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Bad team collector

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If you've been following my Twitter account (and, if not, why aren't you?), you know I've been a bit immersed in vintage lately. 

There's a big reason for that. I believe it'll all come into focus here in the next few weeks, but in this collecting state, I haven't thought a lot about current Dodgers needs ... or current cards at all really. It seems weird -- and unnecessary -- to even be dealing with them.
 
I admit, I've been a bad team collector of late. There aren't even that many people on the blogs to shake some sense into me. Once upon a time there were five Mets bloggers alone. There were three or four Indians collectors. There was actually a Rays collector! Two of them! Team collecting was the rage and that enthusiasm rubbed off on everyone.
 
Not so much anymore.
 
I've started to fall off on my team pursuits. I'm getting clueless, totally unaware of release dates or even what products exist. Recently, a couple of bloggers -- much better followers of their team's modern cards than I am -- sent me cards that were heavy on 2022 Dodgers, which I really appreciate. But I admit, I had no idea about some of them.
 
Let's see what Johnny's Trading Spot and Cards On Cards sent me and whether I can decipher them or not. ... Come on, it'll be fun! Like watching a dog trying to figure out whether lettuce is edible.


It's some 2022 Donruss. These are from Kerry. To my surprise I had actually typed in a 2022 Donruss team want list. I think only getting into a Nachos Grande team break led me to do that. I'm getting close to finishing the team base set, through very little purchasing of my own.
 


Hey, look, it's my first Series 2 cards! I haven't bothered to create a team set needs list for Series 2. The only effort I made was to look at the checklist, get annoyed, mention my annoyance in a post and then completely forget about it.

But I just bought a blaster of Series 2 with a birthday gift card -- I need to regenerate trade bait after my big 5,000-post giveaway -- so you can bet I'll get to that want list eventually.
 


Series 2 insert action. Not an inkling of what's in those. But this is my first Freddie Freeman-In-Dodger-Gear Licensed Card. My first Freddie Freeman-In-Dodger-Gear Unlicensed Card is at the top of the post.
 


Did you know 2022 Panini Absolute is out? I didn't. I'm pretty sure I could have gone several months before I knew that.

These are most-welcome. Johnny noted with post-its on the back of each that these are the "retail" versions. Again, I probably wouldn't have known there were separate retail and hobby cards until 2025.
 


Johnny is my No. 1 supplier of Luis Rodriguez cards.



These are from the previous couple of years, all from Johnny. He's also my number 1 supplier of Trevor Bauer Dodgers cards. I'm guessing he's enjoying it, too.



Kerry sent me latest version of this parallel from last year's Mosaic set. That's your All-Star Game starter right there. I am not listening to the whiners, it's such a dumb thing to whine over.



Both Johnny and Kerry sent me this 2022 Donruss Will Smith card. He's not in the All-Star Game. I welcome whining about that.



These two needs go back a ways compared with everything else I've shown. They're the vintage of this post! I'm guessing Johnny dug these out of some discount bin. Great finds there.



Both guys sent me some football (OK, all but one of these are from John). This is my least favorite time to talk about football so I've done my duty here and let's move on.

Team collecting hasn't been high on my list the last few months. In fact, I just had to remind myself -- again -- to grab the last few Heritage short-print Dodgers before it gets to be fall and I have to report my delinquency to the team collecting police.

I'll rebound, but I have a feeling my enthusiasm for team collecting is on a continuous downward arc as modern cards and players become less and less interesting to me.

Credit to those who are still at it. I honestly don't know how you keep up.

Comments

It is hard keeping up with everything. Like a new 21' release is out along with 22' Select, Topps Pristine, and a few other sets. Many more coming in a few weeks. The difference between Absolute retail and Hobby is that Hobby are foil (just so you know). And ABSOLUTELY (pun intended) I do love sending you the Bauer Dodger cards, he is one of the few that I don't collect, lol.
Nachos Grande said…
I'm with you, I've all but given up on modern cards (not counting Allen & Ginter, of course).
Fuji said…
Most of the A's and Padres cards I receive are in care packages. I'll occasionally chase a Gwynn or Rickey card, but the days of seeking out every card I can of those teams are in the past. It's just too hard to keep up. But I recently started building an A's team set (inspired by a fellow blogger)... which has been pretty fun.
Angus said…
I've spent years being a collector of a bad team.
Billy Kingsley said…
So I guess you could say Will Smith not being an All Star is a slap in the face?
OhioTim said…
I am still an Indians/Guardians collector, but I struggle with all the new fancy sets. I have over 200 complete team sets going back to 1976. Lately, I try to get the base set for each brand of cards that comes out.
Jafronius said…
I also got a Freeman HR Challenge card. I registered it on the Topps site and chose my (or our if Night Owl is reading this) birthday. Holy crap he hit one!
Nick said…
John sent me a few of those Panini Absolute cards as well - I had absolutely no idea that set was even out, and probably never would have otherwise.
Nick Vossbrink said…
I went on vacation after the All Star game and turned into a "bad team" collector…