Ramblings of an old collector

 Random thoughts about baseball, baseball cards and maybe a little bit of life. 

* I was able to attend the March Dallas Card Show on Saturday. Boy, was it crowded. If people say that card collecting is going away, they haven't been to the Dallas Card Show. There are about 700 tables there and the aisles were packed, to the point, it was hard to move around. Plus, there were lots of deals taking place. 

* I subscribe to two or three different newsletters, YouTube channels, etc...pretty much whatever I run across that interests me about card collecting. One of the people that I follow is David Gonos of Happy Hobby Sports Cards. He had a drawing for reaching 500 subscribers to his newsletter and I won!

Obviously off-centered but still I nice looking 63 year old card. That makes 3 graded cards in the collection. Now, I have to decide what to do with the card. Do I keep it, crack it, or flip it to get a different card? Decisions, decisions.

* I completed my 1990 Topps set through TCDB trades. My goal last year was to complete sets and guess what? It didn't happen. This year my goal was...I don't think I made a goal...anyways, got another one done.

     

     

     

            

I like this set. It looks really good in the binder with all of the colors. Some of the pictures are grainy, but overall, I think its a decent set.    

* Trying to rework the card room again. When you have limited space, its difficult to find a set up that is functional and not crazy cluttered. I'm not a fan of cluttered. 

* Have you ever had a card or some cards that you know you've got, but can't find? That's where I am right now. Wears me out. I think this summer, I'm going to have to take time to do nothing but look for those missing cards. 

* Opening Day is upon us. Ready to see what my Rangers are going to do this year. 

* I saw somewhere that a question was asked that I thought was interesting. Have the Dodgers replaced the Yankees as the evil empire? My answer to that is not yet. Maybe it's because the Dodgers have too many likeable players like Ohtani, Freeman and Betts. I know that the Yankees of old like Mantle and Berra, though part of the evil empire, aren't really thought of as evil. However, the Yankees did become the hated Yankees. Maybe, it's just the team and not the players? I don't know.

* Finally got my first round of 2025 Topps! I like the design, but not as much as some others. I do get frustrated with those names that are in black and are extremely difficult to read.

Seth Brown's card is a great example. I have to hold that card in 50 different positions before I can actually read it. Frustrating to say the least.

* Speaking of 2025 Topps...each year, I pick a subset that I like and collect it. This year the subset is the Call to the Hall insert set. I'm not sure what drew me to it, but I really like it. Needless to say that I've got a long way to go, but that's the one for this year.

* I've been teaching high school for the last 25 years. Coaching baseball for the last 5 years and now in the middle of my first year as the head coach. I say all of that to say that this isn't my first rodeo. I've been working with kids my whole life. This current generation is so self-absorbed and self-centered. The hardest thing that I've had to do is try and teach these kids about the importance of teamwork and selflessness. Putting the team before self. What a battle. A battle, I fear, I am losing.

* I got to watch my 4 year old grandson play his first T-Ball game last night. For a 4 year old, the boy was locked in. As you would expect, there were a lot of little ones just playing in the dirt or chasing butterflies. Not my grandson, he was ready to play ball. It was fun to watch the smile on his face and see the joy of just playing baseball. 

* I was able to attend another, much smaller, card show that was actually on my side of town and only 10 minutes from the house. There were probably 75 tables or so, but only about a half dozen or so with sports cards. The rest were Pokemon or gaming cards. I did pick up 5 cards for my '75 set and a nice '72 Bob Gibson. 

I guess that's a wrap for this ramble! Hope everyone has a great Opening Day! Go Rangers! 

Peace, 

Michael

Isaiah 40:31

5 Questions for Collectors

 I've been writing this blog now for a little over 2 years. When I started I wasn't sure how long it would last. I had hoped to develop some dialogue with other collectors and I have. During the 2 years I have "met" some amazing people who collect cards. People that I've never met face to face, but definitely are my friends. I hope the feeling is mutual. 

One of the things that I noticed once I started writing was how much I enjoyed people commenting on my blogs. Made me realize that I need to do that too. I know there are several of you out there that do the same thing and I want you to know that it's greatly appreciated. The thing is, the ones who comment are the ones that the friendships come from too. I'm always looking for people to talk cards with. The more the merrier. 

To maybe open some dialogue with more collectors, I thought I'd ask some questions and see if people would respond. For some of you, some of the answers I may already know, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't respond. I may have forgotten, I am getting old!!

Question 1:

How would you describe your collection? 

For me, Topps Baseball sets 1972 to present. Texas Rangers. Playing days Topps cards of my favorite players, one or two insert sets from the more recent years, dabbling in Topps Heritage and Stadium Club. Oh yeah, one more...my favorite players that I don't collect.

Question 2:

Graded or ungraded. That is the question! 

I am not a fan of graded cards. It just doesn't make sense to me. Especially, being on a tight budget, I can't see spending the money to grade a card. I do have a couple of graded cards, but those were gifted to me. I haven't bought one and I really don't see me doing that any time soon or ever.

Question 3: 

 Do you have a grail card(s) that you want? If so, what?

Just so that we're all on the same page, a grail card is that one(or two) card(s) that you really want to have for your collection. Now to be realistic, I'm not talking about the Wagner or '52 Mantle...any card that any collector would relish having in their collection. I'm talking about that card that you really want that you don't have.  

For me, right now, its a '57 Roberto Clemente and 2011 Topps Update Mike Trout. Had a shot at the Clemente several years ago at a card show. Did the unthinkable and said I'd come back and when I did it was gone. 

The Mike Trout is from that time in my collecting career when I was just randomly scavenging  for cards and never got it.

Those are the two cards that I always have my eye out for.

Question 4:

What is your main source(s) for adding cards to your collection?

I guess it really depends on what I'm looking for. I guess number one would be buysportscards.com. It's pretty good for picking up low-end singles to complete sets or add to my player collections. 2nd on the list would be a tie between Ebay and Walmart. Ebay for the cards I don't find on buysportscards.com and Walmart for the new stuff. 

Another source for cards for my collection is card shows. There has been an explosion of card shows in the DFW area. Every other month is the Dallas Show that has over 700 tables. If you haven't been, it's a sight to see. Outside of that, there has been at least 1 or 2 shows every month in the area. 

My last source of cards is TCDB trades. Trades have slowed the last few months. Probably because I haven't had the time to invest in them. 

Question 5:

 

If you had the chance to revisit a time in your life before you started collecting cards, which year would you choose and why?

For me, it would be 1972, the year the Rangers started in Texas. I only have a handful of 1972 cards. With the high numbers and the large amount of cards to get, it keeps getting pushed down the list.

Well, there's the 5 questions and my 5 answers. I hope everyone will respond.

Peace, 

Michael

Isaiah 40:31