More eclectic than most

  

What would you say collectors who aren't bloggers think of us collecting bloggers, if they think about us at all?

 

Would they think we're wildly dedicated to the hobby? Probably not. But we are.

 

Would they think we're wasting our time, writing a bunch of words nobody has time to read anymore? Maybe.

 

Would they think we're stodgy, focused only on old cardboard (defined as anything before the '90s) and traditional ways of collecting -- buying packs, holding on to base cards. Some would, I think.

 

But I happen to think that card bloggers have the most varied and interesting collections. Sure, there's a bit of pack rat in all of us collecting bloggers, but those hoarded stacks of cards are so damn fascinating. In this world of specialization -- just take a look at what the grading aspect of the hobby focuses on -- I'm glad my collection is eclectic. It's not as eclectic as some but it's more eclectic than most.

 

All I need to do is look through some recent pick-ups and arrivals from fellow collectors (who happen to be bloggers, imagine that?)

 

Here are the first Time Travel Trade additions of the year for me from Diamond Jesters. These are pretty basic on the eclectic scale but they aren't your average mid-1980s flagship cards. They are some of those great '80s glossy send-ins, both from 1986. Love them.

 

And just to add a little variety, I claimed a 1985 Topps football card because it's running back Curt Warner, who used to be a big deal. This also reminds me that I once didn't have a problem with the Seahawks.

 

I think I'm one of the very few who claims football cards in the Time Travel Trading. I wish there were others -- football has some great cards. But then I'd have competition, too.

 

 

Not long after receiving a Christmas time package from The Best Bubble, I received back-to-back envelopes from Bob. They were filled with variety. Look at these three, there is an in-person or TTM autographed card, an unlicensed card, and one of those great hard-to-find 1983 reprints of the 1952 Topps set.

 

He also sent a bunch of 1981 Tucson Toros in orange-and-red (inspired by my Bob Cluck post). I know lots of collectors who don't care about minor league cards in the least. This eclectic collector loves them -- especially if they're from the 1970s/early '80s.

 

 

Another minor league card from closer to the present. I'm still hanging on to the Heritage Minor League cards of Dodgers who reached the majors.

 

 

Bob also sent a scattering of lovely lady cards, I'm using Alecia Guzman to represent them all. She had a lot of TV appearances after these Portfolio cards were released.

 

 

Back to baseball but not the standard kind -- because eclectic! This is another send from Zippy Zappy, direct from Japan. This is the second consecutive year he's sent me a Roki Sasaki card from his Chiba Lotte Marines days. This one's a Calbee card. The other one was BBM.

 

 

Being a card blogger means you're going to either make custom cards, wish you could make custom cards or simply gladly accept custom cards.

 

I've accepted several from Nick over the years and you should see the binder with all the custom cards in it, it's quite the variety from a lot of different people and if that isn't eclectic collecting, I don't know what is.

 

Tommy Edman and Jack Little are both Stanford graduates, which is why Nick -- a Giants fan -- created these Dodgers cards. The only other cards of Jack Little I have are Bowman prospect deals. He finally made a couple of appearances with the Dodgers last season but he's with Detroit now.

 

The fronts are special because of the 1975-2025 Topps mash-up, but you can't overlook the backs, which is as professional as I've seen from custom cards.

 

And, just to underline the eclectic theme of this post, there was one other card in the envelope:

 

Wow. This card is so much the opposite of those two custom baseball cards I'm surprised they didn't repel each other in the envelope.

 

As a collector who likes a lot of stuff, I need to work on not collecting everything, but I'm proud of the variety in my collection and I like that other collectors sense that in me -- because they have eclectic collections, too, especially if they're blogging or reading blogs.

 

And, yes, I've written about this before. My collection may be varied, but sometimes my blog writing sticks to the same old topics.