2020 Hindsight

I don't have a lot to say about 2020 that hasn't been said. I know it was horrible for many, and I hope that 2021 proves to be more fruitful to any who had hardships, whether it be health, financial, or job-related.

I'm fortunate to say that my year was pretty good in the grand scheme of things. My family remained healthy and happy. I got to spend more time with my kids during important ages of their lives than I would have ever dreamed possible. Although I have to say, that feels like a negative at times as well. I think I've hit my family-time quota for the next few years.

Work was busy and rewarding. I feel fortunate about that. While not essential, my line of work does provide people with entertainment and an outlet for tough times. We grew when others cut back.

The last time I physically went to work was on March 9. I have not been into Manhattan, where my office is, since then. And it doesn't appear that I'll be going back soon. Remote work has become the norm, and my dining room table is my new desk. I just wish I invested in a better chair than the cheap I bought on Amazon at the beginning of all this.

Baseball was weird this year, but I applaud MLB - and all other leagues - for figuring out a way to get in or finish a season. I actually liked the season quite a bit. Seven inning double headers were awesome. Each inning felt so important. I did not hate the extra inning runner on second, either. For the regular season, I wouldn't be upset if MLB kept that one.

As for cards, it was a really weird year for me. The best way to describe it was up and down, with short term bursts that kept me interested and occupied. It almost felt like I truly lived into my name as "The Lost Collector", as these quick projects are sort of what kept me going once the store shelves dried up. Not that I am a big retail buyer anyways, but the hobby changed around me, and I changed with it and found projects to make me happy and keep me focused, or at the very least, give me something to do that was card-related.

So with that, here's a bit of my year in review on cards.

My card of the year:

In July, I declared this my card of the year. Nothing knocked it off its perch for me. The card brings me back to the '90s, whose cards continue to pull me in ways that neither current cards nor vintage can.

Basketball rookies I missed:

That love of '90s also pulled me back into collecting some NBA cards, notably of rookie cards of guys I missed after I stopped collecting basketball. Playerss like Vince Carter, Dirk, Paul Pierce, Tim Duncan, and more. I grabbed RCs of current established guys like Lillard and Durant and AD as well. But that was one of my aforementioned few short-term focuses. I'm glad I did that before the card market went insane

Vintage Syracuse lore:

I did dabble in some vintage, but really more of under-appreciated Syracuse legends Floyd Little and Dave Bing. I'm glad I did. It was fun to look at vintage designs I hadn't seen before due to not being familiar with 70's Topps basketball and football products.

Goodbye to TTMs:

One of my biggest shifts in collecting is that I all but said goodbye to TTM autograph collecting, something I had done fairly religiously since this blog kicked off. A few players publicly expressed their displeasure with having mail sent to home and that it was an invasion of privacy. That, and the whole pandemic thing, made me not want to send mail to home addresses of athletes, past or present. So I all but stopped.

Although the one area of TTMing I will keep alive is my Topps Yankees Project, which luckily I was able to check off 2020 when Mike Ford returned a card signed to me. I now have a signed Yankees Topps card from every year, 1951-2020.

Hello Project 2020:

I started off as skeptical about Project 2020 as anyone, but once I got my first Derek Jeter card, I decided to give it a go and collected the full run of all twenty of his cards. Expensive? Sure. But it's not like I was buying a blaster a month or anything. The set should be collected any way someone sees fit, whether that means one card, or all 400, despite the opinions of those who will tell you on how this set should be collected. 

The varieties are endless. I know some who bought one card from each artist, and will display 20 different players from 20 different artists. I know some who collected entire runs of teams or players. Some picked and choosed here and there based on simply liking a card. Some bought none and at and wanted to brag about that.

Me? I got all 20 Jeters directly from Topps, and supplemented a few more on eBay for much more affordable costs. There are lot for under $5. I even split a lot of Don C. Ripkens with Napkin Doon!

I definitely have my favorite artists of the bunch. I have some I wasn't a fan of. I think a few artists were out to lunch and had no idea what they were doing at the start. But I sure do respect anyone willing to put their art out there, and I admire the work done by these men and women.

TCDB emerges:

I started using the Trading Card Database in 2019, but it took off for me in 2020. I completed over 100 PWE trades. It has been a fun way to add a few new Tino cards, as well as 2020 Yankees that I wasn't able to find in stores or by ordering online.

Tino hits 1K, and beyond:

Last but not least, my favorite collecting achievement this year was when I hit 1,000 unique Tino cards a few months ago. And since Tino found his way into the likes of Allen & Ginter (and all its spinoffs), as well as Topps Update, my collection has continued to grow. I now sit at an even 1,050!

I'm sure I'm missing a few things from collecting cards in 2020. But the year came and went, and I'm still here. I appreciated a few trades with friends old and new, and receiving cards 'just because.' I enjoy being able to share the hobby here, and I look forward to celebrating this blog's 10th birthday in a few weeks.

Thanks for reading and being a part of my small corner of the collecting world. I wish you and your families the best in 2021!

TTM Success: Vince Carter

During the COVID-19 pandemic, I've decided not to send out TTM requests. 

I was already souring on this part of the hobby well before the world shut down, but once everything started picking up in mid-March, I made the conscious decision not to send unsolicited mail to current or (especially) retired athletes.

Prior to this, I was sending fewer and fewer requests for a several reasons. One, I value my time, and sending letters to people I don't know currently doesn't appeal to me as a way to spend my time. I haven't always felt this way, and maybe I won't forever. Two, it's getting harder and hard to find players that sign. Rebel Random Ramblings (thanks for the tip, Fuji) has a great post on the greed that has entered the TTM hobby, with guys often sending far more than one or two cards. Why anyone needs to send nine cards to a player is beyond me. I guess to sell them.

I'm not stepping away completely. I still plan to continue my Topps Yankees Project, which is still missing 2020! I'll have to try again next spring sometime.

Prior to the pandemic - well, prior to quarantine really starting - I sent a request to future NBA Hall of Fame Vince Carter. Fearing it was his last season (indeed it was), I hoped to secure an autograph of his. I sent this on March 2nd, and last week, this arrived:

Awesome! I've always been a huge fan of Carter, from his days at UNC to his ascension to the NBA's most exciting player, to helping the Nets get to the Finals, to embracing his role as a wise old veteran the past few years. He's been a hell of a player, and I'm happy to add this autograph to my collection.

I wish Mr. Vince Carter nothing but the best in the next chapter of his career.

Going Vinsane

One thing I've been doing with my extended time at home is catching up on movies and documentaries I've been wanting to see, but haven't for whatever reason. Number one my list, which I'm about halfway through...Top Gun! I know, I know. I haven't seen it all the way through. I've seen bits and I know the premise. But with the sequel coming out at some point, I wanted to see it.

Outside of movies, the majority of my lists consists of sports documentaries on Netflix, and when my wife decides to go to sleep, I usually turn one on for a few minutes. One I watched the other night was The Carter Effect, a short doc on Vince Carter and his impact on basketball in Canada.

I loved Vince Carter, from his time at UNC to the leap he made to the NBA, so I was excited to watch. And honestly, I wouldn't say the doc was very good. It was fine. But seeing the old footage of him for an hour was worth it.

With all the excitement around basketball cards right now, between Zion Mania and MJ cards soaring once again with the upcoming release of The Last Dance, I've been feeling serious nostalgia for NBA cards. I collected NBA much more heavily in my age 10-14 years, really from 4th-8th grade, so they mean a lot to me still.

As I actually scale down my collection a bit (it's true!), I decided I wanted to pick up some rookie cards of past and current great players...guys like Stockton from the past, or a guy like Anthony Davis, Damian Lillard, or Donovan Mitchell presently. Just to have. Not to flip or hope I get rich or anything. But after watching the doc, I started with Carter.

Carter probably came the year after I stopped collecting NBA to focus just on baseball. His RC was 1998-99, a time I really would have been focused on Tino and the Yanks dynasty. So I decided I wanted a Vince Carter RC. I didn't want something crazy high end. Regular Topps would be fine.

So as I was searching, I actually found a lot that included two Topps RCs, a Stadium Club RC, and a about 15-20 cards from other years. It was actually less than some listings for two Topps RCs. Weird. Sometimes buying in bulk is cheaper.

I pulled the trigger, and now own a few VC RCs.

I'm not sure what I'll do with the other base cards. It sort of goes against what I want to do, which is NOT accumulate. But they were fun to go through and see a bunch of designs and card years that I missed.

I'm happy to add Carter's RC to my collection, and appreciate the trip down memory lane with his doc.

It feels good to buy a basketball card or two, as well.