What I've tried to in 2016 - loose card projects

In addition to what I've started in previous years, I've tried to tend to the loose card projects that have sprouted up in 2016 - maybe these were the fun little, card related projects I could work on without having to worry about any apparent value.

However, that lack of a value component may have made me feel like something wasn't quite there - as far as chasing any number of miscellaneous cards down.

Collecting topics / mini-collections - I wanted to make this my centerpiece card project in 2016, but when it's all about having to scrutinize all sorts of cards, it kind of just mushroomed into busy work for me as opposed to being able taking the time to enjoy the actual cards under whatever mini-collection I listed them.

I'd like to put away any cards I have into their permanent storage boxes as opposed to letting cards sit in what has become semi-permanent storage spots - I'm probably looking for that one or two mini-collection to store in a binder, so I can go through the cards.

Award winners - I'm not worried about this project at all, though it would be nice to have this finished up through the current year.

Angels frankenset - I started this in 2015, but seemed to put the project on hold in 2016, so I'm still looking to finish my first run [1-500] of cards.

Angels Opening Day set - I started this in 2016 and looking to fill holes to complete more years.

Hall of Famers - I impulsively started this project in 2016, though I may quietly put on hold or on hiatus, until I get a chance to add to the collection randomly.

Milestone numbers [500 home runs/3000 hits/300 wins] - I'm going to see what I can add, but it really is just base cards and/or a basic insert.

1978-present Topps run - this may have been the project where I said, 'this really isn't going anywhere.'

I want to pick things up 'organically' as opposed to having a checklist and seeking out cards I want for this project - this project is kind of out of sight, out of mind, though I'll probably come back to it at some undetermined point.

What I’ve tried to do in 2016 - decade stars

Late in November, I went on a decade stars 'bender' where I sought to put cards of established players away in binders - since it's already been six years into this decade, I originally wanted to showcase cards featuring players who made their MLB debuts in the 2010s.

However, I actually started with several players who made their debuts in 2000s - because I found a forgotten stash of 2000s debut guys' cards already in plastic pages.

I ended up adding loose cards of the players already represented and then used up my remaining plastic sheets to house 5-10 more players’ cards - to showcase some of the basic star cards that have been boxed up.

For my collection, there should be a push to showcase decade stars cards in plastic pages for some sort of ‘long term’ storage in binders since it's fun to see all the cards I've hoarded for any number of players - the ideal breakdown should be as followed:

Pre-war players - a ‘catch all’ of players who made their debut before WWII; this is typically a collection for the retro cards I've found over the past 10 years, featuring the occasional Hall of Fame legends / icons.

I don't really seek these cards out so I probably haven't hoarded enough cards for any one player - to be able to have a stand alone binder for each of the decades [players who made their debuts in the 1900s, 1910s, 1920s, 1930s and 1940s].

Postwar players - another ‘catch all’ binder of players who made their debut before 1980; maybe separated by 1950s-60s and 1970s.

1980s - strictly players who made their debut before 1990.

1990s - strictly players who made their debut before 2000.

2000s - strictly players who made their debut before 2010.

2010s - strictly players who made their debut before 2020.

Regional - a wrinkle to my decade stars arrangement is having a book for a selected of prominent players from my team.

I want to be proactive in adding selected players, especially if they are the younger, 'future stars,' though it may take awhile for me recognize veteran players who have flown under the radar like a Ben Zobrist - but maybe not all players are going to make it to a binder in my collection, though I'm going to leave them in a box that serves as the other part of a split storage of sorts for various notable players.

What I’ve tried to do in 2016 - my PCs

At the start of the year, I had a set of collecting goals I never got to posting - maybe it's a little too long-winded to try and go over what I did and didn't do, so I'm just going to summarize some of the things I've tried to prop up as far my own collecting projects.

Collecting is always a thing, but for much of the year, things were kind of meh and I was just muddling along - I think it's fine to leave some interests / projects alone ‘as is,’ even for a prolonged period of time, with the idea that I’m coming back to them at some point.

I needed to focus inward, in putting away things I’ve picked up, so I can transition towards another year of collecting - as much as I would worry about feeding the best, I’ve tried to ‘reset things’ to straighten out some of the interests, so my intentions are a little clearer with what I want to as well as dealing with the state of interests that may have gotten away from me.

1.) Personal collection project - I get the idea of having a PC to showcase a select number of showcase cards from my entire collection.

As is, I’ve left my PC cards ‘as is,’ through 2016 and after watching a YouTube video or two in November [basically another collector's 'top' collection] - did my interest in revamping my PC really pick up.

I've already added a few stand alone cards over the past couple of years to kind of rework what my collection of my best cards look like - I can't compete with the guys hoarding super premium cards, so instead I've set out to add PC cards that are old school, like your basic rookie cards from the at least 20 years ago and older, including the 1989 Upper Deck Ken Griffey Jr. #1, a 1992 Bowman Mariano Rivera #302 and a 1984 Donruss Don Mattingly #248.

I had created a Google Sheets file for my four PCs I've established [Top 30 PC, Top 30 alternate PC, a Top 50 common PC and a Top 50 fun PC] and tried to re-jigger the listings around - adding cards as well as weeding out ones I felt were outdated.

I went on some ‘supply runs’ to my LCS, to buy up some new holders - to give me peace of mind that I’m cycling in some newer individual card holders as opposed to using dingy, old toploaders from 2000.

I’ve really been in a daze as far as having regional collection of PC cards and to just see what I maybe able to cobble together, I decided to add a regional component [#’s 31-50] to my Top 50 common PC - to make things easier as far as filling out my Top 50 common PC with no pressure in making a separate 'Top 30' list for just the team I'm collecting.

I’ve listed out miscellaneous Angels cards and while I feel the content falls a bit short, especially with regards to everyone's favorite Angel in the outfield, it’s the cards I’ve picked up - so I need to see if there is something to build on, so there maybe a foundation to funnel better cards, better players where I could eventually branch out into some sort of ‘stand alone’ regional PC.

I think I can add a few of the Angels certified autographs I’ve picked up - that I will double count towards my PC and my all-time Angels collection.

Favorite Card of 2016 - Andrew Benintendi Topps Now #385

There may be a nonzero chance the image of Benintendi robbing a batter of a home run is re-used in a big league card in 2017 - but at the very least this was the first card to use this 'awesome outfield action' image and I had to wait only a month or so after the highlight for a card to be created, printed and be sent out.

I haven't really gotten into the Topps Now hype, but the idea of capturing the moment and putting it on cardboard in a relatively timely manner is something radical - Topps will be probably milk the idea for all its worth, so who knows how much impact future incarnations of the Topps Now brand will have as far as how people collect their cards.

Andrew Benintendi Topps Now #385

Benintendi zoomed to the big leagues in his full professional season and I'd wanted to grab his MLB debut Topps Now card - so I had a MLB/MLBPA issued rookie year card that is kind of an oddball, since Benintendi's actually rookie cards were held back for next year.

However, I ended up getting Benintendi's second 2016 Topps Now instead - I had a feeling there would be a Topps card of Benintendi crashing into the left field railing to rob a Tampa Bay Rays batter [Steven Souza Jr.] of a home run.

Who knows if Benintendi will do at least a few more things this year that will warrant another Topps Now cards made - but the home run robbing card [846 printed] is a keeper.

Before getting injured in August and being out a little bit of time, Benintendi was really getting comfortable hitting in the big leagues - he just came back on Sept. 15 and was 2-for-6 combined with two doubles in his last two games played.

2016 Topps Chrome value pack recap

I used one of those lousy $0.50 off inserts to pick this up, so I could go through some new cards - as much as I like new cards, maybe I've set myself up in an awkward spot where I'm not really enthused about making impulse buys of loose packs or blasters at big box stores or even card shops.

I'd rather take the time to put together quarter box stash of loose cards or pick up a cheap single card or two - though at times the urge to bust something new is too hard to resist.

Pink refractor pack 
#22 Brian McCann - meh
#71 Carlos Ruiz - meh
#142 Cole Hamels - meh

Pack one
#58 Joc Pederson - meh
#4 J.D. Martinez - Prism refractor
#166 Kyle Schwarber - meh
#71 Carlos Ruiz - meh

Pack two
#172 Kyle Seager - meh
#PC-18 Corey Seager - Perspectives insert; the first time I’ve pulled a pair of brothers back-to-back in a pack.
#200 Bryce Harper - refractor variation parallel; I guess this is a card to put in a penny sleeve and place in a dingy box, to add to my mini-collection of players signing autographs.
#147 Johnny Cueto - meh

Pack three
#192 Felix Hernandez - meh
#73 Noah Syndergaard - refractor
#76 Nick Markakis - meh
#111 Marcus Stroman - meh

Mike Trout All-Star Topps Now

Mike Trout is the brightest superstar in Major League Baseball, so most of his premium cards are in high demand - so I don't feel completely out of the loop as far as collecting the guy [on the team I collect], I'm looking out for any 'oddball type' cards like this one I picked up for $5 from the Topps booth at MLB All-Star Fan Fest.

A card like this one may not be autographed or serial #'d to a particular number - but Trout is the biggest baseball star in the planet and everyone wants a little piece of him, so when I can, I want to grab cards like these.

2016 Marketside Cheesy Breadsticks II

I picked up another package of breadsticks with another pack of cards - the 'oddball' factor gives me an excuse to seek these out [as opposed to a typical card product I'd find in the card section of a big box store] and I kind of like the breadsticks.

Pack one
#49 Mr. Met
#43 Dee Gordon
#45 Clayton Kershaw
Topps info / coupon card - $2.50 off a Topps 2016 Value Box / $1 off a Topps 2016 Jumbo or Value Pack.
Topps Bunt info / jumbo pack code card

Pulling a card of a MLB mascot and a guy who was suspended 80 games for PEDs nearly made this pack break a 'loss' for me - I did pull a card of the best pitcher in the game today, so I'll take it.

2016 Topps Gypsy Queen value pack II

Maybe it's the Gypsy Queen banner in red kind of clashing with the grayish borders but these cards put me to sleep - the base cards don't really pop and seem kind of ugly.

I got a value pack from Walmart because the framed parallel pack contained five cards as opposed to only three in the Target value pack configurations - the framed parallels are pointless, but I want a reason to lure myself into an impulse baseball card purchase as opposed to avoiding things all together.

Bonus framed parallel pack
#20 Todd Frazier
#16 Miguel Sano
#52 Jeff Samardzija
#25 Chris Sale
#3 A.J. Pollock

Pack one
#11 Jason Heyward
#17 Nolan Arenado
#154 Joey Votto
#220 Trayce Thompson
#MVPM-CJ Chipper Jones - MVP Minis insert
#274 Homer Bailey

Pack two
#62 Sonny Gray
#75 Jeurys Familia
#190 Devon Travis
#7 Corey Seager - mini
#138 Adrian Gonzalez
#177 Ian Kinsler

Pack three
#17 Nolan Arenado
#62 Sonny Gray
#154 Joey Votto
#174 Matt Holliday - mini

#329 Craig Biggio - short print
#175 Jose Peraza

2016 Marketside Cheesy Breadsticks

I might not have been looking for the pizza at the right place [or they might not have been at my Walmart yet] the first time I started to hear about this card promo - in a recent visit, I found the Marketside pizza / breadsticks were in the freezer aisle but in an another aisle from the usual pizzas.

I checked to see if the card pack was inside the boxes it was packed loose in the bottom of the food item - the pack wasn’t stuck by some sort of adhesive to keep them intact. 

I'm more into pizza than breadsticks but I'd rather get two packs of cards with two packages of breadsticks [$4 each] - instead of one pack with a purchase of a single pizza for the same price.

Pack one

#22 Noah Syndergaard 

#8 Miguel Cabrera

#17 Chris Sale

Topps info / coupon card - $2.50 off a Topps 2016 Value Box / $1 off a Topps 2016 Jumbo or Value Pack.

Topps Bunt info / jumbo pack code card

Pack two

#35 Tyson Ross - I figure there are no real ‘duds’ in the checklist though Ross is kind of ‘meh’ at best.

#1 Mike Trout

#6 Carlos Correa

Topps info / coupon card

Topps Bunt info / jumbo pack code card

2016 Topps Gypsy Queen value pack

Bonus framed parallel pack - the top card was peeking out, so I grabbed this pack.
#90 Carlos Correa
#68 Anthony Rendon
#37 John Lackey

Pack one
#84 Starlin Castro
#170 Joey Gallo
#171 Taijuan Walker
#MVPM-BE Johnny Bench - MVP Minis insert
#185 Ian Kennedy
#235 Joe Panik

Pack two
#97 Carlos Carrasco
#8 Freddie Freeman
#192 Justin Turner
#336 Babe Ruth - Green mini parallel serial #’d 43/99
#230 Carlos Beltran
#293 Jean Segura

Pack three
#89 Anthony Rizzo
#95 Aaron Nola
#123 George Springer
#223 Yordano Ventura - mini
#319 Sparky Anderson - short print
#176 Billy Hamilton