The Ten (and five plus five!)

Once in a while a blog bat around topic will inspire me enough to post something that isn't "new acquisition show & tell" which I appreciate as fodder to keep things somewhat interesting here. That happened recently with Dime Box Nick adapting the Twitter 10 Things You All Like That I Don't Like trend to collecting (and in some cases, more).  That turned out to be another great way to get multiple perspectives on collecting from bloggers who did a great job of taking the topic and running with it.

I decided to do something similar to what Chris did over at the Collector and come up with multiple lists.  The ten (check out that movie by the way, it's hilarious!) dislikes were pretty easy to come up with, but then to keep things positive I came up with five likes that I thought might be uncommon, and then five more things I love that I'm hoping are universal.  Please let me know what you think in the comments!

Ten things I dislike but think you like:

1.  Topps (post-2005)

Yeah, I realize this one isn't a big surprise, but my opinion of Topps has really gone downhill since the mid-2000s.  My favorite run from the manufacturer occurred between 1997-2004 or so, and it was filled with some good flagship designs, fun inserts, and brand variety--all a breath of fresh air after the doldrums of the junk wax era.  Nowadays the designs are repetitive, the inserts are stale, and the value isn't remotely there thanks to the ill-advised Toppsopoly.  I don't want Topps to go away, I just want them to get their shit together and make a good product for collectors for the first time in forever.

2.  Grading

Grading was all well and good for a while when people used it to get a good idea of the condition of a vintage card or modern RC.  How's the centering?  Are the edges and corners in good shape?  A card in premium condition was naturally worth more, so this made sense.  Then came the explosion in grading submissions and the practice has become a complete shitshow.  Graders have tons of cards to go through daily and miss obvious flaws by accident or worse, as tons of recent forum threads show.  Now obviously flawed cards sent in by the bigshots get automatic 10s and trimming gets completely ignored thanks to rampant corruption.

3.  The RC logo

Chasing and speculating on rookie cards has long been a big part of the hobby, but in my opinion, the definition of "RC" has gotten worse over the years.  The 80's brought us the infamous "XRC" designation for cards such as those that came in boxed sets, but in general it was understood that a player's first card was their rookie issue.  Now the new rules mean that "XRC" has been replaced by weird labels like "first Bowman card," and the "RC" logo appears on everything else whether it's a 1/1 patch/auto or something you pulled out of a bag of chips.  Some players have "RC" cards in consecutive years, which makes even less sense!  It's also one of the most abused notes when someone's selling something.

4.  Storing cards in pages and binders

Binders are a great way to store cards safely and make them nice to flip through, but I have way too many cards in my collection, making keeping them this way an expensive proposition.  In my earlier collector days I did have my cards in binders, but that proved to be less than ideal when I'd become aware of a new card of a player and had to pull and reorder everything.  Also, they're not great for storing thicker cards, especially better hits.  In the end I'm happy with my various cardboard boxes, especially of the 5,000 count monster variety!

5.  Buying retail

Buying blasters and packs from the Targets and Walmarts of the world has become more of a negative experience in the last decade or so thanks to a combination of pack-searchers and jackasses who buy cards, open them, and replace them with junk, then return them.  But for my part my biggest complaint about retail is that the value is rarely there.  The rise of retail exclusives puts me off and I'd rather just save my money for a hobby box or, better yet, singles.  Fortunately this rarely affects me these days as my box-buying days are pretty much over.

6.  Online and on-demand cards:

I like the idea enough of a manufacturer like Topps being able to print cards on-demand for significant events, I just don't care for their execution of it.  As for services like Bunt, the part of it being free (unless you put money into it for some reason) is nice, but if I can't own a physical card it doesn't interest me.  Then again, the way Topps charges shipping for cards like these, maybe that's a blessing in disguise.

7.  Minis

Some of you rave about minis and that's great.  I just find them to be a pain in the ass, probably mainly because, as with many things, Topps absolutely does them to death.

8.  Allen & Ginter, Gypsy Queen, etc.

I'll keep this short because I've beat this horse to death, but as a reminder, the designs look awful to me (besides the framed cards, which can be fun), and while I get mixing in other sports and celebrities, the latter tend to be stupid at best.  Clearly these aren't for me.  I won't just throw Topps under the bus, though, because Goodwin Champions and others have had their fair share of stinkers as well.

9.  Short prints in base sets

I originally listed this as just "short prints" but then I realized I don't really dislike them specifically, just the degree to which they're overused these days.  There's just no need for a Topps base set to have 50-100 variations or SPs, especially when they're not that interesting anyway.  And if you're going to go that route, at least label them in a way that makes sense and is obvious to collectors instead of making them look at a microscopic code on every single card.  (I have a future post in mind discussing something related to this.)

10.  Selling, especially on eBay

I managed to do a bit of selling in the past, mainly on eBay, but I don't miss the annoying fees, and I'm fortunate to have gotten out before things got really bad for sellers.  Now I'll send the occasional submission in to COMC knowing I'll be using anything I earn to buy more cards on the site, so I don't mind them taking their cut for scanning, listing, storage, and shipping.

Five things I like but think you don't like:

1.  Panini (and other logoless baseball cards)

Listen, I know Panini makes some of the same mistakes as Topps, and I understand why many of you don't like cards missing team logos.  Sometimes both of those things bother me a lot too.  But they have two things going for them as far as I'm concerned:  they provide an alternative to the Topps cards that barely interest me, if at all, and they have the nostalgia factor of being able to revive some of my favorite brands and inserts from the 90's and aughts.  That makes me appreciate them more than the average collector.

2.  College cards

I don't have a general sense of the blogosphere's take on these, but most folks on forums seem to be down on cards that feature college photos instead of having the player pictured with their pro team.  Obviously I'm biased because I have an NCAA team to root for, but I think these are a blast to collect!

3.  Keeping just one copy of a card

Everyone collects differently and that's the way it should be.  In my case, whenever I get a double, I treat it as trade bait because I don't like the clutter involved with dupes.  I know some of you have multiple collections by team, player, or mini-collection, and like to have one copy per, but as long as I have one I consider myself done.

4.  TCDB

The Trading Card Database has its quirks and annoyances, but it's been helpful in changing the way I collect for the better.  For the longest time I'd skip over cards at shows or online because I was limiting myself to items that went into any of my collections that had albums; If they weren't gonna get shown off, I was gonna ignore them.  Now that I can track the number of cards I own of any player I'm not so limited in what I search for.  You might have noticed examples of that in my show recaps lately, such as when I brought home an Ian Kinsler I definitely would have left behind previously.  Opening things up is definitely a huge positive.

5.  Smaller sets

There's nothing wrong with enjoying collecting huge sets.  I even have a few favorites like Topps Total and '97 Fleer.  But the longer I've been collecting, the more I've favored chasing the ones that are smaller.  I think that's because I've long since left the rookie card chase behind and therefore don't feel like I need to see them in every.  Single.  Product.  One of my more recent annoyances is Topps Traded/Update more than doubling in size--go back to "Traded and Rookies,"  please!  Fortunately there's plenty of smaller offerings for me to enjoy thanks to the bevy of products that were released before the dark ages of the Toppsopoly.

Five great things about collecting that almost everyone can probably agree on

1.  Completing a set or player collection

I'm the type of person that sometimes has difficulty finishing projects due to distractions or other factors, so when I can check something off it's a great feeling.  Happily, since I started blogging in 2010 I put a ton of effort into finishing up a bunch of my sets and my wantlist is minimal now.  I've even completed (at least by my standards) a couple player collections.  This part of collecting is so much fun that it even extends to others, which is why I love looking around for bloggers' set wants to see if I can find the last card or two they need.  Keep those lists updated, folks, because you never know who might be looking to help you!

2.  Finding hidden gems in the cheap boxes at shows

Sometimes this is literally the case, like when I found some 90s Topps Chrome football inserts of the same name to send over to Matt.  It's always a thrill to flip through card after card in boxes of dime, quarter, $1, or whatever price items and get surprised with something unexpected.  I've turned up some awesome inserts for myself, some very nice trade bait, and the occasional steal as well, like a $1 Troy Tulowitzki autograph years ago when he started heating up.  This is something I'm looking forward to doing again once it's possible for card shows to resume.

3.  Trade packages

I think I referred to these as #s 1-9 on my top 10 favorite things about blogging.  Since I'm writing about them here, I just took a look and found out that I recently posted my 300th such envelope on this blog alone (with a bunch more on the now-defunct TMM).  That's an eye-popping number of cards that came my way, and I can't use the word "generous" enough in my recap posts because that's what this community is all about.  I also want to mention that, as with occasions that revolve around gifts in general, I enjoy giving even more than getting!  It's simply the best, and if you're on the fence about getting into blogging and trading, go for it!

4.  Discovering something new to collect
I can't remember exactly when it happened, but my jaw dropped when I first saw a '96 Zenith Mozaics insert, and I knew I had to collect the whole set, which I did (finishing it years later).  I'm pretty sure I first saw these at a show because I wouldn't have been busting those packs at the time--Zenith wasn't cheap--and there wasn't as much to see in terms of cards on the Internet at that point.  Fast forward to now and I've come upon a bunch of new fun stuff to search for thanks to shows, blogs, and trades.  I was just commenting on Jeff's blog the other day that he's alerted me to new Michigan alum cards I wasn't aware of on multiple occasions!  I've collected for a long time, but with more than 120 years of cards, there's always something you haven't seen.

5.  Making new collecting friends
Thanks to the Internet this is easier than it used to be, and I'm grateful because I've only had one or two friends (plus my brother) who were interested in collecting when we were younger, and nobody since.  I've met lots of great collectors virtually and even a few in-person.  Jeff and I have hung out a few times including going to Michigan Football games, and John, Paul, and I talk pretty much every day after having gone to Tigers games and card shows together.  I'd love to meet others as opportunities arise, especially a bunch of you that are on the West Coast, and if any of you are ever in Michigan, please make sure to let me know!

I hope you all enjoyed this change of pace, and I look forward to seeing who else picks up this theme.  Again, please feel free to drop me a comment and let me know what you think.

Otherwise it should be back to business as usual as I catch up on some more acquisitions--trades, purchases, etc.--before maybe trying for some more non-card showoff content.