What defines a collector?

I don't consider myself a collector of baseball or football. I know baseball is the "king of the hobby" and a quick look at the stats page showing the total number of cards listed on the Trading Card Database will prove it easily. In fact, you could add all the different hockey and basketball cards ever made and get a total less than exists for baseball...and football is pretty high up there as well. And auto racing- less than 200,000 cards total. And Football, while it has more than 2 million different cards listed...still trails baseball by 1,148.319 cards.

But I don't collect them....or do I?

Take a look at my collection stats:

This is mostly accurate as of May 3rd, 2018- the Sumo cards SumoMenkoMan sent me are not listed, because I can't find a checklist for them. Everything else is listed. As you can see, I've got more than a few baseball and football cards. In fact, I have more baseball than Multi-Sport cards, which, considering that's where the Database lists the Olympics, I DO actively collect!

Most of the cards in baseball and football came to me blindly- the largest majority of the baseball came from one of Gavin's dupe dumps, and the football mostly came from my friend Ricky who sent me several thousand cards in 2015, but they have come from other sources as well...some of which I've rescued from being thrown out.

But, just because I have them...does it mean I collect them? I don't know. I don't actively shop for them, with the exception of the non-sports items in Allen & Ginter every year.

But...I do track and document them just like I do with the sports I do actively collect. I scan them just the same, and I track my collections in Excel just as I do with the sports I actively collect. I will occasionally add one when it appears in my local dealer's "junk box", which is mostly cards that are too damaged to sell as collectible. I pulled this card out of there in the past:

it's sun faded and not in perfect shape, but I couldn't bear the thought of a vintage 60s card being put through what it was in store for. I've also rescued some hockey out of there, before I actively began collecting the sport.

Since I only enter cards into Excel after they've been scanned, I don't have much to show yet for either sport. But I will, in time, as my ultimate goal is to scan everything in my collection. I can scan on average 2300 cards a month if I work really hard at it, but I usually don't work that hard at it...now that I have everything up on the Database I'm taking it much slower, and not devoting all my time to it, but I am still scanning as much as I can.

Does that mean I'm collecting the sports? Or does it just mean I have too much time on my hands? I need to find something to do when my health is not letting me do things I really want to do, which is a lot of the time. It's either mess around on Excel or stare at the TV all day, and that's just not me.

Then, there is another factor. I still dream about the museum I talked about in my Projects Bat-A-Round. To do that, I will need the cards from the sports I don't actively collect/follow, which is part of the reason I track and document the baseball and football (and soccer, tennis, etc) just as much as I do the sports I truly love. I know the odds of that actually happening are slim. I know it probably won't happen...but I can't give up on the idea. My health has forced me to give up pretty much every other dream I've had...I can't bear the thought of giving up another. It's also why I keep a copy of every card I get, no matter if it's a sport I love or a sport I find mind-numbing (sorry, boxing fans). If I can achieve the museum dream, I'll need them all then. Like I say, I don't know if it will happen. IF it does, a big if, it's not going to be anytime soon. But I'll need those cards then.

Also, they play a role in my "Names Project"- getting as many different people in my collection as possible. It started with NBA, NASCAR and Non-Sports and has branched out from there, clearing 10,000 different people in 2016. Of course, that project is really laying the groundwork for the museum project, if it ever happens.

If not, well, at least I'll have a well-rounded collection, and it gives me something to do rather than focus on watching the paint on my walls or the TV. '

But I still can't determine if it means I collect the sports or not.