend the monthly local Lego User Group (LUG) meetings and the local annual Lego Fest. I don’t spend a lot of money on the hobby, but it’s fun.
My childhood hobby could probably be considered video games.
I have a Nintendo DS and want the PS3.
The only difference between being an adult vs being a child … as a child I had more time to indulge my hobbies but less money!
Now that I have the money, I don’t have the time.