The Obligatory 2014 Collecting Goals Post

You woke up this morning and said to yourself, "Self.  I haven't read enough of these Collecting Goals Posts on the Blogosphere yet this year.  Where can I find more?".  Well, self...here is another one for you to read.


In 2013, I bucked tradition and didn't bother to set any goals for myself.  Since the blog started in 2009, I always posted my resolution post sometime at the beginning of January, only to be disappointed by May, angry at myself by July, and basically fed up with my incompetence by October.  So last year I figured why torture myself (and my readers) with another in a long line of empty promises and goals I can't muster up the initiative to complete.


It's 2014 now.  A new year.  A new lease on life.  A new outlook on this hobby and how I want to participate in it.  So with that being said, here are my Collecting Goals of 2014.

1.  Just collect and be happy about it.

There.  That's it.  My one and only goal for 2014 is to just...well, collect.  Just collect what I like.  Just collect what makes me happy.  If I want to chase a player, I will do that.  If I want to waste money on a few retail rack packs or blasters, I will.  If I want to torture myself with a repack box in one of those awkward square jewel case thingys, I will.  If I want to attend a card show, I will.  If I don't feel like it, I won't.  If I want to trade with bloggers or other collectors out there, I will most certainly do that (and I do).  If I want to break with tradition and bust some hobby box of a trendy football or baseball card set instead of hockey, I will.


No more lofty goals this year.  No more getting down on myself for not completing 3 year old sets I've been working on.  No more regretting not picking up some diamond in the rough card I saw once but decided I didn't "really" need it.  No more kicking myself repeatedly when I plop down $100 for a box and walk away with $15 worth of nothing.  I'm done with all that.  I don't need a list of 10-12 things that I want to look back on in December of this year and say, "Boy did I screw this one up."  I have strong player collections, strong team collections, and a pretty good grasp on everything else.  I'm getting much closer to getting organized and with each box that gets "fixed", I feel that much more excited about this hobby and what it has in store for all of us in it.

Our hobby is the greatest hobby in the world.  It brings people happiness and joy.  It's amazing how 2 1/2 x 3 1/2 inch pieces of cardboard can elicit so many different feelings and emotions for so many people.  Memories of watching games, being at games, meeting players, seeing highlights, and just reminiscing are all packed into the scenes and photos on these things.  Too many times collectors start to lose focus on what is important and that is the fun aspect of things.  Hobby's aren't supposed to be stressful and meticulously painful to participate in.  I love my collection, despite the large amount of, let's call it "overkill" for lack of a better word, that I have.

I'll trim it down one day.  I'll sell off stuff I don't want.  I'll trade away stuff I don't need.  But I'm not going to stress about it anymore.  It has taken my the better part of 28 years to get to this point.  It's not going to change immediately overnight.  This is a lifetime hobby.  I don't need resolutions to keep me in it.  I'm in it for the long haul.

Ok.  I'm done now with my rant.

Happy New Year everyone.  I hope each of you can meet your 2014 Collecting Goals like I plan to.