So…
I am finally done my tax course until August. So I can work until 8 pm, come home and blog a little more. I had a little bit of a revelation when it came to my card collecting goals. I had decided to try and collect a number of autographed and autographed patch sets. I have realized that this would just cause an accumulation of projects and stall me from starting new sets. For example, I was hoping to collect 10 2006-07 Fleer Hot Prospect auto patches this year. That would mean I would have 15 or 16 of the 41 cards. The 5 I have bought this year have all been common ones and haven’t cost me too much. But I would have to shell out a lot of money for Malkin, Staal, Kessel, Kopitar etc. I think rather then dropping $250 on a Malkin auto patch I would buy 4 $50 boxes and use the rest to build sets and collect cheaper autographs that I want for my collection, not to complete an autograph set. This has given me a feeling of freedom. I was trying to reconcile collecting these expensive sets and starting new sets. Now my goals are a little more clear and I can build more mid-end sets and buy more boxes which is fun. Plus this gives me a chance to start collecting autographs from my favourite teams and players.
Here are my revised project lists for 2008:
Overall (Unchanged):
1. Organize all of my cards – there is a little bit of progress being made but this will be a summer project for me.
2. Organize all of my set needs – this is connected to Goal #1. These are for the sets I started in the 1990’s that I still want to collect.
3. Make as many trades as I can and become a regular contributor to sites like the Bench – I’ve done okay with this. I haven’t had many cards to trade. Now that I have autographs to trade I should make more.
4. Regularly update this blog – It’s tax season! I’m trying my best.
Hockey:
1. Pick up a Henrik Lundqvist 2005-06 Upper Deck Young Gun to complete my Young Guns set other than Crosby. I also need to buy a Series 1 base set. I’m hoping to trade a patch auto or something like that for the Lundqvist.
2. Finish my 2006-07 Fleer Hot Prospects Rookies numbered to 1,999. I’m at 44 of the 60 and I want to complete this set anyways. It’s not the auto patches but it will be nice to complete.
3. Finish 2006-07 MVP – I bought a 12 pack blaster and I want to finish this set. Mainly because this will be my only set with the 2006-07 rookies and I don’t feel like collecting 2006-07 Upper Deck.
4. Collect 2007-08 Upper Deck – When I pulled the Kane and Backstrom Young Guns I knew this was the set to collect. It is an easy set to collect and is not too expensive and I will have all of the significant rookies from this year.
5. Collect Panthers autographs and jersey cards – I want to try and get an autograph from each Panther that has an autograph in the 2007-08 sets. I also want to go back and get some of the higher end rookie autos like Olesz and Booth’s The Cup rookies. I can then have a Panthers binder with all of my autographs and patches in one spot.
Baseball:
1. Finish my 2006 Bowman Draft Picks set
2. Finish my 2007 Bowman set
I might buy the singles or I might try to trade some of my lower end autographs for these set needs.
3. Collect the 2007 Bowman Chrome set. I might buy a box of this to add 40 cards to my set or I might try to trade for some set needs.
4. Collect 2008 Topps Heritage – This is the one 2008 set I want to collect and it sounds like a lot of fun to collect. I want to collect the full base set with the short prints and the variations and complete the chrome set.
5. Collect Indians autographs and jerseys – This is the same idea I have for the Panthers.
Basketball:
1. Collect 2007-08 Bowman Draft Picks & Stars – I liked the 2006-07 set and I like the design of this year’s set so I’m going to buy a couple of boxes in the summer.
2. Collect 2006-07 Fleer – I love the 1986-87 design cards and I’m going to collect this set.
3. Collect 2007-08 Fleer – I like the base card design and I want to collect the retro variations of this set too.
4. Pick up autographs from my favourite players – The “Number Marks” of Mark Price and Brad Daugherty from 2007-08 SP Authentic are at the top of the list but I want to find cheaper autographs of my favourite players too.
Football:
1. Pick a set and collect it – I have no idea what to collect but I will find something. Maybe Topps or Bowman Chrome. We will see.
Any thoughts on this change? Does anyone out there try to collect autograph sets?
Thanks for reading.
