2017--a wild and crazy ride so far

It's funny what comes into my head for post ideas lately.  I probably overdid the hurricane angle, even though it was relevant to my train of thought for those few days. 

I'm sitting at the computer Monday evening reading Daniel's blog (catching up is more like it) and going over his annual collecting goals.  I sat and thought to myself how am I doing with my 2017 goals?  Well, I had to go back and look and I seem to be at a strong "D" grade.

1.  Set completion.  64 Topps?  check.  88-89 OPC hockey?  check.  73 Topps?  2 to go.  Stalling on that one.  Have 3.5 months to go so if I buckle down, I can get an A.

2.  Video posts.  Once a month.  Nope.  Did 2 of them and stopped.  My wife goes to her friends house once a month for a day and a half.  Need to train myself to complete videos when she goes away.  Grade:  F

3.  COMC.  Have the cards in place, but there's too many unknowns for me right now to submit them.  Grade:  Incomplete

4. Jays and Leafs collections.  Sorted and posted to spreadsheets.  Scratched the surface on the Jays, haven't touched the Leafs.  Probably will not finish by the end of the year.  Grade:   F 

5.  Contest, 100 cards/100 words.  Well now, something I've completed!!  Grade:  A

6.  2016 Allen & Ginter completion.  62 cards to go.  If I don't finish this one, I should absolutely be ashamed.  I'm going to give myself an A on this, because I'm going to finish the damn set.

7.  $2K. Well, I had every intention of spending this kind of money this year, but it's funny how life gets in the way.  Probably 60% of that will be what's spent by year's end.  Not going to grade this one, just because.


Even among the chaos that has been my 2017 so far, I've started a couple of hockey projects, the serial numbered hockey set and the goalie mask frankenset.  In my mind, I've wanted to get back to hockey a bit more this year, and these two sets have me more involved with posting over the past couple of weeks.

I've also kept up with my other blog, the Player PC's blog has averaged better than a post a day again this year.   It has been easy for the most part, only typing 3 lines for each card, but what the blog has done for me is keeping focused on updating and picking up more cards for my PCs.

One card rule:

One day, I'm going to get around to doing my all time Blue Jays 40 man roster.   You can be sure that this guy will be on it.

Posting one card like this also reminds me to check the Trading Card Database to see if the card has been scanned onto the site (this one already was).  I am a big believer in what the site is doing, and will keep trying to help out in any way I can to add cards.

Thanks for reading, Robert

Aftermath

For the second year in a row, my better half and I have felt fortunate to escape the wrath of a hurricane that just devastated other parts of Florida.

This time, Irma got a good shot in on the Naples (southwest corner of the state) area, missing us by about 80 miles (roughly).  We spent the entire weekend in the house, shuttered up from the world.  I didn't even venture out of the house until about 4PM yesterday afternoon, to the protests of my wife. 

We were much better prepared for this hurricane, but still weren't 100% ready.  No spare gas as I couldn't find a 5 gallon container anywhere in my area (that will be handled shortly) and we still don't have the spare money for a generator.   That's something we will look to purchase in the near future. 

I do want to thank all the well wishers out there who followed my insanity over the past few days.  Your thoughts and words were very much appreciated.

Now, back to cards.

I've finally updated the goalie frankenset page with all the cards that I posted on the weekend.   But I still have the stack that Mike from NABCB sent me.  I went through it more thoroughly today, and found that he actually sent two cards that have the same card number.   So, I'm going to leave it up to everyone to vote on which card goes in the set.

Both of these cards are #9, so you tell me.  Andy Moog or Patrick Roy?

Both of them have pretty good mask shots, but I don't want to play favorites.  So you decide.

Just leave a comment with the goalie's name you want in the set.   It's that simple. 

Your help is appreciated, Robert

Irmageddon, part 3--the day of reckoning

I'm writing this post on Saturday morning while we still have power.  As of right now the projected path of the hurricane is taking the eye of the storm over the west coast of Florida (I'm on the east coast).  We shall see how it goes today, I'll provide updates when I can on twitter.

But for now, I'm going to clean up the goalie cards that I have left in the collection today.

#'s 116 132 & 148

Decided to make one scan of just horizontal cards; it turns out that two of the three just happen to be of Tom Barrasso.  Both feature pretty good shots of his mask, and two different masks no less!   Have another shot of Steve Shields' Sharks mask, a classic.

#'s 120 129 134 146 160 165

There's Fleury's yellow equipment again.  I'd love to have a card that features him in his Winter Classic mask paying tribute to the Steelers.  Stephane Fiset's igloo mask was always a favorite for me.  Guy Hebert's Ducks mask with the duck wings on the side is always a good one to have in any goalie set as well.

#'s 166 171 174 177 180 182 198 199 & 218

In the upper left corner, you have a mask featuring the Michigan Wolverines on Shawn Hunwick.  It will be very hard for me to replace that one, along with the Norm Maracle Atlanta Thrashers mask in the center.  Some other classics on this page as well, with Patrick Roy, Martin Brodeur and one of the many masks of Carey Price. 

That's it for the cards that I owned so far.  I still have another post or two of the cards that were sent to me from Mike at the NABCB blog; I'm hoping to have those done before too long.

Here we go!!

Thanks for reading, Robert

Irmageddon, part 2

By the time this appears on the blog, the steady rain will have begun.  The forecast is anywhere from 8 to 15 inches of rain by the time this is all over, nothing near what Harvey dumped on South Texas.  But with all the canals and inlets that surround where I live, that amount of rainfall will cause some flooding for sure.

Enough of that, you're here to see the cards!!  18 more for you on this post, 3 groups of 6 goalie cards....

#'s 56,57,58,62,66 & 70

Dominic Roussel's card will likely be replaced eventually, but I thought it was interesting to put in the set to start because it looks as if his midsection is coming apart at the seams.  The Kirk McLean card may be the only one from 90-91 Bowman that remains in the set.   Ben Scrivens' card doesn't give a great shot of his mask, but it's a good place holder for now at #70

#'s 71 74 78 88 94 & 98

Great shot of Mike Vernon's San Jose Sharks mask, and even though I will always despise the Red Wings, you can't beat a good mask with the Wings logo, just ask Jimmy Howard.  I think the OPC retro cards look cool, but that could be a card that's replaced over time as well.

#'s 100 101 102 107 109 & 114

I barely remembered Darrin Madeley, but that's a pretty cool mask from the early days of the Senators.  Eric Fichaud's mask of the Gorton's Fisherman from the mid 90's is a keeper as well, as you will not see any of those any time soon.  Mike Dunham's card is also a solid one with the puck hitting his midsection, great shot! 

Knocked off 30 goalie cards in 2 days!  Another big group tomorrow on the day of reckoning....

Stay safe, Robert