My Collecting Goals

I returned to the hobby in 2014, and I’ve set out to collect rookie cards of Hall of Famers. But you know what happens next don’t you? It happens to so many of us. Distractions! So I’d like to share with you my collecting goals.

Squirrels in My Collecting Goals

Like that scene in the Disney movie “UP”. A pack of talking dogs is scheming a diabolical plan to catch a certain rare bird.

But no matter how determined they were when they sensed a squirrel in the vicinity they would immediately stop.

They had some serious distractions going on, the pack of dogs were in mid-sentence, and SQUIRREL! they would lose focus.

As a collector, I found that’s what was happening to me. I am strictly a HOF RC collector, at least that’s what I told myself.

Then Aaron Judge has to go on a home run binge and… SQUIRREL! There I go picking up some Judge rookie cards.

I started a PSA Registry, and then another, and another totaling about seven different registries.

But three months later deleted three of them because it dawned on me I was distracted and going in too many directions.

So in an effort to minimize distractions, I am posting here publicly, my collecting goals.

The purpose of it is to help me prioritize my collecting habits, does this mean that I will not relapse into another distracting episode? No! But it does mean that when I do find myself veering off to left field I can get back to dead center and this time sooner than later.

I’ve narrowed it down to my top 5 choices, this was harder than I thought, but an absolute must in an effort to progress so here we go in descending order:

5) Michael Jordan PSA Basic Set Registry

Living in the Chicagoland Region and being a card collector/dealer 20-30 years ago you know first hand the impact Michael Jordan had on the hobby.

His heroics shouldered the NBA and the hobby of basketball card collecting to new heights. For a decade we watched every game, and at every Local Card Shop or Card Show, there were swarms of collectors always looking to buy, sell or trade his cards.

Jordan cards dominated the price guide pages, his retirements, returns, and baseball ventures only seemed to reignite the fever of his collectibles. I’d never seen anything like it, then or now. For more on Michael’s dominance and his rookie cards check out my post Michael Jordan Rookie Cards.

I reignited my Jordan collection in 2017. I wanted anything and everything Jordan but I quickly realized that the Michael Jordan Master Set in PSA’s website has over 4500 required items listed.

So I downshifted and decided to start with the Michael Jordan Basic Set; the number of required items is 72, much more manageable especially to start.

I had to remind myself that my collecting goals explained here must be coupled to the understanding that card collecting is a marathon, not a 100-yard dash.

As of the date of this post, I am 4.17% complete and rank 39th out of 42 collectors.

4) Roberto Clemente PSA Basic Set Registry

The reason I PC Roberto is because he hits close to home because my parents are from Puerto Rico as was Roberto. They had so much admiration for Roberto and I remember oftentimes having long discussions about him.

I remember as a kid going to my cousin Eddie’s house and looking at, seems for hours, his 1972 & 1973 Topps Clemente cards.

As a collector, the nostalgia is too great to not collect this icon. His hobby status is up there with Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, and or Hank Aaron. For more on Roberto and his rookie card check out my blog post here Roberto Clemente.

However, I had to tread lightly here because collecting this type of caliber player will cost a fortune, no if’s and or buts about it.

The Roberto Clemente Master Set in PSAs website has 238 required items which would fall into the 10’s of thousands of dollars to put together.

My collecting goals helped me realize that perhaps I should collect the Roberto Clemente Basic Set which entails 20 required items.

As of the date of this post, I am 0.00% complete and rank 0 out of 170 collectors. The reason for this is the cards I do have of Roberto are raw or slabbed by Beckett Vintage Grading and I will have to get them crossed over to PSA before I can add them to my registry.

3) Pro Football Hall of Fame Modern Rookie Players (1970-Present) PSA Set Registry

Next to baseball – football is my favorite sport. Growing up with the Monsters of the Midway and getting bit by the 1985 Super Bowl Champions bug at the impressionable age of 14 left its mark of influence on me and I’ve been an NFL fan ever since.

I decided to start this set registry in 2017 but must admit it has not been a priority. It’s the one I’ve neglected most. However, with the multiple collections I’ve purchased the last couple of years I do have a good stack of cards that are waiting their turn for submission to PSA.

As of the date of this post, there are 121 items required for this registry. I am 0.83% complete and rank 82nd out of 84 collectors.

2) 2000 Fleer Greats of the Game – Baseball – Autographs

At the turn of the century when the concept of on-card autographs was fairly new, Fleer took the hobby by storm with this 93 card set.

I remember specific card shows that were buzzing with collectors in search of these cards.

To this day on-card autos carry a lot of weight within the hobby, it’s a concept that is here to stay. And I thought to myself how cool would it be to have a complete set of this hobby heavyweight.

As of the date of this post I own 19 of the 93 cards needed for this set.

1) Baseball Hall of Fame Players-Post War Rookies: PSA Set Registry

Rookie cards of Baseball Hall of Famers have always been my primary focus. That is prior to that squirrel issue.

I’m satisfied with the progress I’ve made with this registry in 2017 but I’m really going to double down my efforts this year.

As of the date of this post, there are 95 required items that make up this registry. I am 15.79% complete and rank 254th out of 352 collectors.

I’m excited because I’ve never taken this approach with my collection. It’s always been whatever I felt like collecting at that moment.

But perhaps that caused impulsive purchases that did not fit into the overall scope of what I wanted my collection to look like.

I don’t believe there’s anything wrong with collecting whatever you want, the hobby gives us that flexibility.

But I’m at the point with my collecting that I want to focus my efforts and resources on a project. This I believe will help me take the necessary steps to make that happen.

Of course, just because my collection goals have been explained doesn’t mean they’ll happen. For my goals to happen I will have to use wisdom as I wrote in my post Being a Wise Collector.

Happy New Year! & Happy Collecting!

Learn. Collect. Enjoy.