Keeping up with the Joneses was not the right idea

You may have noticed that I haven't posted all week.   You may not have noticed.  To be honest, my mood this week wasn't the greatest, and posting on the blog was the last thing that was on my mind.

I've decided to make a few changes on the blog, moving a bit more back to my roots.

Set collecting will be the prime focus of this blog.  I've let myself be too influenced by what I see on other blogs, and have tried to emulate them as best as possible.  "Keeping up with the Joneses" you might call it.

For me, that was not a smart idea.  Trying to be a team collector, for me, is just way too difficult.  I have Blue Jays everywhere, with no hope of ever catching up.  It's not that I don't appreciate what people have sent me, it's just that I've received so much of it (a lot of doubles as well) that the cards are out of control. The time I need to keep up with them all, well it's just not there.

Trying to catch up with a 35 year span of cards all at once was not the brightest idea.  Therefore, the Blue Jays want list has been taken down.  Life will be easier (for me) that way.  Still have Blue Jays you want to send my way?  Let me know what you have before you send them.  I don't want FEMA coming into my house and declaring it a disaster area (although I'm sure that my wife has declared our computer room as such...).

At least there is one thing that I've noticed with all the cards people have sent me over the past while is that there are a lot of great sets out there that I would like to build.   Modern sets, vintage sets, you name it, there is a whole lot of great stuff to collect that will occupy my time. 

Of course, serial numbered insanity will remain a staple of the blog, I still love the idea, and have had cards trickle in constantly, which is always great to see.  However, time has become kind of scarce to keep two blogs going, so I'm toying with the idea of moving everything to this blog and shutting the other down.  I'll let you know how I decide on that one.

Also, the player collections of Joe Sakic and Jim Thome will continue.  I like the fact that I don't have any pressure to add to these parts of my collection, and when I do add pieces like the Sakic below, I enjoy them that much more.

I'm pretty sure that this is the first Sakic card that I own that features him in a Team Canada uniform.  What I didn't know about the serial numbered cards (if not all of them from this set), is that they are as thick as the Cup cards.  A very nice surprise indeed when it arrived at my house this week. 

The set builder in me, however, appreciates cards like this when they arrive in the mail:

thank you Greg!

My '75 Topps set is less than 40 cards from completion, with some big names like Ryan, Aaron (x2) and Rose still to go.  I also have the RCs of Rice and Carter to pick up as well, so I'm sure that the next few card shows I'm able to attend will be spent searching for these. 

Yes, this post kind of rambles and many of you probably tuned out after the 2nd paragraph, but for me it was something that needed to be written. 

I'm still here, but things are going to change in this one horse town.   Hopefully for the better.

Thanks for reading, Robert