Every so often, a collector has to make a choice. You come into some money, and then the chase starts with what to buy, what will be coolest in three months, etc. For this its always down to three choices for me, Wax, Single, or Memorabilia. I have been really good about making great choices lately, but this time seems to be a little different. Here is a glimpse into my thought process.

Wax

I love busting wax, I fucking love it. I don’t gamble out of fear of losing money, but for some reason, I love buying packs of cards. The exhileration is pretty much unmatchable when it comes to the short term, and from my last break you can see that I had a ton of fun with pulling huge cards. That’s the draw, right? 99.9% of the time you are not going to pull something you collect, but you don’t care if you still get something good. I wouldn’t buy a Chris Johnson auto with my own money, but when I pulled that dual auto and the shadow box auto, I pretty much drooled at the awesomeness of getting them in a pack. Same thing with the guy who breaks case after case of 2007 Exquisite Football looking for a Peterson over on Blowout’s forums. He could easily just buy one, but in his mind, it wouldn’t be the same as pulling it. I actually find similar feelings with cards I have pulled, but that is just an absurd thought. I guess when you have the money, it doesn’t matter.

For me, I love this option because it will always provide a ton of fun in the short term. But when a lot of money is involved, its not for me. HOUCollector over on twitter said to go buy some Black, but with the price of that product, its too rich for my budget. Even if it had diamonds in the packs, I would much rather take the sure thing when I am spending the amount I plan to spend.

Singles

Of the three, this is the way I have gone almost every time over the last few years, and I think my collection is awesome because of what I have decided on. Every time I make a purchase, I get to make the decision on what I will end up with, and every purchase is something I want. I know the current value of the end item, and I will feel comfortable in what I paid. The problem is, the short term excitement is rather low, and you have to appreciate the presence of your Man-display to really take pride in your collection if it is built this way.

However, if you do have the patience to forgoe the original lack of short term excitement, the long term value and excitement is that much higher. I now have 15-20 cards in my collection that I would never sell just for more money to spend on cards. Those cards are what I chase, and now I have them thanks to avoiding large wax purchases. I cant buy one every month, but if I plan accordingly and have patience, they will eventually come my way.

The problem is, singles are still a piece of the player that most people wouldn’t be able to appriciate unless they have had prior exposure to cards. UD has been focusing on this a lot, trying to make casual sports fans into card collectors, but that is still a fledgeling program. People will appreciate the autograph, but in all reality the prestige of the card itself will only be a draw to another collector. If you want to impress someone, or even satisfy your own want for a huge draw, option three is the way to go.

Memorabilia

I have said from day one on this blog that I was always more an autograph collector than a card collector in my life. Thanks to this blog, things have tipped the scales more towards cards now, but the auto chaser in me drives me towards the auto cards more than anything. For that reason, making a cool memorabilia purchase can always whet my appetite when spending larger amounts of cash. When I say memorabilia, I mean signed photos, equipment, jerseys, balls, etc, and right now I have lots of all of those.

Since its football season, and since I have yet to get a large Adrian Peterson piece of memorabilia under my belt, I decided to go that direction. Now that my move to a more permanent location is iminent, my man-bungalo is as well, so I will need wall decoration to fill it. I have lots of Peterson signed stuff outside of cards, photos, mini-helmets, and other stuff, but a Jersey has eluded me since his rookie year. Now that he has switched his signature to the bastardized “AD 28” I was not going to waste my money. Luckily for me, DA Cardworld and AD28Authentic.com still has old signature Peterson jerseys, so I bought one of those without hesitation.

I am really happy with my purchase, as it didn’t cost me as much as one of the Peterson cards I am still chasing, or a large wax purchase. I still have some money left over for Black singles when it comes out, and overall I am really fucking happy. I cant wait to get it framed, shadow box style, for use in my little man-area before the larger version comes into reality.

Who knows, maybe I will have this chance again soon, and my decision will be different.