I am officially done cracking wax!

[FuriousD82]

over/under on months until he breaks again?

[13stepper]

over/under on months until he breaks again?

Muhahahahahahaha!

[Yzerfan]

over/under on months until he breaks again?

[mooneyes]

sorta funny...but the OP's reason #4 is not a joking matter, I can relate totally, i may not break wax, but I am on Ebay EVERY day, and with a simple "Buy it Now" button in my home, as long as it is in my house, my OCD, which is a real illness in my case, will "break me"....I am hesitant to compare hockey card addiction to alcoholism, but at the same time, as most know, an alcoholic Cannot have an ounce of alcohol in their house...I talked to someone just a few days ago about my obsessive spending that I cannot afford and the conclusion was I have to delete my ebay account...sounds drastic, and painful for me to do..but I just bought a card 10 minutes ago!
Anyway I have empathy for the OP and wish you all the best in NOT breaking!

[FrankToronto]

What a courageous post!

Sometimes taking a step back brings clarity and then you find yourself leaning towards what matters most to you.

[dudical]

Hobby it is... do it for fun. If it's not fun..... then you know what to do. 2 cents

[FuriousD82]

sorta funny...but the OP's reason #4 is not a joking matter, I can relate totally, i may not break wax, but I am on Ebay EVERY day, and with a simple "Buy it Now" button in my home, as long as it is in my house, my OCD, which is a real illness in my case, will "break me"....I am hesitant to compare hockey card addiction to alcoholism, but at the same time, as most know, an alcoholic Cannot have an ounce of alcohol in their house...I talked to someone just a few days ago about my obsessive spending that I cannot afford and the conclusion was I have to delete my ebay account...sounds drastic, and painful for me to do..but I just bought a card 10 minutes ago!
Anyway I have empathy for the OP and wish you all the best in NOT breaking!

Have a trusted friend set up a website blocker/parental control on your computer so you cannot access eBay instead.

I did not mean to make light of OP's "addiction." It is sad that one or two or three bad breaks strung together could lead someone to lose the passion for the hobby, but I completely understand. The lack of value in today's breaks, (especially for those of us who like to open wax, keep the few cards they like and sell the rest to fund the break) is making this hobby cost ineffective and pushing more consumers out than it is bringing in. The blame can be passed around to many, but card manufacturers are clearly at the heart of this problem.

Having said that, in my experience, breaking full cases of the Cup brings back the best return on investment of any product. Grabbing 1 box from a few different years without knowing the history of the case will likely lead to several stinkers. My suggestion to OP is to take a month or two off, or even wait until the next high end product that you previously enjoyed the most comes out. I think you will be pleasantly surprised how much more fun it is when you spread the timing of the breaks.

Now are you selling off your stuff? Cause I'd like to make some lowball offers :)

[centrehice]

sorta funny...but the OP's reason #4 is not a joking matter, I can relate totally, i may not break wax, but I am on Ebay EVERY day, and with a simple "Buy it Now" button in my home, as long as it is in my house, my OCD, which is a real illness in my case, will "break me"....I am hesitant to compare hockey card addiction to alcoholism, but at the same time, as most know, an alcoholic Cannot have an ounce of alcohol in their house...I talked to someone just a few days ago about my obsessive spending that I cannot afford and the conclusion was I have to delete my ebay account...sounds drastic, and painful for me to do..but I just bought a card 10 minutes ago!
Anyway I have empathy for the OP and wish you all the best in NOT breaking!

I got to just over 1 Million cards before I realized that I was in Big Trouble. I just went under 10,000 cards total this week for the first time in 22 years.

I have been trying to reduce since 2002-03. I still feel like I have a long way to go, but there is finally daylight visible at the other end.

[dudical]

I got to just over 1 Million cards before I realized that I was in Big Trouble. I just went under 10,000 cards total this week for the first time in 22 years.

I have been trying to reduce since 2002-03. I still feel like I have a long way to go, but there is finally daylight visible at the other end.

I wasn't at a million, but I was at 250,000 about 2 years ago. I am down to about 5,000 now. Aside from my PC and 2-3 sets I am working on, I have moved lots of cardboard in the last while. At first I started by throwing 200,000 commons in the dumpster. Then I sold 500-600 lots / singles / team sets on eBay and by setting up at the local card show for a few months once a month. Now I'm just down to the cards I really like aside from the few dozen still left on eBay waiting for a decent offer.

My point is, if you feel like you are getting in too deep. Take stock of your collection and start selling it slowly, those first few sales really make you feel better and it motivates you to keep going until you are back under control.

[centrehice]

It's taken me so long to reduce inventories, that many of the players that were in favour when I started reducing, young collectors have never heard of. Lol

Much changes in 11 years time