Three-peat

Yesterday, I completed the 2010 Allen & Ginter set. Reader Scott contacted me and sent me the last four cards I needed.

That included the Ervin Santana card, and these three others:

Not a terribly exciting quartet there, but the set is official and that is what matters most.

It's the third straight year I've completed the A&G set. Each year I complete it right around this time. A year ago it was in December. Two years ago I completed it exactly two days before I did this year.

As usual, bloggers and other readers are the only way I can finish off this thing. I don't have the money to buy multiple boxes or even multiple blasters. And the only reason I was able to complete it more quickly than last year is because of the mutant blaster.

So, I owe a big thanks to you all for helping me wrap up the only modern set I plan to complete each year.

But I think you can sense the excitement missing in my write-up.

It's not that I'm not pleased. I am.

I'm just not as enthused as before.

Part of it is newness has worn off. Part of it is that I wasn't crazy about the look of A&G this year -- probably my least favorite of them all. Part of it is the realization that there are too many rookies in the set.

And I know that means some of you are waiting for me to say it, that I'm bored with A&G and it's time to retire the set.

But I'm not gonna.

Maybe I am bored with A&G. I haven't figured that part out yet. I don't know if I'm going to collect it next year, which is a huge change in viewpoint from the last three years. The summer has a way of changing things. There is Gint-a-Cuffs in the air, and I actually have some cash then, so who knows.

But I definitely don't think A&G should be retired.

The set is wildly popular. Still. Obviously people have an interest in it. I totally see why they do, year-after-year, too. To suggest that Topps step back from that and turn away all the collectors who love it, is fantasy. It makes no sense.

Tweaking it, I can see.

For example, I can do without the sketch cards.

This thing, which I also received from Scott -- and let me stress that I asked for this card -- is frightening. I don't know who that is, but it's not Andre Ethier. It looks like Andre-the-Giant's illegitimate child.

Maybe breathing some life into some of the inserts would help. The minis I still love.

There's another one from Scott.

The non-baseball subjects mixed with the baseball subjects I still love, too. I just think there needs to be something a little more interesting to get me to go back for year four. I can't deal with another year of pale green backgrounds. I feel like I'm staring at a hospital wall.

Next year will be interesting for me collecting-wise. I have no commitment to any set, and that's the first time I can say that in five years.

It will take something special to get me to collect a set with a 2011 copyright date.