Saturday, March 17, 2018

Blog Bat Around: Card Collecting Projects


Here are my Angels In Order Card Collecting Projects.

1. Los Angeles/California/Anaheim/Los Angeles of Anaheim/L.A. Angels
I grew up near Anaheim Stadium, and my siblings still live in the area (I’ve been in Texas the last 18 years). The Angels are a part of our family’s history. I haven’t counted up how many team sets I’ve completed, but I do know that the collection is up to 16 full card binders, 4 full dupes boxes.


I also collect any flats related to the Angels: pocket schedules, ticket stubs, ticket information, Mike Trout wrappers, etc. All of that stuff fills another 4 binders.

2. Boston/New England Patriots 1960-1995
How do I explain West Coast Angels and East Coast Patriots you ask? My parents were born and raised in Rhode Island, where they had my three oldest siblings. They all then moved west to Southern California where the rest of us were born. So, in our house it was always Red Sox/Angels and Patriots/Rams. I went with the Angels (because I got to go see them play) and I chose the Patriots because I liked their uniforms at first (Steve Grogan later cemented it for me). I like the Rams a little too, but NOT the Red Sox!

I put the “1960-1995” restriction on the Patriots collection because I couldn’t handle another massive, endless team collection like my Angels collection. Oh I’ll accept post-1995 Patriots for sure, but they go into a team box to be organized and catalogued at some point in the distant future.

3. Fleer Baseball Logo Stickers
Probably my favorite collection outside of the Angels. I love logos. I love Fleer logos. Because I’m a “completist” though, these sets are a bear to collect as there are so many variations and some of the older sets (like 1979) are just plain hard to find. I use Fleer Sticker Project extensively to identify all the differences in these.

4. Baseball Checklists
I got hooked on baseball checklists a couple years ago, another overlooked, often thrown out card that I have sympathy for. The older Topps checklist cards have errors on just about every card, so in reality I’ll need to collect two sets of each, the A and B (and sometimes C) versions.

5. Sweepstakes/Game Cards/Scratchers/Special Offer/Redemption/Info/etc.
I always thought they were interesting, especially when I first noticed them in 1983 and 1984 Topps, but I was not interested enough to keep any of them as a collection. I decided to start collecting them a few years ago, (and kicking myself for all that I threw away) and Man how the collection has grown. You’d be surprised how many different there are and how far back they go. I have so many now they have their own binder.

6. Baseball Cards #444
Just started this collection last year. Number 444 stems from goofing around with a buddy of mine when we were kids. We both looked at his bedroom clock radio at the same time and exclaimed “It’s 4:44!” Weird how stuff like that sticks with you. Anyhow in honor of my buddy I decided to make it an odd collection. Baseball Cards Come To Life got the collection well on its way last year when he dropped 36 different #444 cards on me in a trade package.

7. Player Collections
My PCs consist of a handful of former Angels (the exception being John Olerud) in their non-Angels uniforms. I do not include a duplicate of their Angels uniformed cards in the PC binder because those cards are already a part of the Angels team sets. I’ve toyed with adding Dale Murphy to the collection, but I’m not ready to commit to that just yet.

8. Signed Testimony Cards/Signed Sets
I’m a Christian so I’m drawn to Christian athletes. I don’t actively pursue just any autographed testimony card, I really only collect this particular design which I find simple and not overstated.
I'm also working on autograph sets for all the Toy's R Us rookie box sets, 1994 Ted Williams, 1991 Topps Archives 1953 Topps Reprints, and 1992 Action Packed Baseball.

9. Animated Batman Sets
Got turned onto these, and to the cartoons, when they first came out in the early 90's. Watched every episode when my son was young. Of all the comic Batmen, Animated Batman is my favorite.

10. All-Star Game Ballots
What can I say, I like paper.

11. Master Baseball Sets
Master sets have moved way down on my priority list, I’m not really a master set guy anymore.  The first sets targeted and completed were 1983 Topps and Fleer, 1984 Topps, and 1991 Upper Deck, all of which I still have. I finished 1979 and 1980 Topps, and came close on 1982 Topps as well, but those have all moved on to other collectors. Recently I’ve added a few more to the short list that I would like to complete, like 1992 Upper Deck Minors and 1993 Triple Play.

Most of my collections/wants are up under the tabs at the top.

It's been interesting reading what you all collect, I hope you find mine interesting as well.

3 comments:

  1. Like always, a great blog post! I really enjoy reading your posts, and this one is no exception. I learned a few things about you and your collections. I also have family in Anaheim, and they have sent me some Angels gear over the years. Keep up the great blog! Always look forward to cards from you.

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  2. That is a lot of Angels cards! I bet I could put together a trade package of some stuff you collect; I feel the same way about the Patriots that you do about the Red Sox and I could probably scrounge up some oddballs, Oleruds, and 444s. Maybe even an All-Star ballot. Let me know if you're interested.

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  3. Glad to see someone else has an interest in checklists! I would enjoy seeing more of your Sweepstakes cards as seeing those brought back a lot of fond memories. I will see what I can help you with from your Fleer sticker wantlist.

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