Maximum occupancy reached

 

As you know, the Buffalo Bills are pretty good.

That's my team. Has been since the mid-1980s, when they were really bad. I mean really, really, really bad.

It's fun now. A bit stressful, maybe (especially for the significant other), but mostly fun. It's also fun to see those guys on sports cards, even though I don't really collect football, especially modern football cards.

But, still, over the years I've welcomed Bills and Sabres cards into my home because of my affection for Buffalo and memories of those times covering both of those teams.

However, I'm taking this blog space to say I've had enough. Or, more accurately, my binders have had enough.

I dedicate a single binder each to the Bills and the Sabres. That's all I have room for with baseball dominating the conversation. Each binder contains every card I own (dupes excluded) for each team.

Both of those binders have reached maximum occupancy. There ain't no more room. And I'm not buying another binder. The card room isn't growing, the house isn't growing, my paycheck isn't growing.

So, this is what I'm still collecting as far as football and hockey cards as of Oct. 19, 2022. I'll use a stack of cards I received recently from Sportscards From The Dollar Store to demonstrate.

I will start with the Bills first.

What I am still collecting: All of the above basically. I will still add current Bills to my collection. Allen, Diggs, Singletary, Moss, Knox, McKenzie, Milano, Rousseau, Davis, Poyer, Edmunds, etc. And I will still want Bills from the general "four Super Bowls" era, as those are the guys I covered when I was working in Niagara Falls.

I will also always want any Bills cards from the 1960s and 1970s, or cards of players from the '60s and '70s, that I don't have.

This card, from Douglas, for example, is very cool. I don't mind saying that I know very little about Ron McDole except to know that he was a notable '60s player for the Bills. My '60s NFL knowledge is very slight, consisting of mostly Joe Namath, Jack Kemp, Bart Starr, the Ice Bowl and I think we're done now.

 

What I am no longer collecting: Bills who are not Bills anymore (but are not from the "four Super Bowls" era or '60s and '70s guys). As attractive as some of these cards are, I need to draw the line. I enjoyed collecting LeSean McCoy cards when he was with the Bills, but that's gotta stop. Also, it's possible there's a guy shown here who is still with the team, but if I don't know him, I'm not collecting him anymore.

 

I also have no desire to collect Bills, whether current or not, in their college uniforms. That's never done it for me. College football means so little to me that I look at these cards and it looks like I'm collecting Falcons, Steelers and Browns and why would I do that?

Now let's move on to the Sabres.

What I'm still collecting: I will still enjoy current Sabres cards. I honestly don't follow the team close enough to know whether all these guys are still with the Sabres (I know Hawerchuk isn't, duh). But if it's a Sabre on a current card, I'll squeeze it in somewhere. I will also collect players who skated for the Sabres in the late 1980s/early '90s when I covered a few of their games. Hawerchuk is one of those guys. (Update: Hall is now an evil Bruin).

 

What I am no longer collecting: Sabres who I know are no longer Sabres. I have a soft spot for the goat-head Sabres years (they were good then), but unless it's Dominik Hasek, I probably should put up the stop sign on the rest.

 

Here is something I definitely will continue to collect: 1991-92 Pro Set cards!!!

I can always expect these from Doug and space concerns are not an issue because there's a separate binder for these. I am deciding to build a set that combines the English and French backs just to save myself some angst. One day you will see a full-fledged want list up on my blog, but not yet (I think I have this set updated on TCDB, too). And, no, I don't want to buy a complete set for $16.

Now, for the main reason I need to put up the ropes:

Dodgers, of course!

All of the above are needs. And I must find a binder spot for them no matter what! The Dodgers collection is an all-consuming beast with an insatiable appetite that will gobble up any available space in my card room.

Yeah, even these things, which are about the most un-Dodger-looking cards I have seen in my life.

So, that's an up-to-the-hour update on what I'm collecting. I don't expect anyone to consult this before sending me cards, they'll send what they want, and that's totally cool.

But I also reserve the right to banish those unwanted cards to a box in a closet somewhere -- unless someone wants them, of course.

If the Bills actually finally do win a Super Bowl and the Sabres a Stanley Cup, I could maybe find a budding collector of those two teams who doesn't mind taking on a card of Alex Van Pelt or Brian Holzinger.