Time will tell

 

I just finished two card projects that I conduct at least annually, only this time I did both at the same time, which I don't recommend.

 

I updated my Dodgers binders, which I do twice a year. I try to coordinate them with card show visits, but you know how card shows went this year.

 

I also finished adding all the new Dodgers duplicates to my giant box (and many smaller boxes) of Dodgers dupes, a grueling process that is worth it because it usually unearths a card or two that is actually not a duplicate (I found two this time).

It feels good to complete both of those hobby tasks, and at the end of the year as well. We're getting to the final few days now, which is a good time to see how many 2020 Dodgers I accumulated this year.

I was particularly interested in finding this out because, as you know, it was quite difficult to track down cards this year. Surely that had an impact on how many 2020 Dodgers I landed.

I counted them all up and I came to a total of 332.

And, yes, that is a small total in comparison to previous years. But there are a lot of variables that go into that number.

1. Yup, card aisles were empty, almost every time I checked one, from May to December.

2. Because card aisles were empty everywhere, many of my usual card blogging trading friends didn't have a lot of 2020 Dodgers to offer. (But several still did and I'm grateful).

3. I've been pulling away from current cards for 7 or 8 years now and every year the enthusiasm for "new" diminishes.

4. Just because it's the end of the year doesn't mean I can't continue to add 2020 Dodgers cards, and I will in the years to come. I'm going to show the previous yearly totals for Dodger cards since I've run the blog and in each case, I added lots of that year's cards after that year was over.

Here is the rundown:

2020 - 332 (so far)

2019 - 463

2018 - 626

2017 - 504

2016 - 479

2015 - 508

2014 - 566

2013 - 618

2012 - 440

2011 - 539

2010 - 469

2009 - 617

2008 - 737

All right, in general there is a slow decrease in the amount of Dodgers each year, but it's not particularly obvious. The totals are the highest the first two years of the blog because that's when I was the most enthusiastic about current cards (it also helps that 2008 had mammoth sets like Documentary and Moments & Milestones, plus a separate 50-plus card Dodgers team set).

The other years in which I've exceeded 600 Dodgers I can attribute to flagship parallel madness (2013) and the anniversary team sets at Dodger Stadium (2018), kindly sent to me by bbcardz.

I'm not concerned about the 2020 total for several reasons. I'll be gathering a lot of 2020 cards in 2021, no doubt. The sets that I'm particularly lacking from the past year are Chrome, the Topps holiday set, anything from Bowman, Topps Gallery and the Topps Heritage High Numbers set, which hasn't even been released yet.

 

In six months or more, that 2020 total will likely be comparable to some of the previous years, such as those years in the 400s. Time will tell.

 

So, although the total is obviously lower and there are some notable holes in the Dodger collection this year, there's nothing much to worry about. I certainly don't need to try another avenue to find the Dodgers I need.

 

I'm still receiving cards that I want through the blog and still making trades, and although people like to consider 2020 the worst year ever, I'm happier than ever with my collection and what I am obtaining.

 

Carry on.