Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Summer Cleaning

As the thermometer reads 102 outside, I am more than ready to head to the beach. Currently Jacoby I are chilling in the living room watching the Sox and waiting for Mom to get home. it should be AT LEAST 20 degrees cooler where were heading, so getting a bit antsy to hit the road.

The weather out here in Portland has been crazy this year. When Jacoby was born in December we had a record 17 inches of snow that shut down the city for nearly two weeks (I know it is all relative, but keep in my Portland is not built for this type of weather. Not only that but the only way this area gets back above freezing is to have the transitional freezing rain storm first, which is just nasty). So now today it is 105 and supposed to be even hotter tomorrow. I feel kinda like Dennis Quaid in "The Day After Tomorrow".

But back to the point of the post, summer cleaning. Last night as I was getting ready for bed, I quickly scanned over my collection of boxes, envelopes, supplies, stacks of random cards, and folders. Now keep in mind that I have only been at this for just over two months, so the fact that I could get so disorganized so quickly is a feat in itself.

I have come to the financial decision that I have spent plenty for now, and I would like to stash away for the upcoming Topps Chrome (already ordered two boxes) and then this falls Topps 2009 Updates and Highlights). Maybe a few scattered packs in between, but I need to really buckle down and keep my goals in mind. Right now those goals are collecting base sets and obtaining the next 50 turkey reds! The chrome is more going for the hits and having some trade material, because at four cards a pack, it is practically impossible to shoot for a base set.

So here is the deal. In the short time I have been doing this hobby, I have realized that there are a lot of "priceless" cards out there. Granted there is a favorite player for everybody (though I tend to challenge that a bit) unless I have a hit, a parallel, or something unusual or serial numbered, what I have is...a lot of cards. A lot of cards that neither fill my collection needs, nor probably 99% of my readers needs either.

Thus, a survey! I AM WILLING to go through my entire spare collection and sort the cards into their respective product and years, and collate them into a spreadsheet, and then make them all available to you the public. Yeah, there are probably a few decent cards hidden in this bunch, but most of them will just sit around and collect dust forever. But if the people demand it, I will do it.

OR, I can jettison a bunch of cardboard unceremoniously on recycling day.

If you like the idea of me collating and reporting what I have there are two stipulations 1) keep in mind that I only have products that are from 2002 (maybe even 2003) through 2009 and 2) in order to give me a starting point, it would be helpful if you left a comment of which series of cards you are looking for. We can then work out some pretty lopsided deals in your favor!

So I will post the "Collate or Disintegrate" survey for you. Happy radio button clicking!

3 comments:

  1. You'd organize EVERYTHING you have?! Yikes... don't do that to yourself.

    ReplyDelete
  2. First off, good thing you are going to the coast. I'm currently sitting indoors at one of the air conditioned buildings on the Portland State Campus (since I'm spending the summer here). Let me tell you last night it was quite difficult trying to get to bed due to the heat (esp. in a dorm).

    Now on to the topic of your summer cleaning. What I do when I purchase new packs/boxes is after breaking and sleeving them place the quickly into numerical order and store then in a 1600-3200 ct boxes where I insert tabs and label them by product and years. This is just my way of doing things and it's just a suggestion for future purchases. On the other hand, it depends on how much work you think it's going to take you in order to get everything into a spreadsheet. I must say I'd be pretty interested in seeing your collection and possible cards I might be interested in.

    Also, since you live in the Portland area what teams do you follow? Blazers, Mariners? I see that your mainly focused on some of the young pitching prospects from your previous posts. I guess I was just interested to know what you collect especially since there's no Major League team in Oregon (just single-a thru triple-a).

    Also, what hobby shop's do you visit in the area I've only been out to one in the Beaverton area but am interested in which shops you go to.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Collate. Seriously. It will take time but is worth it in the end. One thing we've learned is you need to label the boxes. Oops...hindsight is a glorious thing. Just don't let the boxes take over the house. Start with the earliest stuff and make your way through. We're about to start going back throug hthe past few years ourselves and getting rid of our extras too. Have a great vacation!

    ReplyDelete