Jan 24, 2013

The State of the Collection or How to Subcategorize a Cards Purchase in Detail

Gather 'round the ring of fire, boys and girls. It's time to have a heart-to-heart, a soul-to-soul if you will. This tale will astound and confound you. And then it will turn around and make complete sense.

I am part of a contingent of folk that are called collectors.  In this internet age, it's a very simple process of see card, click on card, buy card.  This is especially true when a some promotion is occurring like free shipping or dehydrated cookies with every purchase or event tickets to go wild turkey riding (may or may not be a real thing).

The smattering of cards I;m about to present represent some of the many different directions that I have been pursuing in my collection over the past 12-18 months.  The only thing that they have in common is that they are all cards of the collectible variety.
Mike Schmidt 2012 Gypsy Queen Club: What compels us to pick up multiple cards of the same player if it's a different color, adds a border, changes size, or has a photo variation. As you can see, I went all in on the Mike Schmidt contingent.  This satisfies multiple levels of the Phillie collector in me: Schmidts, 2012 Phillies, Phillies minis.....triple check.
2012 Topps Gold Rush Redemptions: Typically, from each Topps flagship set, I choose one insert set to collect. When I received my gold rush redemption pack in the mail, I was really struck by the design of this one.  It is overwhelmingly gold and best represented that year's Topps edition for me.  So, I went about collecting the 50 card set.....and then, curses!  There's a second series set, and I am now missing 6 cards from there....and they're all big names: Trout, Harper, Darvish,etc....I think I need some help.
Junk Wax Era Phillies Inserts: I've begun filling in those insert cards of the Phillies that I could never pull from a pack as a kid. Witness the 1992 Fleer Team Leaders Dykstra...holla back.  Snagging the 1993 Team Pinnacle with Daulton and Pudge (I-Rod) was also a nice find.  I always wanted a Team Pinnacle card, and now I have one; 1:90 packs was a steep pull in '93.
2011 Phillies Crazy Collection:  Yes, that is the official name of this particular collection segment.  I went hardcore after Phillies from 2011 sets, even more than I normally do.  I have obtained an entire binder worth of cards including parallel sets and every base card from every issue released by Topps.  Let's see how many cards with the same photo I could get.....base Topps, base Topps diamond factory set, Topps Opening Day, Topps Chrome, Topps Chrome refractor, Diamond anniversary parallel, Cognac parallel (liquorfractor)....that's 7 cards of many Phillies from the flagship set with the same image.  I think I need counseling. Only 19 more cards to go (or 24 if you count those impossible to find mini variation cards from 2011 Gypsy Queen) for this monstrosity of a collection. It will be a great story one day.....as I end up wearing goggles staring blankly at a painting of a red hat.

1994 Flair Inserts: As a side project, I am trying to put together the 1994 Flair master set.  There are no parallels, and I have both A-Rod rookies in my possession (both pulled from packs, score).  I was really thrilled to get these hot glove cards.  Remember when die-cuts were all the rage with many shapes and interesting patterns?  You should, since it was just last year when this craze got started again.  Have you noticed that fads and fashions are cyclical? But, if there's one thing that will never go out of style, it's the word "hot".  I call everything hot, don't you? (/sarcasm).....In all seriousness, I was thrilled to be able to acquire the Maddux. Unfortunately, I still need the Ripken and Griffey for this set.

As a card blog, I find I don't talk about my collection that much.  Here's a glimpse of one slice of The Other World pie, mixed with boysenberry, it just might be a crowd pleaser.