2026 Collecting Goals

I'm getting this in just before the end of the month, so I think it still counts as the "New Year" season, and falls in the acceptable window for these sort of post.

The card above is a picture of a 1953 Topps #244.  It depicts Willie Mays of the New York Giants.  I'm keeping things simple this year in 2026.  Obtaining that card is my goal.  It's topped my list of "Ten Most Wanted Cards" every year since 2019, and every year I've failed to make an effort to pick one up, instead going scatter shot for other various cards from 1954-59 Topps sets.  I believe I could snatch a well traveled copy of this card for under $900, which is probably more than double of what I spent all of last year on various vintage singles, but not grounds for a divorce if it's the only card I buy in 2026.  It's still a hefty price tag.  It would be almost triple the most I've ever paid for a card (a '53 Mantle well before covid exploded prices) and nearly four times what I paid for a '52 Mays about 10 years ago.  I don't care, I want this card, and it's the last one I need to complete the 1953 set, which I would regard as the single biggest personal collecting accomplishment of my life.

Will it happen?  Based on last years stated goals and what I actually did, probably not.  I earned a solid "F" grade for my 2025 collecting.  Here's a quick recap of my stated goals and how I did:

1. Acquire More Wallach cards: D

I added a 741 Wallach cards in 2025.  That's a 1,000 fewer than 2024, 800 fewer than 2023, 3,500 fewer than in 2022, and so on.  741 is objectively a lot of cards of one player to add to a collection a single year, it's just not up to the standards I've set for myself since starting this blog.

2. Post on Variants: F

I didn't post on the variants.  Maybe I will one day, I'd like to, but I didn't get around to in 2025 or any of the other years I've posted it as a goal.

3. Swag: F

I didn't make any blog related swag to send out to readers.  Still something I'd like to do, who knows when.

4. Continue to build Topps Sets: D

I bought the 2025 Topps factory set, so I didn't lose any ground in 2025.  I also made some decent strides with 1950's Topps sets, albeit, ones I don't consider myself to be actively building and with card budget funds that would have been better saved and directed towards a '53 Mays.

So for 2025, of course I want to add more Wallach, but this is the year I add the '53 Mays (unless it isn't).  As such my "Goals List for 2026" is brief:

2026 Collecting Goals

1. Finish the 1953 Topps set by adding the Willie Mays

...and if I happen to do that, then these would be my next priorities.

2. Add more Tim Wallach cards

This of course isn't something I'll ignore, I'm just not going to be going out of my way to scour Sportlots looking for lots of various cards to drop $50 or so on a few times a year.

3. Complete the 2026 Topps Base set.

Probably going to go the factory set route again this year.  I just can't justify the costs of doing this by buying packs, in the off chance I can even find packs.

More out of tradition than an actual goal, here my "most wanted" non-Wallach cards.

Ten Most Wanted Single Cards

1. 1953 Topps Willie Mays (last year's rank, #1)

Maybe this is the year.

2. 1962 Topps Bob Uecker (7)

Should I finish the '53 set, I'm not sure what I'll do next.  I don't think '62 would be my focus, but it'd get some consideration.  Regardless, I've long wanted a copy of this card.  But these "Rookie Parade" cards are just really tough to find at a price that I can live with.

3. 1963 Topps Pete Rose (2)

This card drops a spot from last year, I just have less tolerance for assholes at the moment, of which Pete Rose certainly was.  Dirtbag or not, I still want this card in much the same way I still want the G.I. Joe Aircraft Carrier.  The difference is I don't really have anywhere in my house to put the USS Flag.  This card remains seared into my brain as the ultimate card to own from my early days of collecting back in the mid 1980's.

4. 1981 Topps Traded Tim Raines (not ranked)

This is one of those cards I often forget I don't own.  I probably have 30 copies of his actual rookie card in the 1981 set, but I don't own this one.  At some point a few years back, I made an effort to add every one of the little boxed Traded sets, I think I just assumed I'd add it that way, but that effort sort of wained out and I'm still short '81 and '82.  Raines is probably my second all-time favorite player and not owning this card is an enormous hole in my collection.  That said, it drives me crazy that it gets called a "rookie card."  It's his 2nd Topps card, not a rookie.  Ditto for the '82 Traded Ripken.

5. 1985 O-Pee-Chee Mario Liemiuex (5)

This card remains #5 on my list, but by way of attrition, has become my most wanted hockey card.  I've lost my desire for the 1979 O-Pee-Chee Gretzky and dropped it from the lofty perch it's held on this list for years.

6. 1961 Fleer Dolph Schayes Shoots (6)

Dolph is the father of Syracuse Orangemen great Danny Shayes, who was one of the first stars coached by the Legendary Jim Boeheim.  Dolph also also played a little basketball himself, winning an NBA Title for the Syracuse Nationals before they were tragically relocated to Philadelphia.  

7. 1962 Topps Mickey Mantle

Another high dollar card from a set I am allegedly not building.  My father's baseball card collection survived and wasn't thrown out by my grandmother.  Albeit, my much older cousins looted all the Cardinals long before I was born (not sure why kids in New York were Cardinals fans, but that's their problem).  While most of it survived long enough for me to see it, a large chunk of it was sold off around 1988 to finance a summer trip to Disney Land.  I remember my father taking my brother and I to our first card show, and watching in pain as he sold off card after card.  This Mantle, while not the "best" card he sold off, is the one that stung the most at the time.  I'd like to go ahead and finally get it back.

8. 2002-03 Upper Deck Henrik Zetterberg

My favorite NHL player of the last 30 years appears as though he is going to be a snub from the Hall of Fame.  Collector's didn't get the message as his RC still demands obscene prices, that's if you can even find one for sale.  It's literally the most expensive card on this list.

9. 1962 Topps Willie Mays

A third card from a set that I don't think I'm building.  I've just always liked this card.

10. 1956 Topps Roberto Clemente

This is one of those cards that would be on my short list for best looking Topps card ever printed.  Sooner or later I'll add it to my collection.

Thanks for reading.  Hope you have a great year.

Looking Ahead to 2022

 

2022 Collecting Goals

Despite adding fewer Wallach cards in 2021 than in any year since I started this blog a decade ago, I actually did a pretty good job of sticking to the "goals" I set out for my collection in last year's "Look Ahead" post.  The big non-"aquire more" Wallach card goal I had for the year was to complete the Ten Year Anniversary post.  While I perhaps did not breakdown the stats as much as I would have liked to, I actually got it posted on time and did a pretty deep dive into the numbers and trends of my Wallach collection.  If you missed it, here's a link to it, it may not be for everyone, but I enjoyed putting it together.  So despite "only" adding 645 Wallach cards in 2021, I don't feel like the year was a bad one.  645 may also be the new norm.  At some point, I might actually start making a dent in the population of Wallach cards left in the wild.

Of the non-Wallach related collection goals (or probably more aptly described as "focus") I set for myself in 2021, I did about as well as I ever have.  I completed seven sets this year (well six, depending if you count buying the 2021 factory set as "completing a set.")  I knocked off the 2009 and 2010 base sets, as well as the 1977, 1976, 1974 and 1972 Topps sets.  The 1972 Topps set is probably the biggest sense of "accomplishment" I've ever felt with regards to card collecting.  I also knocked off a couple of cards from "Ten Most Wanted List," picking up the '72 Ron Cey, '71 Nolan Ryan, and a 1971 Topps Basketball Lew Alcindor.  It's not Kareem's rookie, but it is his first standard sized Topps card.  As you can see below, it has a slightly dinged corner, but I still love it.

I don't really know what my expectations for 2022 are as far as the goals I'm laying out below are.  To be honest, if I can manage to keep up with this blog and post the cards people send me in something resembling a timely manner, that's good enough for me.  On the other hand, maybe I'll get the itch and the atmosphere around the hobby will improve and I'll dive head first back into cards.  It's been an unpredictable two years, and continued unpredictability is the only thing I feel confident in.

1. Acquire More Tim Wallach's

Once again this will be my primary collecting objective.  I currently sit at just under 28,000 cards in my collection.  I'm not sure I'll get there this year, but 29,000 cards is a milestone that sort of demands attention (Wallach wore #29).  It'd be nice to reach it and maybe come up with some sort of gimmick to mark the occasion.

Aside from sheer numbers, here's a few things I'd like to do related to the blog this year.  I'm calling them "ideas" rather than "goals":

(1) Bring one card to extinction - I probably sound like a broken record with this idea, as I post it every year, and have never made a serious effort to pursue it.  Maybe this will be the year I pick a card and make it disappear from Sportlots, eBay, and every other major online retailer,...so you better complete your '83 Topps sets now before this decades '66 Bart Shirley emerges.

(2) Variations - This is another repeat from last year, but I didn't get around to it, and I'd still like to do it. I want to post all the variations, however slight, that exists on Wallach cards.  Be it paint splatter patterns on '90 Donruss, or glow in the dark '91 Topps, I want to create a reference page for all them, as most of them apply to every card in the sets and I feel like people may be able to use it for their own collecting needs.

(A custom I found online)

(3) Custom Cards - I suspect that at some point I'm going to take a deep dive into this.  The first cards I'd like to create are cards that I feel like should have been made but weren't, such as 1981 Topps/Donruss/Fleer cards of Wallach, a 1985 Topps All-Star card, and 1996 and '97 Topps cards.  Beyond that, I really like the idea of swapping photos.  For instance taking the photo from 1986 Fleer and sticking it on the border of a 1986 Topps.  I don't know that this is the year I refresh my photoshop skills (they've gone dormant since my punk band disbanded 20 years ago and I stopped doing album art and posters), but it's on my radar.

2. Continue to Complete Sets

(Bob Veale was the final card in my '72 Set)

As I mentioned above, I made huge progress in my set building this year, completing seven different sets.  I'll probably "cheat" and buy a factory set again this year for 2022 as I don't see the frenzy around packs dying down at all (and who wants to deal with that?).  If cards are available again, it'd be nice to do it by way of a few packs at a time this year, as the design isn't bad and I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss buying packs.  Either way, it'll work itself out.  My vintage set builds however will require a little more focus.

i. 1973 Topps: I'm currently a mere 16 cards away from knocking off this set, and most of the high dollar cards are in hand.  Dwight Evans figures to be the biggest hit to the wallet of the remaining cards. This is in line to be the third "series'd" Topps set I complete and the thrill hasn't become any less. Here's a link to what I need in '73 Topps (and every other set I'm working on). 

ii. 1971 Topps: I'm roughly a 100 cards short of finishing this set, needing almost exclusively high and semi-high numbers.  I picked up a Nolan Ryan this year, leaving Roberto Clemente as the biggest hurdle remaining.  I anticipate finishing this set before the end of the year, which will leave me with a run of complete Topps sets from 1970 through 1994.  The biggest issue I'll have after that is whether to focus on filling in 1995 to 2007 (which to be honest doesn't excite me), or picking another set from the 60's to focus on (which excites me but will really push my definition of what constitutes a "reasonable" collecting budget).

iii. 1953 Topps: Somehow I find my self only 26 cards short of completing this set.  Willie Mays looms large as a need, but the Mantle, Paige, and Robinson are all already in hand.  Ten years ago I started buying a ton of low grade (often extremely low grade) vintage on eBay.  Turns out I was hitting the market at the right time and ended up with most of the Hall of Famers from this set for pennies on the dollar for what it's costing me to close it out.  I'm in no hurry to pay for the Mays, but it's conceivable that I'll be one card short of completing in the near future.

iv. 1975 Topps Mini: This isn't a huge priority for me at this point, but as the sets above get crossed off, by way of attrition it could move up the list, unless I become distracted by something else, like say 1962 Topps, or a vintage O-Pee-Chee hockey build.

v. 1986-87, 1987-88 and 1988-89 Fleer Basketball: Sure, technically this is three sets, but they're small and I keep them all in the same three-ring binder.  I'm also only two cards short of finishing the '86-87 set and one card short of completing the '88-89 set, so it seemed silly to list on them on their own.  The '87-88 set is missing 15 cards, including the wildly overpriced Jordan.  Absent finding one of those in the worst condition ever, I don't see myself finishing it this year.

3. Single Cards

I bought more singles this year than I have in years.  Most of them weren't on last years list, but probably should have been given how much I enjoyed them.  Here's what I'm going with this year as my Top Ten.

2022 Most Wanted Cards
(images from random eBay listings)

i. 1953 Topps Willie Mays: For the third year in a row this card is number one on this list.  Five or six years ago, I thought, not entirely unrealistically either, that I may be able to get a well worn copy for under a $100.  Currently, anything less than $1000 would have to be considered a steal.  For that reason, this card may be number 1 on this list again next year.

ii.  1987-88 Fleer Michael Jordan:  Like the Mays, this card remains #2 on this list for a third year in a row.  I have watched it go up in price exponentially over that time, but like the Mays, figure this market is due for a crash sooner or later.  Less than mint copies routinely sold in the $35-50 range a few years ago.  It's about 5x that figure now.  

iii.  1961 Fleer Dolph Schayes "Shoots":  If you've read this blog enough, you're probably aware that I bleed orange when it comes to Syracuse Basketball.  That fandom doesn't extend to the now non-existent Syracuse Nationals, but I would like to have a card of Schayes, who led the Nationals to the NBA Championship in 1955.  There aren't a lot of Dolph Schayes cards to choose from, but I really like this one, and I don't mind that it's not even his actual base card from the set, it just looks cool.  Dolph's son Danny was also one of the first big stars to play for Jim Boeheim in the early 80's before enjoying a long NBA career of his own.   

iv. 1962 Topps Jim Bouton:  For a few years running, the 1962 Topps Rookie Parade featuring Joe Pepitone appeared on this list.  I finally acquired one about 18 months ago.  I like it so much that I've decided I need the Jim Bouton as well.  I'd probably be equally happy with a Bob Uecker, but The Ueck is currently going for prices that I can't justify.  Also, the Pepitone has been prominently displayed on my bookshelf, near a copy of "Ball Four," so it sort of makes sense to me to swap it out with one of these.

v.  1986-87 Fleer Larry Bird:  I don't like the Boston Celtics.  I don't particularly like Larry Bird (as someone to root for, by all accounts he seems to be a fine person off the court).  But this card has moved all the way up to #5 on this list, as I currently sit two cards away from completing this set (plus some stickers that I'm not too concerned with).  You can probably guess the other card I need, but I'm not dropping a grand (plus?) on a single mass produced junk wax card from the 1980's.  I currently have a very nice looking counterfeit copy of the sneaker king in my set binder, and once I add this Bird I'll more or less consider the set "complete" for now. 

vi.  1957 Topps Johnny Podres:  Occasionally I'll see a random card on eBay or Twitter that I didn't previously know existed, and get the immediate urge to own one.  At the moment, this is "that" card.  The 1961 Topps Felipe Alou is also on my radar at the moment, but I'll worry about that after I have this Podres with the magnificent scoreboard in the background in hand.

 

vii. 1963 Topps Pete Rose:  I've wanted this card since I was about five years old, following Rose's assault on Ty Cobb's record.  It should probably be higher on this list, but the reality is that it just isn't a priority right now, even if it's place in my subconscious warrants it.  This is sort of "The" baseball card in my mind and I suspect the minds of a lot of other collector's my age.  If I were pressed on a Mt. Rushmore of baseball cards for my demographic, I'd probably point to this card, the '68 Ryan, the '84 Donruss Matttingly, and probably '86 Donruss Canseco.  Feel free to disagree, it won't hurt my feelings.

viii. 1979-80 O-Pee-Chee Wayne Gretzky:  Like the Rose above, my desire for this card probably outweighs it's ranking on this list, but the money tree I planted hasn't been producing yet (I may have been hustled on those magic seeds).  I more than dabble in hockey cards, and have slowly built up what I consider a half-way respectable collection of NHL cardboard.  This Gretzky would obviously be a crown jewel.  While I have no minimum standards for condition, I am stubborn when it comes to OPC vs Topps.  I want the OPC.  

ix. 2003-04 Topps Carmelo Anthony: As mentioned above in the Dolph Schayes paragraph, I'm a Syracuse fan.  Over the years I've hoarded Lawrence Moten and John Wallace cards the way I do Wallach cards (I just don't blog about it and on a much smaller scale).  I have a binder of nothing but former Orangemen, from Dave Bing, to Rony Seikaly to Jonny Flynn and everyone in between and after.  Yet somehow I've never bothered to pick up Carmelo's rookie card.  It's an oversight I need to correct.

x. 2002-03 Upper Deck Henrik Zetterberg: This card is #10 on this list for at least the 3rd year in a row.  Hank's been out of the league quite awhile now, his Hall of Fame chances don't look too strong, and yet this card continues to demand crazy amounts of money on the rare occasion one shows up for sale.  Who is out there dropping a grand on this borderline obscure card of a quickly being forgotten retired Swedish hockey player?

So that's a wrap for my goals "focus" this year.  Thanks for reading, and best of luck to all of you with your 2021 collecting.

Sunday Edition - 2021 Collecting Goals

 

2021 Collecting Goals

I've set the bar the pretty low for myself this year, at least in regards of trying to complete the collecting "goals," I set out for myself.  Looking back at last years post and the "goals" I listed, I didn't do very well.  I'd go ahead and grade my effort as an "F."  I did acquire a lot more Wallach cards in 2020, but fewer than I did in 2019.  I also laid out three distinct things I wanted to get done with my Wallach cards and didn't manage to make a real effort at any of the three.

As far as the set building goals I set for myself in 2020, that was slightly more successful than my Wallach "goals," but not by much, I think I'd generously give myself a "C-."  I did finish a few modern sets from 2008 to present, including 2008 and 2020 (albeit 2020 by the factory set route), but I didn't finish off a single "vintage" set.  I made some huge progress on 1972 Topps, and put some dents in the other 70's Topps sets I've yet to complete, but didn't actually finish a single one.

The final area of "goals" is my "Top 10" list of single cards I want.  This used to dominate my attention prior to getting hooked on set building, but has gradually grown less important me each year as I've become more obsessed with vintage set building.  I'll give my effort in 2020 a "D+."  The 1962 Topps Joe Pepitone "Rookie Parade" was the only card on my Top 10 list that I acquired (Pepitone was listed at #4) and I didn't pick it up until around November.  I did pick up a decent number of other nice cards, including a '64 Topps Pete Rose, a '54 Bowman Whitey Ford, and '58 Topps Orlando Cepeda, but they weren't on my list (though the Rose probably should have been).

My expectations for 2021 are low.  For a number of reasons.  So I'm setting some more modest goals for myself than in previous years.  Here's a look at what I'm hoping to get done:

1. Acquire More Tim Wallach's

Once again this will be my primary collecting objective.  I currently sit at just under 27,000 cards in my collection.  Each of the last two years have seen me acquire over 2,000 Wallach cards.  If can match that in 2021 that'll push the total to over 29,000, which is a very significant number, as Wallach wore #29 for nearly his entire career.

Aside from sheer numbers, here's a few things I'd like to do related to the blog this year.  I'm calling them "ideas" rather than "goals":

(1) Ten Year Anniversary Post - February 11 will mark the ten year anniversary of this blog.  For the occasion I'd like to take it deep dive into some of the statistics and maybe even post a few charts.  I'm not sure how deep, as I'm sure it'll require a massive amount of time, but it's an idea for now.

(2) Bring one card to extinction - I've talked about this idea for several years now and have never really made a serious effort to complete it.  The gist is simple, focus on one card, likely one from 1983-86, and try to buy it out online.  The issue I always run into is that when I start loading up an online shopping cart, as the dollar number in cost grows, I'm left thinking about all the vintage set needs I could buy instead.  So far the vintage needs are undefeated against 200 copies of an '85 Fleer from 40 different sellers.  

(3) Variations - At some point I want to post on all the variations, however slight, that exists on Wallach cards.  Be it paint splatter patterns on '90 Donruss, or glow in the dark '91 Topps, I want to create a reference page for all them, as most of them apply to every card in the sets and I feel like people may be able to use it for their own collecting needs.

2. Continue to Complete Sets

I went he factory set route with 2020 Topps last year.  That was my plan from the moment I saw the initial design on Twitter.  Since 2016, I've gone the Factory Set route three and half times (in 2019 I completed series 1 by pack purchase and bought a complete series 2).  It's what I do when I think the design is ugly, and there has been no shortage of heinous designs the last few years (2018 being the exception)  Usually it's a lot easier and a lot cheaper.  This past year was problematic.  I sort of live under a rock in my little obscure corner of the collecting universe and was patiently waiting for factory sets to be released, completely oblivious to the fact that baseball card collecting was having something of a revival.  I was more than a little shocked to find I couldn't even get my hands on a Factory Set.  Most years my issue is whether I wait for my Target to start slapping clearance stickers on them before I buy, or if I just splurge and pay regular price right away.  What I ended up doing this year was buying one on eBay that had already been opened and had the stupid little gimmick pack of inserts removed.  It ended up being pretty cheap and I would happily do it again.  If only there was a safe way to buy cereal at a reduced price after people take out the toys inside Frosted Flakes.  Here's a look at my more modest goals for 2021:

i. 1972 Topps: I've knocked off 84 of the 130 6th series high number cards in this set.  That may not sound like I'm all that close to some people, but I feel like I'm on the cusp of taking this set down.  There are still a few lingering 4th series cards I need, and a good number of 5th series (which aren't exactly cheap either), but I'm on the home stretch.  If I can complete 1972 Topps in 2021, I'll call the year a success.   Here's a link to what I need in '72 Topps (and every other set I'm working on). 

While 1972 Topps is the only set I'm specially listing as a "goal" to complete, I would like to make some progress on a few others.  If I happen to complete one of these, it wouldn't shock me.

ii. 1953 Topps: I I few years ago I picked up a 1952 Topps Willie Mays. It was a significant collecting moment for me, beyond just fact it was the card coveted more than any other as a kid.  It was also the last card I needed to complete the first five series of the '52 set, cards #1-310.  Since then I've been slowly working on the '53 set.  By chance I have lucked into most of the high dollar cards in the '53 set, including the Mantle.  Willie Mays still needs to be dealt with, but I already feel like I'm working downhill to complete this set sometime in the next couple of years.

iii. Single Series'd 1970 Topps sets:  I've yet to finish 1974, 1976 and 1977 Topps.  I need less than 30 cards in each of them to finish them off, but for a number of less than great reasons, I have yet to do so.  The truth is, it's just more fun to direct my hobby budget towards 1971-73 at the moment.

iv. 1971 Topps: I won't be making any concentrated effort at this set until after I finish the 1972 effort.  But that doesn't mean I can try to give myself a little bit of a head start here and there with the occasional '71 pickup.  The same applies to 1973 Topps, though that is farther down the priority list.

v. 1975 Topps Mini: I came into a large number of these a few years back and have been slowly been adding to them since then.  I still need about a 180 cards (give or take) to finish the set, including Gary Carter and Robin Yount, but sooner or later this set will be near the top of this list.

vi. Modern Topps: Working on the modern Topps sets feels more like a chore than a hobby, but it's something I still feel compelled to do none the less.  I actually finished off 2008, 2009, 2015, and 2018 last year, and none of it felt like cause for celebration.  Just a sense of relief.  If I finish 2012, '13, and '14, I'll have a complete run of sets from 2008 (the year I started collecting again after about 15 years off) to present.  

vii. 1988-89 Fleer Basketball: I'm working on all three of the Fleer sets from 1986-89, but Michel Jordan is causing problems for me in the first two sets.  So while I search for a Jordan that is in sufficiently terrible condition to put it in my price range for the first two sets, I'd like to go ahead and finish off this one.  The Jordan is already in hand too.


3. Single Cards

Due to the growing size of the list above, I haven't focused on singles the way I used to.  I've decided to make some changes to this list as a result.  There a few cards that have sat on it for several years now that I've never really felt compelled to pursue, which tells me, maybe I don't really want them that much.  In any event, it's being overhauled with at least an eye towards my set building needs.

2020 Most Wanted Cards
(images from random eBay listings)

i. 1953 Topps Willie Mays: For the second year in a row this card is number one on this list.  Five years ago or so, I thought, not entirely unrealistically either, that I may be able to get a well worn copy for under a $100.  Currently, anything less than $500 for even a horribly beat up copy would have to be considered a steal.  For that reason, this card may be number 1 on this list again next year.

ii.  1987-88 Fleer Michael Jordan:  Like the Mays, this card remains in the same spot it was in last year, and is a card I have watched go up in price exponentially.  Less than mint copies routinely sold in the $35-50 range a few years ago.  It's about 5x that figure now.  

iii.  1972 Toops Ben Oglivie, Ron Cey, and Bernie Williams:  This is most expensive card remaining on my '72 need list. Sometimes there are high number cards that sell for ugly looking numbers that just don't make much sense to me, and on paper, this was one of them.  However, after seeing it repeatedly in eBay listings the last few years, I'm starting to get it.  It's a a nice looking card featuring two players that had really phenomenal, albeit not Hall of Fame, careers in Oglivie and Cey.  This card has gone from an annoyance to me, to one I actually really want to own, for reasons that go beyond just wanting to complete the set.

iv.  1986-87 Fleer Larry Bird:  I don't like the Boston Celtics.  I don't particularly like Larry Bird (as someone to root for, by all accounts he seems to be a fine person off the court).  But I currently sit two cards away from completing this set (plus some stickers that I'm not too concerned with), and this is one of them.  You can probably guess the other, but I'm not in a mental state to spend $1,000 plus on a piece of mass produced junk wax from the 1980's, which is to say I'm not crazy.  I will however end up over paying for this Bird.  I currently have a very nice looking counterfeit copy of the sneaker king in my binder, and once I add this Bird I'll more or less consider the set "complete" for now.

v. 1971 Topps Nolan Ryan:  I'm far from what you would call a Nolan Ryan fan.  But there's something about cards of him in a Mets uniform that I really like.  His 1970 Topps was far and away the most difficult card for me to acquire when I finished that set.  After my expierence with it, I made a point to start tracking his other cards in 1970's Topps sets.  I figured I may as well get a head start on them.  This is the last one I need to complete the run of 70's Ryan, one of him in a Mets Uniform, has an awesome RC Cola sign in the background, and is a set need.  That warrants it's placement at #5 on this list.

vi. 1963 Topps Pete Rose:  I've wanted this card since I was about five years old, following Rose's assault on Ty Cobb's record.  It should probably be higher on this list, but the reality is that it just isn't a priority right now, even if it's place in my subconscious warrants it.  This is sort of "The" baseball card in my mind and I suspect the minds of a lot of other collector's my age.  If I were pressed on a Mt. Rushmore of baseball cards for my demographic, I'd probably point to this card, the '68 Ryan, the '84 Donruss Matttingly, and probably '86 Donruss Canseco.  Feel free to disagree, it won't hurt my feelings.

vii. 1967 Topps Rod Carew:  The bulk of Rod Carew's career was played before I was born, but he's always been one of my favorites.  I'd probably point to his '85 Topps card as the genesis of Carew fandom.  It was an awesome card, and even before flipping it over to see the mind blowing batting numbers on the back, I could tell even at my young age that the player pictured was a bad ass.

                                                        

viii. 1971 Topps Lew Alcindor:  This isn't Kareem's rookie card, it's actually is third Topps card.  It is however the first standard sized card of the NBA's All-Time leading scorer.  This could also be a set I decide to finish one day as I have a good head start on it already.  Even if I don't ever take a stab at the set, I would love to have this card in my collection.

ix. 1979-80 O-Pee-Chee Wayne Gretzky:  I more than dabble in hockey cards, and have slowly built up what I consider a half-way respectable collection of NHL cardboard.  This Gretzky would obviously be a crown jewel.  While I have no minimum standards for condition, I am stubborn when it comes to OPC vs Topps.  I want the OPC.  I wouldn't mind owning a Topps, but it wouldn't crack this list if it were 50 cards long.

x.(a) 2002-03 Upper Deck Henrik Zetterberg: This card was #10 on this list last year as well.  Hank's been out of the league for a few years now, his Hall of Fame chances don't look too strong, the Red Wings are a dumpster fire, and yet this card continues to demand crazy amounts of money on the rare occasion one shows up for sale.  The only one available on eBay at the moment is listed at $550.  I don't get it.  

x.(b) 2003-04 Topps Carmelo Anthony: I'm sure a few of the regular readers of this blog already know this, but The Syracuse Orangemen are my team.  I do have professional sports teams  across the leagues that I root for to varying degrees, I am very much a Yankees fan, I like the Buffalo Bills, came to enjoy following the Detroit Red Wings during my law school days in Michigan and would rather see the Knicks win than lose.  But at the end of the day, Syracuse Basketball is the only rooting interest that truly matters to me (to an unhealthy extent if I'm being honest), and maybe Syracuse Football to a much lesser degree.  Over the years I've hoarded Lawrence Moten and John Wallace cards the way I do Wallach cards (I just don't blog about it and on a much smaller scale).  I have a binder of nothing but former Orangemen, from Dave Bing, to Rony Seikaly to Jonny Flynn and everyone in between and after.  Yet somehow I've never bothered to pick up Carmelo's rookie card.  It's an oversight I need to correct.

So that's a wrap for my goals this year.  Thanks for reading, and best of luck to all of you with your 2020 collecting goals.

Sunday Edition - 2020 Goals

Looking Forward

It's been a few years since I've done one of these post.  I know I started one last year, but by the time the calendar turned to April and I still hadn't finished, I figured it was time to let it go.  Hopefully I hit publish on this one and someone is reading this.

Looking back at my previous "Goals for the New Year" posts, they strike me as pretty, or probably more aptly stated, overly, ambitious.  I don't think my desire to collect cards has waned in the slightest, I just think I've become more comfortable with the realities of my time, budget, and space.  I am content with what I'm doing, and still consider card collecting, "The Hobby," to be a positive aspect in my life.  So why mess with a good thing?

That said, it still doesn't hurt to have some outline of what I'm doing and where I'm going.  Here's what I hope to do in 2020:

1. Acquire More Tim Wallach's

This will always be my primary collecting objective.  2019 brought the total number of Wallach cards in my collection to 24,813 cards.  A target number I'd like to reach this year is 26,500 cards.  That would put 29,000 within reach by 2021.  I've had 29,000 set as a milestone in my head for a number of years now.  I don't know what I'll do to commemorate it, but it's starting to sneak up on me and it may be time to start thinking about it.  (Wallach wore #29 for all but 195 of his 2,212 games played)

So aside from sheer numbers, here's a few things I'd like to do with Wallach cards this year:

(1) Bring one card to extinction - This is an idea I've talked about for a few years now, but have never had the discipline to attempt.  The idea is, I want to pick a card (say '83 Fleer?), and buy it out online.  I'll purchase all the copies available on the major sites, Sportlots, COMC, JustCommons, etc, and maybe even ebay.  I want to make one card an endangered species more or less.  The problem is shipping cost.  I get on Sportlots, and load up a cart with all of the '85 Topps, and realize I could use that money to buy about 6x as many cards if I just of focused on sellers rather than a particular card.

(2) Variations - Anyone who pays attention as likely noticed the post on this blog have become pretty sporadic and less frequent over the last few years.  It's a combination of lack of time, and lack of material.  There just aren't a lot of new Wallach cards to post.  One thing I have wanted to chronicle on this blog are the variations that exists.  While I don't really care all that much about the minor differences that occur on the borders of various 1991 Donruss, the fact is that there are differences, and if this blog is going to be an index of Tim Wallach baseball cards, I should probably start pointing them out.

(3) Custom Cards - I've long wanted to mess around with custom Wallach cards.  There's the obvious option of making cards that were never made, but probably should have been, like '81, '96, and '97 Topps.  But perhaps more appealing to me, is creating sort of "Franken-Cards."  What I mean by this is swapping the photos from cards that were made, and putting them onto other set designs.  For instance, use the 1984 Topps Sticker photo, on all of the other 1984 sets from Fleer, Donruss, Topps, ect..  I don't know that I'll find time to do this (I'm also working on a CBGB's film documentary from footage I have from the time my old band played there), but it's an idea I'm playing with.

2. Continue to Complete Sets

2018 Topps was the only set I completed last year.  I did make significant progress on over a half dozen others, even believing I had purchased the final cards in a few sets, only to discover holes while sleeving them.
While I shouldn't have any issues knocking off a few of the modern sets this year, I would really like to polish off a couple of sets from the 1970's.  While it would be nice to say I'm going to finish off 1972, the reality is that would come at the expense of everything else.  So instead I'm going to focus on knocking off the non-series'd sets from the 70's that I still need complete.  That said, I'm sure I'll be filling out the lower series in '71, '72, and '73.  Here are my tentative Top Set priorities this year:

i. 1974 Topps: I've never made a much of an active effort to complete 1974 Topps, but somehow it sits near completion.  '74 Topps have always seemed to sort of fall into my lap, which is probably why it's never been a focus.  It's time to cross the set off my list.  Winfield, Ryan, Rose, and other would be pocket busters are already in hand, as well as the McCovey "Nat'l League" variant, so it's just a matter of sifting through a website at this point.

1974 Topps: 3, 29, 43, 50, 53, 80, 95, 125, 130, 153, 179, 229, 265, 280, 297, 323, 331, 333, 337, 461, 470, 473, 482, 500, 582, 596, 598, 600, 604, 605, 622, 637

ii. 1977 Topps: I don't anticipate this being too difficult a task, all of these cards are abundant and easy to find, and nothing in the set is going to break the bank.  Dawson and Murphy have long been in hand, and the Ryan isn't going to be the same obstacle it was in the 1970 set.  That said, I still need quite a few of them.  Here's what I'm looking for:

1977 Topps: 6, 8, 10, 34, 74, 100, 111, 113, 130, 167, 183, 208, 210, 230, 231, 232, 234, 265, 270, 276, 277, 285, 286, 287, 299, 320, 327, 355, 256, 387, 390, 412, 414, 418, 428, 430, 433, 434, 435, 437, 439, 445, 450, 467, 473, 476, 484, 494, 495, 498, 504, 516, 518, 522, 541, 546, 547, 560, 564, 571, 580, 597, 615, 621, 630, 632, 632, 634, 638, 647, 650, 655, 656

iii. 1976 Topps:  This would be the final single series Topps set I need to hammer out, and would give me a complete run from 1974 to 1992.  These sets aren't as much fun to build as the earlier set series (the thrill of finding a high number need at a great price is hard to match), but it's still very satisfying to finish them off.

1976: 17, 24, 45, 48, 55, 73, 78, 104, 118, 119, 128, 130, 147, 150, 160, 169, 172, 179, 192, 202, 205, 230, 300, 330, 341, 344, 345, 347, 348, 420, 421, 435, 480, 504, 531, 550, 581, 589, 590, 595, 596, 598, 606, 620, 643, 650


iv. Modern Topps: My need list for 2008, 2009, 2015, and 2019 are all four cards or less.  The only real headache here is the 2015 Kris Byrant card.  I know for a fact that I pulled at least one (I'm pretty sure more) of those from packs in 2015.  Somehow I lost it (or them).  I may have given one away to a friend with a kid who was a Cubs fan, but I really don't remember.  I just know I'm not much of a Cubs fan (that's a diplomatic way of saying it), I think Bryant is wildly overrated, and paying more than a buck or two for any base card printed as recently as 2015 seems like madness to me given the print runs.  Had I known the stupid thing was going demand $10 a few years later, I probably wouldn't have so quickly dismissed it in 2015.

v. 1988-89 Fleer Basketball: I'm working on all three of the Fleer sets from 1986-89, but Michel Jordan is causing problems for me in the first two sets.  So while I search for a Jordan that is in sufficiently terrible condition to put it in my price range for the first two sets, I'd like to go ahead and finish off this one.  Jordan is already in hand too.

1988-89 Fleer Basketball: 9, 16, 21, 25, 43, 57, 64, 85, 115, 123, 124, 125, 129

And the other two sets if you're interested:

1986-87: 9, 57

1987-88: 1, 3, 9, 11, 19, 20, 21, 22, 24, 25, 27, 31, 33, 34, 35, 37, 41, 42, 48, 49, 54, 56, 59, 61, 63, 68, 69, 74, 75, 76, 77, 79, 80, 83, 85, 92, 95, 97, 98, 99, 106, 109, 118, 123



3. Single Cards

Rookie Cards, for many years as a kid, were my only collecting focus outside of Wallach cards.  While I've definitely shifted to a set builder, I still have a soft spot, or compulsive need, to collect the occasional single card.  I'm not sure a single marquee card crossed my desk in 2019.  I believe the 1980-81 Topps Magic Johnson/Larry Bird was my last "big" pickup, but that may have been in 2018.  That doesn't mean there aren't still a few coveted pieces of cardboard I wouldn't love to have in my collection.  Here's what I'm currently craving, albeit, I don't expect to acquire more than one or two of them this year, if any.  I have added self-handicapped "odds" as to the likelihood of picking each of these up.

2020 Most Wanted Cards
(images from random eBay listings)

i. 1953 Topps Willie Mays: While not listed above, I am currently working on a 1953 set build.  With a little progress, there's a good chance it'll sit at number one on my set list if I do this post next year.  Willie would certainly be "a little progress."  Through chance and circumstance, I've already acquired most of the big names in the set, however the Mays remains elusive.  He's also what qualifies as a short-print in the set.  While the '53 short prints, they don't demand anything close in price to what their '52 counterparts.

Odds I own one this time next year: 33%  Finding one of these, no matter how beat up it is, is tough to do for under $200, and I generally don't like paying anything close to that for cards.  Chances are I hold off picking this card up until it's the last, or close to the last, card I need for the set.

ii.  1987-88 Fleer Michael Jordan:  I passed on a chance to own fairly beat up copy of this card for under $25 last year.  I've sort of been kicking myself as a result, as I haven't seen one go for anything close to that since.  This sophomore Fleer set doesn't have the sort of rookie star power that the two sets it's sandwiched between do, and as result is often over looked.

Odds I own one this time next year: 75%  I'm currently tracking this card on an eBay watch list.  If one shows up in one piece for under $30, I'll probably bite. 

iii. 1979-80 O-Pee-Chee Wayne Gretzky:  I more than dabble in hockey cards, and have slowly built up what I consider a half-way respectable collection of NHL cardboard.  This Gretzky would obviously be a crown jewel.  While I have no minimum standards for condition, I am stubborn when it comes to OPC vs Topps.  I want the OPC.  I wouldn't mind owning a Topps, but it wouldn't crack this list if it were 50 cards long.

Odds I own one this time next year: 5%  I have next to zero ambition of owning one of these this year.  I still sneak a peak at eBay listings from time to time, and if one showed up at the right price, I may bite, but I'm not counting on it.  It's a card for another day.

iv. 1962 Topps Joe Pepitone:  This is one of those horizontal multi-payer "Rookie Parade" cards in the last series of '62 Topps.  I met Pepitone once and he made a great impression (contrasted with the other ex-Yankee I spent all summer working with who didn't).  I've been a retro-active Pepitone fan ever since and would really like to own his rookie.  You could also substitute the '62 Bob Uecker or '62 Jim Bouton into this #4 spot and I'd be every bit as pleased.  I'm not listing all three in the interest of keeping this list diverse.

Odds I own one (or a Uecker or Bouton) this time next year: 20%  The sticker price on these is alarmingly high.  Once I complete the 70's Topps sets, I have my eye on '62 Topps as my next vintage effort.  Once that happens, I'll be more prepared to justify (stomach) the price tag and these cards and will likely pick them up in short order.  I just don't expect it to be in 2020.

v. 1982 Topps Traded Cal Ripken Jr.:  I consider this to be one of the most overrated cards in the history of The Hobby.  It drives me bonkers when anyone call's it a Ripken "rookie."  It's not his "rookie," it's not even his first Topps card.  By the time this card was printed, kids already had three different Cal Ripken cards to choose from.  So does having it on this list make me a hypocrite?  Probably.  But in my quest to complete the Topps set runs, I've started to track down the Traded Sets.  1982 Topps Traded can't be put in the books without this card.

Odds I own one this time next year: 10%  I will almost certainly pick up this card as part of the 1982 Traded Box Set.  Holding me back, beside the price, is I don't know what to do with the Traded Sets I have.  Most are still in the little colored boxes.  I'd like to page them and keep with with the sets in 3 ring binders, but the binders I have the sets in are too small, and I don't want to go to 4'' binders.  I may end up just doing "Traded Binders" with multiple Traded Sets to a binder.  But until I decide, this card isn't likely to find a place in my collection.

vi. 1962 Topps Football Jim Brown:  A couple of years back when I did this post, a 1962 Topps Football Ernie Davis was the #1 card on it.  I've since picked one up, and it's one of the only cards I keep prominently displayed in public view inside my house.  I was lucky enough to find a '58 Jim Brown a few years back, and tried displaying it next to the Ernie Davis.  It just didn't look right.  But I think the matching '62 Brown would look great next to the Ernie Davis, and hope to have the Syracuse legends side by side at some point.

Odds I own one this time next year: 55%  There's a decent chance this will end up being an impulse by some day when I'm feeling sorry for myself for not wanting to pay for a '53 Mays or the card below.

vii. 1963 Topps Pete Rose:  I've wanted this card since I was about five years old, following Rose's assault on Ty Cobb's record.  It should probably be higher on this list, but the reality is that it just isn't a priority right now, even if it's place in my subconscious warrants it.  This is sort of "The" baseball card in my mind.

Odds I own one this time next year: 1%  One day, I will own this card.  But for now it's sort of like the player to be named later.

viii. 1985 Topps WWF Hulk Hogan:  On the other end of the spectrum from the Rose is this Hogan.  I could have it delivered next week for less than the price of a 12-pack of Coors.  I just haven't found the motivation.  I also haven't watched WWF since Wrestlemania VII (and even then I was only checking in for the Wrestlemania, and not watching regularly anymore).  But I still have positive memories of the colorful late 1980's wrestlers.  Hogan wasn't my favorite by a long shot (I preferred Big Boss Man, Macho Man, and Andre the Giant), and I know he has older cards, but this is his first licensed by the WWF and it's made by Topps (and isn't stupid expensive).  I feel like my collection would be better with one of these in it.  The 1987 Macho Man is pretty awesome too.

Odds I own one this time next year: 15%  The issue with this card is that when it comes time to drop the $3-8 to buy and ship it, I start thinking about all the '77 Topps commons those same few bucks could purchase.

ix. Bill Murray Baseball Card: I don't really care which one, there are several to choose from.  I just know i want one.

Odds I own one this time next year: 10%  Periodically I'll see someone post one of these Murray cards on Twitter or a blog and I'll immediately take to eBay looking for one.  And just as quickly, I get scared away by the price.

x. 2002-03 Upper Deck Henrik Zetterberg: I have zero intention of paying the price this card currently demands, but I feel like it's due to drop.  Zetterberg was my guy in the NHL over the course of his career, and I'd like to own his marquee rookie.  It annoys me to no end to see the writting on that wall when comes to how Zetterberg's legacy is going to be remembered (people who clearly don't know hockey actually have the gall to debate his Hall of Fame merit), but on the flip side that may make it easier to pick up this card.

Odds I own one this time next year: 5%  As much as I'd love to own this card, I don't pay anything close to the price tag it carries for cards that came out much after around 1973. 




4. 2020 Topps Base Set

My first impression of 2020 Topps isn't,...isn't what I'd describe as "good."  It's a little too generic for my liking, with a bit of an internet fake-card type vibe too it.  That said, at least it's distinct.  After a long run of more or less indistinguishable white bordered designs from like 2009-14, at least this is different and unique.  I'd rather Topps try something "different" and create a terrible looking card (looking at you 2016), than pump out bland boring sets year after year.  Some of my favorite vintage sets today, are sets I could not stand 20 years ago.

So with regards to this set, I'll buy a few packs, see how it feels, then decide whether to go the cheaper factory set route, or do a build through packs.  If my first impression doesn't change once I have a few in hand, 2020 is going to be a factory set year.

Thanks for reading, and best of luck to all of you with your 2020 collecting goals.