Update means the end

It's a little difficult to pinpoint when the baseball card collecting year ends these days. As a kid, I remember baseball cards disappearing off shelves in September. So that signaled the end of the collecting year for me.

But today baseball cards are available in stores year round, and companies are even issuing sets during the offseason. If you're like me, and need a little time to file away that year's cards, it gets frustrating. I need an end point to the collecting year, so I can file my cards away and get ready for 2012.

Since card companies aren't helping me out, I decided to create my own end point. The end of the collecting season for me is when Topps Update hits stores. That doesn't mean I stop buying packs. All it means is I can now start filing away my cards.

During the collecting season, each of my card sets are stacked on a desk in the "card room." Topps base has a couple of stacks, Heritage has a stack, A&G has a stack, etc. It's nice to have them out, so I can add to them easily as I buy cards throughout the year.

But at this time of year I need to clear things out. I start with the sets of which I have few cards. Attax, Opening Day, Chrome, Gypsy Queen, Bowman. All of those cards have been filed and stored. Next will be the more involved sets -- Topps base, Heritage, etc. I'll probably keep A&G out a little longer as I still need to complete it and there is no binder for it yet (I'm too cheap to buy that exclusive A&G binder Topps is offering).

As for Topps Update, I'll probably file that away next, because I have little need to buy any of it anymore.

After getting my cards from Sports Syzygy, all that I have left for Dodgers are a couple of inserts and some parallels.

Here is my haul:

I'll start with the remaining base cards that I needed. I really screwed up my want list on this set, so I'm glad Offy helped me out here. The Rubby de la Rosa card is an excellent night card (as are the Ethier and Guerra cards).

More duos, sensible and otherwise. Koufax and Braun are featured together because of their religious heritage, or maybe -- I'm being cynical, I know -- just to get Koufax on another card. Meanwhile, I'm waiting for the Hindu Diamond Duo card.

Speaking of Topps' overuse of its Hall of Famer stable, I saw these two cards and immediately thought they were dupes.

But it turns out these are two other Topps 60 cards of Koufax and Snider. I'm assuming there are other players who have more than one Topps 60 card. Just like there are players in the Kimball minis set that have multiple cards. For me, that absolutely kills an insert set and is an immediate sign not to collect it.

Some key gold parallels right there. I don't know about Goldy Guerrier, but Goldy Kemp, Goldy Sands and Goldy Kershaw should be a part of the Dodgers Dynasty for a long time.

BOOZE cards!! Forget your half hour sitcoms. I could tilt these liquorfractors under a light for just as long and get more entertainment value out of it. Maybe even a little bit of a buzz.

The tough part of this set is Topps decided to issue liquorfractors for Series 1 and 2 in the Update set. This is a Series 2 card.

And this is a Series 1 card. Note that the catcher is dressed in camouflage.

I've now got the liquorfractors for both Dee Gordon and Casey Blake. Once again, my incentive to buy any more Topps Update is at an all-time low.

There's Dee now! This is my third or fourth version of this card -- which we all know is going to be the card of the year. I must find the Walmart black version of this card.

Sparkly MVP! Not a great performance in the HR Derby by Kemp, but if you're going to tank one aspect of the season, the HR Derby is definitely the right choice.

I should have saved this for Awesome Night Card status, but I couldn't contain myself. It's so rare that I land a black parallel card. Rubby has such crazy stuff, I hope this card becomes even more coveted than it is now.

Final ... um ... card.

These leather nameplates remind me of working in a department store at Christmas time. I worked in the men's department and at Christmas, we would stock the aisles with all of these random "men's gifts." Wood ducks that held men's toiletries, boxes of handkerchiefs, back-scratchers, that kind of junk.

These nameplates would fit right in with those things.

I still don't understand them, but I ended up with both the Kershaw and Kemp nameplates and I'm kind of happy about that. The Kershaw came way back at the start of the year, and now the Kemp here at the end.

They're nice bookends to the collecting season.

Which has come to an end. According to me. I'll be filing the Topps Update cards and storing them as soon as I get a free moment.