Happy New Year 2024...

Happy New Year all you hobby people out there that may still read this largely ignored and forgotten blog!! I hope this post finds you all well, happy, and healthy. 

I'd like to say I'm here to announce the revival of this little hobby corner of mine on the web. But alas, that would be putting way to much pressure on myself to make this a priority. Posting daily and having numerous tweaks done to the programming in order to give this more exposure is really the only way to get this in front of more eyeballs, and to be honest, I'm not interested in all that work. Why? Well, I'm not a "hobby influencer", I'm not a "hobby investor", I'm not a "hobby monetizer", I'm none of those. I'm a collector. This isn't my job and I make no money doing this. It's for fun...you know, an actual hobby? 

I have so many ideas for regular content that I could put out, like daily or bi-weekly features that would probably be pretty great. But again, that takes time, effort, and a lot of preparation and work. As you can see if you go back in the history, I used to try and do that. But I don't want to fully revive this with regular posting intentions just to crash and burn mid-February.  So I make no promises of regular fresh content. Most of you know that I'm on Twitter or X or whatever, and regularly spout off over there with my hobby related bad takes. If you really need my thoughts, go over there. I'm also one of the regular contributors to the Puck Junk Podcast where you can hear my stoner negativity about the hobby ring out in audio form. In the rarest of occasions, you may also even find an article or two on Puck Junk itself.

That being said, I may post an article or two regarding my thoughts on various things throughout the year but absolutely no promises are being made. In fact, just to give you an idea of how bad I am at posting, I have 56 "drafts" of things I've written that never went live between 2020-2023. Most of my writing about the hobby has become kind of an introspective therapeutic outlet of sorts. You know like when you are at work and you get a really stupid email that you so badly want to respond to but know that if you did it would be seen as unprofessional? So you type everything you have to say, wrap a nice bow around it, and then hit the delete button. This is kind of like that. 

I've had this blog since 2009 and I'm not about to go away anytime soon, so even if you don't see posts regularly, know that I'm still here.  This is the place where I still house my checklists for the sets I'm working on and all the sets I've completed. It's also a springboard for my other blog where I post all my Penguins autographs (which was also revived somewhat, hopefully for this year). 

At any rate, Happy New Year again to everyone. Here's to hobby successes to all of you in 2024.

...more to come...

...maybe...

 

 

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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.

New Years Resolutions...1. stop procrastinating

Everyone that has a card blog seems to have posted some sort or another of a New Years Resolution for collecting this year. I have been meaning to do so as well but, like everything else, I seem to keep putting it off. In my defense, I have been preoccupied with some of my other NYR's that have sort of become that proverbial snowball, if you know what I mean. I decided that after over 12 years of avoiding health practitioners, I'd see a doctor. What I want to know is why isn't there anything wrong with me until I go to the doctor? But none of that is relevant here because this, my friends, is a card blog.

So my card collecting resolutions for the new year are all based on my actions of last year and the amount of money and time I spend amassing a giant pile of insignificance. Therefore, in no particular order, I bring to you the Real DFG's Card Collecting Resolutions:

1. Buy less retail wax. I have become so caught up in busting packs that I lost site of the fact that for the most part, I am not gaining anything toward my PC. I've talked about this numerous times; that burn that courses through my veins as I tear into the packs searching for the "greatest pull of all time". What that is, I don't know. But what I do know is that I need to stay away from the Wal-Mart.

2. Trade more. That's what it is all about right? Trading? I decided to put my own Trading Tracker on the page to the left here so I can really see what my habits are. Last year I spent more time searching for stuff on eBay rather than my fellow collectors. Hopefully we can change that.

3. Build more in my PC. I didn't buy very much for my PC last year other than a few cards. In fact, I can only think of about 10 or so cards that I would even consider permanent fixtures to my collection. This will change. My goal is 50 PC cards. That's about 4-5 per month. I can do it.

4. Expand my player collections. I have so many half-assed player collections it is ridiculous. I plan to refocus some of my attention on building these and filling some holes. Now that I have discovered CheckOutMyCards and SportsLots, this might be easier than I thought.

5. Finish some sets. I have about 2 dozen partial sets. I plan on completing at least six of these by Jan 1 2011. Maybe some readers can help me out. My wantlists are also posted on the right.

That's it. I only have 5 goals. Not 10 or 15 like some of my fellow bloggers out here but 5. I think it is pretty realistic and I am already on my way with some trades in the hopper so we will see at the end of the year where I am (if I last that long).