One card remaining

 

As a set-collector I have written many times about needing the final card to complete a set.

 

It's almost an ongoing issue for our collecting type -- I always seem to have three or four sets that are getting close to being finished and I either know what that final card is or I am speculating on what it might be.

 

Longtime readers may remember the One-Card Challenge, which I set up 13 years ago in a bid to help collectors find that one card that they need to finish a set. It was pretty popular for a few months before fading out. No coincidence, that was right around the time collectors were flocking to Twitter.

 

Today, I am one card away from finishing the 2024 Topps Update set. Finishing Update is usually not a big feat in the year in which it's issued, it's a smaller set and a lot of collectors are so done with the design by that time, plus it's known for being crammed with filler and plucked for rookies.

 

But finishing 2024 Update would be notable for me because if I complete both the flagship set and the Update set that is a physical sign that I love that year's set. In the last 25 years (the first five of which I wasn't collecting), I have done this only three other times -- 2006, 2009 and 2015 Topps. I love all of those sets, for different reasons.

 

And I love 2024 Topps, too. The Chronicles Of Fuji recently sent me the penultimate card for finishing the set, it's Adam Frazier up top, wearing a somewhat-suspicious-looking Royals uniform.

 

That means I'm down to needing just one more card. That card is #US228 Jose Trevino, the Yankees catcher. I could easily grab this card on sportlots or ebay if I wished. But I think it'd be nicer if I could trade for it, or if someone wants to find it in their stack of dupes and send it.

 

 

I could even send you this yellow parallel of the Trevino card for your trouble. Yes, I have the parallel but not the regular card. No, I cannot use this as a substitute. What would the neighbors say?

 

So that's the latest "final card I need" story. And, yes, I do have a blog series in which I document past sets and the final card need for each of those. It's a BIG DEAL for set-collectors.

 

 

Fuji also sent me these two 2019 Topps Clear Travel Dodger cards. He opened a bunch of these packs last year (it took me awhile to find the post). These cards were part of a promotion by Clear Travel, a membership program for air travelers that allows them to get through security faster. It blows my mind when obscure companies get their own cards.

 

The cards look identical to 2019 Topps except for the card number on the back. Kind of kills the thrill of an oddball set, but not enough to not want them!

 

So that's where I am. Maybe when I get ahold of the Trevino card I'll run through an update on where I'm at with other set-collecting pursuits.