Skip to main content

Stealth set collecting and someday sets


Some card blogs, for whatever reason, do not show up on my Blogger reading list. To find them, I must go to the blog roll on my sidebar.

This causes me to miss some posts from blogs that show up solely on my sidebar, only because I've been in the habit of checking my Blogger reading list since 2008. So apologies to Cardpocalypse,  Diamond Jesters, CrazieJoe's Card Corner, Collecting Cutch, Wrigley Roster Jenga, A Cracked Bat and a few others. I do get to ya, but often it's only after I discover I haven't seen ya lately. (I think it comes down to whether you have the Followers option on your sidebar, but that doesn't explain why wordpress blogs show up in my Blogger reader).

Anyway, one of those blogs that appears only on my blog roll is Highly Subjective and Completely Arbitrary. This becomes an issue during Brian's weekly Friday contests.

Not only does HSACA not show up on my reader, but it does this weird thing where it won't be listed with an updated post on my blog roll and then suddenly it's there, about three blogs down, mentioning that a new HSACA was posted an hour ago.

AN HOUR AGO????

I've got to get to that contest!

And then I go there and two-thirds of the prizes are gone.

Fortunately, a few contests ago, I wanted something that nobody else wanted. And when I showed up late, it was still there waiting for me.

The item that jumped out at me was six cards from 2005 Topps, plus an '05 Opening Day card.


2005 Topps is one of those sets I am collecting secretly.

What do I mean by that?

Well, I don't really want anybody to know I'm collecting it.

Yeah, I know I just told everybody I'm collecting it. Sometimes you have to make sacrifices for blog posts. But, really, go back to what you were doing. There's nobody talking about collecting 2005 Topps here.

The reason I want to collect this secretly is it's not a set or collecting goal high on my priority list. Surely you know what I'm talking about. I see your want lists with "high priority," "medium priority" and "low priority." I do the same thing with sets.

I want to collect 2005 Topps, but I'm busy with other more desirables right now and if you send me a bunch of 2005 Topps, I am not going to be too enthused, because I won't have time to collect what I want to collect RIGHT NOW.

You dig?

There are a lot of sets I'm collecting on the down low.

1987 Fleer. Do you see a want list for that? No you don't.

2004 Topps. No want list for that either.

2003 Topps. Same.

1989 Donruss. Yes, really. DON'T SEND ME THEM. Or if you do, keep it to under a 100, please.

1982 and 1983 Donruss. These are "someday sets." I will definitely be collecting them. And, actually, I won't care if you send me cards from those sets right now.

1969 Topps. Someday, in the distant future. Again, not complaining if I get some.

There are others. Lots and lots of others. But the names will be withheld to protect the innocent -- me -- from a bombardment.

So, let's return to 2005 Topps. Why is this a set I'm collecting stealthily?


One reason, really.

It's weird.

In a good way.

The design seems to come out of nowhere with its weirdness. Let's review:

A giant last name identifying the player. The player's name REPEATED, this time first and last, and written sideways. The team name written sideways but traveling the other way. The team name REPEATED, yet in wordmark form. Holy redundancy.

The border around the photo covers a significant amount of territory. And the player images continue the trend from 2004 in which some are exceedingly small.

Finally, 2005 Topps does what I wish every set that was ever made had done: print the year of the set on the front.

That's why it's a stealth collecting goal for me.


There is no want list for this set. Honestly, I have so little idea of what I need and what I don't that some of these cards from Brian could actually be dupes.

I don't know when you'll see a want list for '05 Topps. It could be five years from now. It could be 15. It could be never.


I was casually following baseball in 2005, as I slowly pulled out of my baseball malaise from the late 1990s (currently in another one of those, by the way).

But that year I was on the edge of following more enthusiastically. I was collecting again, finishing off my 1975 and 1974 Topps sets, and I had discovered the Topps All-Time Fan Favorites cards in Kmart. The very next year -- 2006 -- I would return to collecting modern cards.

So, yeah, that's the reason why I jump on '05 cards periodically when the mood strikes.

But really there are lots and lots and lots of other card interests I place in front of 2005 Topps.


And don't ask about 2005 Opening Day.

Because I think I like that even more than 2005 Topps.

Comments

Alex Markle said…
2005 is one of my favorite sets as it coincides with when I really started getting into collecting. I suppose it's one of those nostalgia sets for me.

My blogger reading list has been weird lately as well. None of the newer blogs I've followed show up, so, like you, I have to go to the blog roll on my sidebar. Strange.
The Opening Day even repeats the year on front.
Billy Kingsley said…
I don't understand the concept of not working on every set at the same time. 90% of my collection, I would wager, I got by being in the right place at the right time. I would have missed out on so many great cards if I only made time for one or even a handful of sets.
Fuji said…
If you ever want to email me your 1982 Donruss or 1987 Fleer wantlists on the down low... I might be able to help you out.
night owl said…
@Billy ~

It's simple really: I prioritize sets because we all have a limited time on this earth. I want to make sure the ones I like best are completed first.
bbcardz said…
Love the blogger.com blogroll format. I wish I could make my Wordpress blogroll work like that.

btw, what's up with "J.B.Trading Sportscard Blog" on your blogroll? I clicked on it once and it seemed to be some kind of movie spamming site--definitely not a card hobby site. I hope somebody didn't somehow hack your blogroll.
night owl said…
No, it's likely some former card blog who let the blog domain name expire and some spammer took over the blog. It happens from time to time. It's not the easiest thing to remove blogs from the blog roll but I found it and removed it.
Commishbob said…
1) I'm not sure of the difference between Blogger Reading List and the blogroll over in the right-hand sidebar. But I do know that Blogger does some very weird things. I've never been able to get consistent notifications of comments being posted (not that I get many). I ALWAYS get an email notification when I post a comment ON MY OWN BLOG. Like I need to be notified of that.

2) I'd wager that I don't own a single 2005 Topps card. I don't even think I would recognise the design in a test.
Michael Ott said…
The blue foil on Opening Day makes reading a bit easier in my opinion. Topps came out with a few interesting designs during my collecting hiatus. The big team name in 2005 evokes memories of 86, 75 and 64, all of which I'm quietly chasing ;)
Matt said…
My reading list seems to have just Blogger blogs that I have followed. I have one of those by the way - maybe I'll show up on both of your lists if you press that little blue button! ;)

What I find weird is that not all of the blogs on my reading list show up on my blog roll as well as vice versa. I'm not quite sure what's going on there.

Any other Blogger users go to the new format yet? Does your reading list make you click on a "you're leaving this site" link before taking you to the blog, or is that just me?
night owl said…
Yup, I hadn't hit that button for you. Done!

Yes, I receive the "you're leaving this site" link on the new Blogger format. One of several annoying things about the update.
Nick said…
Aside from '03, 2005 Topps might be my favorite Flagship set of the aughts. It's well done looks almost nothing like any other Topps set ever made. Plus I bought A LOT of packs of it as a teenage collector, so it's got the nostalgia thing going for it, too.
Nick Vossbrink said…
I like 2005 as well except that I hate the DRAFT PICK and PROSPECT cards which replace the player name and screw my brain up. Oh and right there with you on "casual" set building. They eventually hit a point (quantity or encountering a deal) where they become active but until then I'm content to let them roll along (1989 Donruss is one I'm currently doing that with)
Scott Crawford said…
I'm pretty sure I've got '03-'05 Topps for you, if you change your mind on this, and come up with a bunch of Superstars MusiCards for me. If nothing else, it'd make it a lot easier than either of us trying to figure out the rest of each others' want lists. I've got some stuff ahead of all this, and of course, sing it with me, there's kind of a pandemic happening right now, but let me know, because I think I can make something work, if you want to admit to yourself that you're collecting any of it.
night owl said…
I'll go through your Superstars MusiCards wants or at least send you a list of what I have. Then you can reply at your leisure.