Does your collecting start at a particular point?

[Eck]

I have never really set out rules for collecting I have often thought, maybe just finals or homes etc.
I think I will have to think about it now because i'm aware that most pre-50 will forever be out of my reach, so it looks like, in my lifetime which goes back to 1956 or my first match in 1967.
I won't rush into a decision though.

[stevemcd]

Hello Eck.

I only recently returned to collecting so have set parameters for the time being.

I have very little from the last 10 years so will try and fill all the gaps I have between 1954/5 season and 2004/5 before expanding, probably back to 1950 as opposed to forward from 2004.

It is really tempting to go outside these self imposed dates but on a limited budget I'd rather fill gaps then pick up the odd item for a season here and there.

There is so much out there to tempt us though

cheers

Steve McD

[Eck]

Thanks Steve, It isn't that i'm looking for a complete collection,it's just that the cost of Scottish pre-50 is crazy. My Wife and I are in a one bedroom flat, so I may have to think if I can accommodate 60+ modern issues a season for the next 20 years or so.

[pastpirate]

As I imagine many people did I began collecting when I first went to see Rovers in 1972. For a few years I just picked up progs from games I attended. Then I was given some older issues from the fifties and my collecting bug was truly awoken. From that moment I have tried to fill in all the gaps. Home, away, Friendlies, the lot. In effect if I can afford it I buy it. If I could find one from our 1st game 1883 I would buy it. I must admit that once I began collecting properly I have never set a limit of any kind. If it's a programme from a game involving Rovers I want it. Sadly most of the ones I don't have now I can't afford.
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[Eck]

pastpirate wrote:

As I imagine many people did I began collecting when I first went to see Rovers in 1972. For a few years I just picked up progs from games I attended. Then I was given some older issues from the fifties and my collecting bug was truly awoken. From that moment I have tried to fill in all the gaps. Home, away, Friendlies, the lot. In effect if I can afford it I buy it. If I could find one from our 1st game 1883 I would buy it. I must admit that once I began collecting properly I have never set a limit of any kind. If it's a programme from a game involving Rovers I want it. Sadly most of the ones I don't have now I can't afford.

Unfortunately that looks like the most probable for me as well despite financial and space restrictions.

[hibernian]

I collected everything Hibs related back to 46/7. When they started to dry up I branched out to post war Scotland homes, scottish and league cup finals and semis and Scottish one per club 46/7 to 69/70.
In the last few years I realised I was not even reading current season programmes, just filing them away.
My collection now consists of Hibs homes pre 1963 ( and all big match or special issues to date), Scotland homes up to 1999, Scottish finals ,and I have kept my 1 per club collection.
Basically the only current issues added to the collection are the Scottish cup finals and any relevant big match Hibs issues ( there are not too many
)
The house is no longer clogged up with, as some members will say is worthless shit.!!!
I thought I would feel bad getting rid of the Hibs issues but to be honest it hasn't bothered me one bit.

[Eck]

I am dying to cut back Eric, but i'm scared that i'm going to regret it later.

[bisphamseasider]

Steadily built up my collection over a lifetime with a few years break in the middle.

Only when I had completed post war programmes (apart from the odd overseas friendly and postponed) did I start seriously on reserves/youth.

I wish had done this sooner as a lot of collectors are now doing the same and I am paying as much, if not more, now on reserves as I used to on 1st team.

Picking up pre war and wartime as and when.

If it's a Blackpool programme I haven't got I will go for it.

Even continuing to collect current issues as I don't have the heart to stop.

[treble99]

i don't think that you would regret cutting back because if you changed your mind i suspect you would easily be able to get(back) what you cut back on.

I am not being facetious(honestly) when i say i try to be organised with my collecting habits.
It doesn't always work because i do,as a collector with a bug for collecting anything to do with my club, get sidetracked

As an example i collected the way that many collectors to
With Manchester United i just collected homes back to Munich.
Then i started collecting aways.
Then i went from Munich backwards to the war etc etc

Then i believe you(and me) end up with reserves and then youths and then pre war and then ephemera

That's when i took stock
I knew it was possible to complete back to the war with home and away.
Friendlies were a separate question however
Despite having collected for 50 years and being able to draw on the experience of other collectors with huge knowledge there are certain fixtures marked "no known programme"
This is completely different to no programme produced.
With the printers strike of 1946/47 we can clearly say "no programme produced" however from some of the obscure friendly games from the late 1940's and early 1950's we can't say the same especially as very very occasionaly something turns up.

Reserve aways are something i shy away from as it is difficult to work out when clubs produced and when clubs didn't
It is difficult to know when you are complete

Once you go pre war you are playing with supply,demand and your bank manager
My current mission is to complete Manchester United homes pre war from 1933 to the outbreak of the war.
United used the same cover format for this period so my task has a purpose in my head

Everything else i pick up,and i admit it is a lot and varied, is purely based on my opinion of its true commercial value
ie will i have a chance of getting my money back if i sold it it 5 years time and the market hadn't gone backwards
I go into auction rooms with a clear head and a clear value and when i am beat i am beat
Otherwise you get into a red mist situation and end up having to average your collection costs to justify the unjustifiable to yourself

[DonQuixote]

My habit was rekindled in 1984 and my drug of choice was FA Cup programmes, with a starting date of 1960-1 - every game from First Round proper to final.

As usual I began to branch out and went for semi-finals/finals of LC/FAT/FAV plus minor things like all Screen Sport Cup games and Everton home aways from 1984-5 season - when the treble was still on!

I managed to gather an extensive collection, with, if memory serves me well, only about five or six missing from the FA Cup collection - there was many that would go for a tidy sum today.

Had most of the others too - paid £40 for a Rochdale v Norwich issue in mint condition.

Then in the early 90s my gravy train dried up and sold them all to a dealer.

Started again about five years later and apart from anything involving Romford home and away from the year dot, I've gone back down the FAT/FAV semis and finals route once again.

Added Non-League play-offs from 2002 to the list a few years back and still need a few with some being a total mare to unearth.

Did think of selling up again recently, in a moment of weakness, but you can't can you...

[Ruud Van Driver]

Initially Eck my collection didn't have a defined starting point, just wanted to collect as far back as I could. However it became obvious 4 or 5 years ago that as a Leeds United collector I was going to get frequently outbid on anything I needed - Almost impossible for me to compete and if I did it cost me a fortune so I decided to keep my Don Revie period (both as player and manager, and both!) and part with the rest to fund other areas that interested me - Magazines, cards, stickers etc.

Certainly hurt to part with my 'better' programmes at first but I soon got over it and other things that happen in life have since put perspective on it - There are no pockets in a shroud!

Still buy a few stickers/cards and I'm searching desperately for just 6 issues of 40/50's Sports Reporter to complete the set (if anyone has a stash?) but as far as programmes are concerned I'm now a non-collecting non-collector!

Good thread Eck.

Mal
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[treble99]

Ruud Van Driver wrote:

Initially Eck my collection didn't have a defined starting point, just wanted to collect as far back as I could. However it became obvious 4 or 5 years ago that as a Leeds United collector I was going to get frequently outbid on anything I needed - Almost impossible for me to compete and if I did it cost me a fortune so I decided to keep my Don Revie period (both as player and manager, and both!) and part with the rest to fund other areas that interested me - Magazines, cards, stickers etc. Certainly hurt to part with my 'better' programmes at first but I soon got over it and other things that happen in life have since put perspective on it - There are no pockets in a shroud! Still buy a few stickers/cards and I'm searching desperately for just 6 issues of 40/50's Sports Reporter to complete the set (if anyone has a stash?) but as far as programmes are concerned I'm now a non-collecting non-collector! Good thread Eck. Mal

then you are a valuable member of this forum provided you keep some strong opinions on how stupid collecting collectors are

[grantham]

No starting point on my Grantham collection, any first team programmes home or away.

No reserve or youth team (although they are few and fair between)

My Grantham collection exceeds 3000, of the known 5544 fixtures (although I suspect most if not all from 1874 - 1920 don't have any kind of programme)
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[Eck]

grantham wrote:

No starting point on my Grantham collection, any first team programmes home or away. No reserve or youth team (although they are few and fair between) My Grantham collection exceeds 3000, of the known 5544 fixtures (although I suspect most if not all from 1874 - 1920 don't have any kind of programme)

I have a few reserve but they are mainly produced by the spfl I think free at matches. "the gers" told me that Rangers have only produced one rerve programme.

[Eck]

treble99 wrote:

Everything else i pick up,and i admit it is a lot and varied, is purely based on my opinion of its true commercial value ie will i have a chance of getting my money back if i sold it it 5 years time and the market hadn't gone backwards I go into auction rooms with a clear head and a clear value and when i am beat i am beat Otherwise you get into a red mist situation and end up having to average your collection costs to justify the unjustifiable to yourself

I got the red mist yesterday, I made an initial bid of £40 on an item and later £68, my 2nd bid was not accepted for some reason and the item sold for £53.

[Karb]

Unless my finances change, I would imagine I'll probably stop around 1950.

I've mentioned before that I sold off my collection when I got married, then started again when I got divorced recently. Initially, when I started out again, my intention was to buy competitive programmes back to when I was born (1972), but it didn't take long until that was virtually complete, so I began buying Friendly programmes, and 60s.

With Sunderland programmes is there is a point around 1955 where prices rise rapidly. I can pick up most programmes from 55-56 season for around a fiver, but 53-54 will be about three times that or even more. I'm not out to make money from my collection, I collect for the enjoyment of it, and if money was no object I'd feel differently, but I cant really justify paying £40-£60 for a single pre-1950 programme, so it would cease to be enjoyable.

[hibernian]

Eck wrote:

I am dying to cut back Eric, but i'm scared that i'm going to regret it later.

When I sold the post 60s homes I kept back all the friendlies, Europeans and postponed programmes. A few are worth considerable sums.I now have these as sub sections in my collection.
If I wanted to I could easily repurchase all the general league and cup from the last 50 years at a discount price from a dealer as most are readily available.
I think that the majority of new collectors will firstly be interested in collecting their teams big match programmes. An example would be Hibs v Real Madrid friendly in 1964, or Hibs Europeans v Juventus, Leeds, Liverpool etc in the 60s and 70s. These are usually the programmes that stand out when collections start to take shape.
I can certainly remember the 1970s European nights at Easter Road but struggle to remember last season v Ross County !!!

[derby1884]

The only no-go area for me as regards Derby are reserve issues post-1975.
Having just sorted out and boxed up all the homes and aways for the last 20 years I'm horrified by the amount of space these take up - it's hardly surprising the hobby can't attract new blood. What parent is going to allow that in the house?
If, 25 years ago, I knew that programmes were going to become 80 to 100 page affairs, I might have stopped collecting current season and put the money into some other branch of the hobby.
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