It's 2016--a time to reflect and a time to look forward

It's been over 3 weeks since I've written anything card related.   Damn.

I've been so busy I've scarcely had time to acknowledge cards that have come into my possession, like these 2 from Jim, AKA Mr. Haverkamp.   Jim, thank you so much, and I hope that your cards were received and all is well.

I also got a early Christmas present from Jeff at 2x3 heroes; an envelope stuffed with a bunch of A&G needs from this years set.   It took a while to get to me because it was sent to the old address, but my wife made sure that they arrived here safe and sound.  Jeff, thank you very much for that surprise envelope, it was appreciated!!

A.J. from the Lost Collector blog sent me a PWE of 9 Blue Jays cards a few weeks back.  I did acknowledge him on Twitter, but I felt it was also appropriate to show off the main reason he sent the envelope...

Nice!!  This Roberto Osuna refractor, #'d 010/566 is a very nice addition to the Jays collection.  Thank you AJ!

Another surprise envelope that made its way down to south Florida was from one of my favorite trading partners, Max from the Starting Nine blog.   Max was kind enough to send me a nice block of Blue Jays cards, along with a Christmas card for the season.  Great stuff, thank you Max!!

Now, as far as 2016 goes.  Besides buying a house and getting settled into a new routine, there are a couple of card related "goals" that I'd like to achieve.

1.  I'd like to get more envelopes in the mail.  This might take a bit of work, but getting cards out to collectors is something that I enjoy.   I only sent out 26 envelopes in 2015, that number definitely needs to at least double this year.

2.  Finish off a couple of vintage sets.  1973 Topps is really close.  1964 Topps is attainable, with some work. If I get these 2 done early enough in the year, '59 Topps will get a really big push.  Card shows and eBay/COMC purchases early in 2016 will attempt to focus on this.

3.  Player PC 1 of 1's.  2016 will also see more attention paid to my Sakic, Thome and Lawrie PCs.  So much so that I'll be on the lookout for "white whale" cards of each of them.  If I can add one super premium card to each of these PC's, I'll be happy.

4.  Get back into a regular writing rhythm.  This will be the toughest of them all.  108 posts during 2015 isn't enough, in my opinion.  It's going to be tough.   Yes, life got in the way somewhat over the final 5 months of last year, but I have to sit down and figure out if I really want to keep this going (which I want), or if my full time blogging days are over.  My collecting habit is not going to end any time soon, so why should I stop writing?  (Guess I just answered my own question..lol)

5.  Try and get rid of some of the excess.  Moving this year showed me that I have too much excess that needs to be moved.  I have a lot of partial sets from over the years that need to be sold, traded or donated.  Maybe figuring out how to start moving cards on COMC will be the way to go.  Stay tuned for more on that.

6.  Read, read and re-read.  It's time to start reading more blogs.  There are a lot of great blog writers out there that I've fallen behind with.  Getting caught up with them is something that I really need to do.

7.  Clean up the blog a little.  It could definitely use some fine tuning, because to me it's starting to look like a train wreck.

To everyone out there, please have a happy, healthy and safe 2016.  Be sure to enjoy the next 366 days, and keep on collecting!!

Thanks for reading, Robert