Just because I'm not here, doesn't mean I'm not around

I took a night off of posting last night.  But I didn't take a night off of working on the blog.  I actually spent some time working on the Blue Jays want list.  I've made it as far as 2006, so only 7 years to go (plus whatever comes out in 2014 by the time I finish the list).

I also saw some weird, wild and wonderful things happen in the world over the past 36 hours.

• The Cubs have a mascot.  Clark is his name.  Sorry Cubs fans.  Though the Clark GRIZZWOLD tweet I saw yesterday was quite humorous.
• The Leafs exorcised some of the demons from last May's devastating game 7 loss to the Bruins last night.  I happily listened to the boys in blue hang on (this time) to beat the B's.
• I saw a player get a contract today that almost pays him $1,000,000 per start.  Think about that one kids...a million bucks for approximately 2-2.5 hours of work.   Makes me realize that I should have listened to my coach when I played organized baseball at the age of 10.

I also feel more involved in the blogosphere so far in 2014, likely because I've been a part of more trades with fellow bloggers.  I'm pretty sure with the 6 envelopes I sent last weekend, combined with the 2 I'm going to have out by this weekend, that I've sent more so far this year than I did for a good portion of 2013.

I'm also happy with what appears to be a new found focus that I've had so far this year.   Not only have I done well with the fitness portion of my life (I'm closing in on 25 minutes on the elliptical), but my focus on anything card related has also been much better.

The "2013 Robert" would have completely taken last night off and not done anything.  But adding 2006's Blue Jay wants to the list is a step in the right direction for me.

It's going to be even better when I can start crossing cards like this off of the list.

now THIS is what a Gold Medallion parallel should look like

These will be more great cards to cross off the list as well.

The stack of Jays that I have to go through is still quite high (maybe 250-300) on the desk, but for some reason it doesn't look quite as daunting as well.

I know that something is different for me in 2014, I just can't quite put my finger on it.

Stay tuned...

Thanks for reading, Robert

A bakers dozen of serial numbered pages are in the books

As promised last night, here is the next completed page for the serial insanity set.  It is actually page #2, cards 10 through 18.

A pretty nice mix of sets and colors, and one of the few pages where I picked up more of the cards on my own than what the blogosphere sent me...

#10  Nathan Haynes courtesy of Max at the Starting Nine blog
#11  Ichiro
#12  Christian Friedrich courtesy of Kevin at the Diamond King blog
#13  Chipper Jones
#14  Johnny Mize I picked up at the 2012 National
#15  John Lindsey I picked up in a trade on the Bench website
#16  Kosuke Fukudome courtesy of Ted at the Crinkly Wrappers blog (retired)
#17  Dan Uggla I picked up at the 2012 National
#18  Brad Hawpe courtesy of Derek at the Tomahawk Chopping blog

The way that everyone keeps sending me cards, I may be showing more pages off sooner rather than later.

Here's hoping....

Thanks for reading, Robert

The joy of a completed SNI page, part 12

I prefer to do 2 or 3 posts worth of insanity cards before putting them into the binders/pages.  I decided to do the latest batch this afternoon. I put the last card in and what did I discover,another complete page!!

Here is page #14 in the set, cards numbered 118-126:

Unlike some of the pages that I've posted recently for the insanity set, barely half of this page was due to the generosity of the blogosphere.

Card 118:  Johnny Cueto from Dennis at Too Many Verlanders
Card 119:  Mark Teahen
Card 120:  Tony Armas Jr. from Dennis at Too Many Verlanders
Card 121:  Max Sapp from Max at Starting Nine
Card 122:  Angelys Nina
Card 123:  Jayson Werth was an eBay purchase
Card 124:  Troy Tulowitzki from Max at Starting Nine
Card 125:  Dan Uggla/Hanley Ramirez
Card 126:  Brian Schmitt from reader Brandon L.

Thank you to those who contributed to this page, and a big thank you to everyone out there who continues to hunt and feed my insane tendencies. 

Thanks for reading, Robert

The last day of year 2

I made it.   Two years doing my best to be a part of the best hobby going.

For me, today is a success.  I've made it to the end of the 2nd year of running this blog without flaming out, getting bored with writing or collecting, and not going postal on anyone (sorry, work crept in here....). 

The main reason that I keep on plugging along?

Why, it's you of course.  Without all of you out there reading my insanity, applauding my successes, correcting me when I'm being stupid, this wouldn't be worth it.

Yes, I'd probably be collecting, but it sure as hell would be the way I was doing it before.  Strictly retail packs here and there.  No card shows.  No completing sets.  No trading (shudder).  And yes, no clutter!!  (you have to take the good with the bad)

I was worried at the beginning of the year whether I would make it to this point.  I believed that if I made it to the end of year 2, then I surely would be in this for the long haul.  With the exception of a couple of periods over the past few months, I still enjoy writing, laughing, and spending my free time as part of the card collecting blogosphere.

So what have I decided to do on the last day of fiscal year 2 at $30 a week habit?

I'm just going to post random shit.  Because I can.  Maybe you'll see something you want.

Maybe you'll moan and groan over a poorly used pun.  Maybe you'll wonder why you're reading this drivel.

There might be a card like a black bordered Vladimir Guerrero from 2010 that might be a card that you really want...

Serial Numbered 27/59, but not part of the SNI

It's Friday, July 19th, 2013.   I hope you enjoy it. 

This blog now has 2 years in the books, and I know I'm enjoying today for sure!

Thank you all for reading, Robert

I took your advice, and so far I'm liking the results

Back at the end of August, when the newness of the A&G hobby box that I had ripped for the Gint-A-Cuffs contest had gone away, I decided to ask the blogosphere what to do regarding this card:

This should be the last time you see this picture on the blog.

The majority of the responses revolved around trading or selling the card.  Not to denigrate a lot of the guys that are on the forums, because they are in large part a great bunch, but I had a couple of experiences that were kind of questionable so I shied away from that option.

I kind of kept the card on the back burner for the past few months, then having made my one of my resolutions last week to start back selling on eBay again, this was naturally the first choice as far as auctions go.

The goal was to make as much as I could, but not make the price so high that the card wouldn't receive any offers. Two days later, I had an offer that was sufficient enough, and I finally had some  money to play with on the bay.  I've already turned the one card into 3 key additions toward some of my 70's sets that I'm working on, and I still have some money left to play with. 

I actually sold the Phil Pfister A&G numbered card yesterday on the bay as well, so that's another $15 to play with.  When I'm all done with using the $95 I made on those two cards, I will display to you all what I was able to turn them into. 

Just the opposite of the old saying "out with the old, in with the new", don't you think?

Thanks for reading, Robert