I'm working on it

About a month ago I wrote about "my greatest collecting fear," which was thinking that I had an easy-to-complete set completed, only to realize months or even years later that I didn't.

I resolved in that post to stop worrying about such nonsense, that there was no time limit on completing any set, and to simply enjoy the process.

Then the card you see here that came from Cards On Cards showed up ... and I almost flipped out on the spot.

"Chris Perez? CHRIS PEREZ? CHRIS &%%#@!* PEREZ????? That piece-of-dog-poo reliever the Dodgers forced onto their roster????? ... I DON'T HAVE THIS BASE CARD!!!!!!!"

Yeah, removing yourself from "the fear" is a process.

The Chris Perez card is from last year's Topps Update set. I thought I had all the Dodgers from that set last winter, because the want list told me so. But I am sure that somewhere in compiling that want list, I skipped right over Chris Perez because -- snort! -- the Dodgers don't pick up players like that.

Of course, the Dodgers do sign players like Chris Perez. Exhibit A: Mat Latos. And I do need the base version of this card.

So, it is now on the revamped Nebulous 9 on the sidebar, along with a few other cards "the fear" says I should have owned already. The Nebulous 9 is very handy. I can compartmentalize my fear and be on my merry way.

And speaking of that, let's see some other cards Kerry sent:

2014 Allen and Ginter. I have absolutely no delusions over whether this set should have been completed already. Maybe in some other collector's house it would have been: both this and 2015 A&G. And all the inserts. And all those minis. And the minis you find in rip cards. And all the relics. Complete.

And I'm the weird one.

More set-collecting help. These are just some of the Series 2 needs that I received in this package. Yeah, I'm still working on Series 2. But, again, there's no time limit. Especially since I don't see myself collecting 2016 Topps. Plenty o' time.

Doing a little better on the 2015 Update Dodger needs. These six cards (yes, we need two cards of a .210 hitter in Topps Update) take me down to needing two cards for all the Dodgers. Yes, I said that very confidently considering I just had a breakdown over my 2014 Update want list inefficiencies.

But here's what the want list says I still need:

US97 - Josh Ravin
US287 - Jim Johnson


Or you can wait another year and find out what I really need.

One easy way around the completion angst is to simply grab the entire set in one shot. Clean, efficient, boring. But I can appreciate it right about now. Kerry sent me the entire 1996 Collectors' Choice Dodgers' "Team Set".

I barely knew these existed, so I don't know if these look like the regular cards in the set (something tells me they do). You can tell this was purchased from someone with dollar signs in his eyes once upon a time. Nomo! Park! Piazza! It's 1996! We're all still going to be rich! Right?

Another complete team set. This is all 28 cards from the Mother's Cookies team set in 1992. The year 1992 is not a season that any Dodger fan wants to remember. One of the worst ever in L.A. history. But you look at these cards with the rounded corners and Dodger Stadium in the background and all of that goes away.

See? Look how thin and happy Mike Scioscia looks with rounded corners.

This is the unlicensed portion of the post. I do love my Zack Wheat cards.

Shawn Green's 4-homer game needs to be acknowledged on cardboard more often. Good job, Topps.

A couple more needs and we're almost done here.

Ugh.

Fitting that it's shaped like a coin.

I'm working on that bit of ugliness, too. I'm working on a lot of things.