Thank you everybody for a great 2014 and happy new year!

Before 2014 ends I wanted to say a quick thanks to everybody who made 2014 another great year of collecting for me.  That includes everyone that read and commented on my blogs, traded with me and/or sent me cards for no reason.

I showed off 37 trade packages over here and another 21 on Too Many Manninghams; even with some of those overlapping I'm once again thrilled by the number of cards I received from you guys this year.

Fuji kicked things off with my first TMV trade of 2014 while Doug was responsible for 2014 trade #1 over on TMM.  I was happy to end the year with my first trade with Scott at Sports Cards Ate My Brain and--what else--another awesome Sports Cards From the Dollar Store package!

In between I made other first deals with Tom from the Angels in Order, Matt at Bob Walk the Plank, vintage guru Mark Hoyle, Gavin of Baseball Card Breakdown, Tony of Off Hiatus Baseball Cards, Reader Eric Eckstein, Keith of the Home Run Apple, and Chris from the Raz Card Blog.

Additionally, two traders really stood head and shoulders above everyone else (though of course I appreciate everyone who sends me cards!), and those two are Doug C. of Sports Cards From the Dollar Store and Matt of Bob Walk the Plank.  I continue to work with each of them on "standing" deals that involve multiple envelopes flying back and forth every month.  All told, I showed off five packages from Doug on Too Many Verlanders and another ten on TMM.  Matt's respective counts are seven for TMV and two on TMM.  Both guys are easy to work with and willing to put in the effort to find stuff of your favorite team(s), even if that involves looking for college players!

Money-wise, I'm proud to say I stuck to my budget, which I may go into in another post soon.  Despite being reasonably judicious about my spending I was able to have a very good year which of course included picking up this beauty:

Not only that, but I also made mincemeat out of my baseball and football set wantlists, completing a bunch of sets on both and ending the year needing just three cards from one set.

Finally, I was able to get a lot more organized and give away cards not once but twice, including my Spring Cleaning promotion and Christmas Cards.

I hope 2014 was as enjoyable for the rest of you, and that everyone has a great 2015!