Blog Bat Around: What Goes On Here

An idea started over at Night Owl Cards that has been going around and I decided to join in, a Blog Bat Around of what people collect. A simple and brilliant idea. Kind of like the "go-around-the-room-and-say-something-about-yourself" but not as horrifyingly awkward.

I started this thing back in November of 2011, mostly as a way to document the various weird variations in the 1971 Topps and OPC sets. Check this link out if the shade of red on a helmet graphic on a 45+ year old checklist card sounds like interesting reading. It kept going as a fun project, a way to make trades and grew into as much a part of my hobby as the actual cards themselves.

I hope my boss doesn't see this, because I totally stole these binders from work.

1. Rockies : I have always been a team collector first so it is always Rockies first, if I had a dime for every time I searched for "Rockies" on comc, I would be getting paid in a very weird way, and be able to afford way more cards. The current project is going through everything and adding it the Trading Card DB. I store things alphabetically and just finished "H", which doesn't seem like much, but having Helton, Holliday, Bichette, Castilla, Galarraga and Cargo done is a big chunk. 

The ongoing project is the "One of Every Rockies" project, which according to my master spreadsheet currently sits at 384 out of 385 solo Rockies cards (still need a Neshek), 15 out of 17 for the "Misfits" which are shared cards, traded cards or unlicensed stuff, and 127 out of 171 for players that have Rockies cards, but never actually played a game for them.

Also a part of this is customs, I have posted a ton of custom cards over the years (link provided if that kind of thing interests you, and now I am starting to organize things starting with the Rockies Legacy Collection project (insert shameless plug link). 

The rug really ties the room together.

2. Redskins: My other big team collection, my spreadsheet for this is not a precise, but I can tell I have 448 different players among the solo, shared and misfits. This one is way harder to complete with all the vintage that the Rockies don't have.

My labeling really took a turn for the lazy around 2014 or so.

3. Sets (Mostly Gypsy Queen): Not much for set building, but I have done Gypsy Queen from 2011-2014 and 2016. 2015 and 2017 are currently still in progress. 1996 SP baseball and 2012 Prestige are also in progress, but not moving very fast, and 1992 Pinnacle is complete.

4. CFL: Being Canadian I dabble a little in CFL, mostly a few sets from my youth (1991ish) and a little of the current UD offerings, the current goal being to complete the 2014 set with the rookie SSPs.

5. Everything Else: 

- Not actively collecting hockey, but the odd time either as trade filler or something just catches my eye, mostly Bruins and what I feel is getting to be a pretty nice Pelle Lindbergh collection. 

- Also there have been much more NBA being bought, partly due to my growing dis-interest in what Topps is doing (more on that soon) and liking what Panini is doing, along with building my Sacramento Kings collection.

- A small collection of catchers in their gear.

- Canadian national team baseball cards

- Clear acetate cards

- A small "Pitchers batting" collection.

- and just generally any card I find interesting.

Like this card, it fits in zero of my collections, but it is awesome thus earning it an honored place in the "Random Keepers" box.