Reelin' It In (Part 2)

I am having total de ja vu about this, but over the weekend...yesterday in particular I looked over the melee that has become our china cabinet, and saw boxes and cards, and envelopes and supplies and.....

Soooo, I started leafing through some of my binders to see exactly what all I have collected over the last several months. The truth is...had I not this to take inventory, I probably would not have even opened the binder at all. Deep down, when it comes right down to it, I have binders full of worthless base cards of players that I like.

Before you jump on me about the worthless part, is not that I don't LIKE the cards, in fact some of them are incredibly unique, but when it comes down to it, when I someday pass off my collection to my son (assuming he even wants them) these types of cards aren't going to mean much to him, and certainly won't appreciate much either.

Now I do like collecting base cards of some players...my problem is that I am seeking TOO MANY players and when your collection needs are so wide open, that opens the floodgates to way too much manage.

I look at all the money that I no longer have in my bank account and a ballooning credit card and try to weigh it against what I have collected. While I certainly am proud of some of my collection, it is not nearly worth the finances that I have invested.

So, I cleaned off the china cabinet, minus my "pending trades" box and a smile pile of cards that need filing. Don't be surprised if you receive a surprise package (well, be a little surprised) with some base as well as some scattered treasures.

So, effective immediately, my priorities are:

1) Complete any sets I have started (2009 Turkey Reds, 2009 Goodwin Champions)
2) Collect autos and unique cards worthy of a toploader to go into my two-column shoebox, which is ultimately what I would like my son to hang on to in the future)
3) Collect base cards of SELECT players (as of now I am thinking Jacoby Ellsbury, Dustin Pedroia, and Jon Lester
4) Collect relics/rookie cards/autos and uniques of my beloved pitching phenoms.

So when it comes down to it, this mostly means no more frivolous spending on products that I have no intention to complete sets of. Instead I will focus my efforts on trading and hone my ebay talents!

The other part of the whole collecting craze is the blogging. I think part of the reason I buy so much product is that it gives me something to write about. But the truth is that there are some very good blogs that I follow by people who really develop great stories about cards they already have in their collections. It CAN be done, and some of you are very good at it.

Don't panic too much though, I still plan the occasional blaster break or MAYBE I will organize a group break just to give me an excuse to bust open some cards, but for the most part unless the cards fit my refined needs, then they will all be up for grabs! Please keep me in mind if you do happen to stumble on something that would fit my collection though, because nothing beats finding a nice ol brown envelope in the mail!