2006 Upper Deck Ovation Andre Ethier (RC) #125

I had an image of this card saved for at least the past 10-15 years and wanted to see if I could buy it outright - it looks like Ethier doesn't have much bat left after being sawed off, so it's was a neat broken bat shot I could slot into my themed mini-collection.

I assume this serial #'d (RC) of a longtime, if now retired Los Angeles Dodgers fan favorite is not hard to find - presumably I could have bought it at any time, but it might be a case where there might not be as many copies posted on sale at one time.

It was only during one random eBay search, where I remembered the card - did I feel comfortable paying a couple of dollars for the card and another couple of dollars to have it shipped to me, where I was able to scratch the itch.

Collecting outlook through 2025

Collecting baseball cards occupies a weird headspace where it ends up being a ride-or-die hobby - on the other hand I feel like cards I've taken in end up literally sitting around, piling up where I get self-conscious, yet don't do much about it most times.

I continue to think about cards, claim cards through online sales, rummage for cards in-person when I make card show trips - but any sort of pulse of the hobby has passed me by, where I might as well be on my own little island somewhere.

I've kind of wished that there was a part of the collecting scene that revolved around what I did - but that never was the case at all and I'm just plodding along, peeking on everyone else doing their thing online.

I’m too far deep into it through at least parts of the past four decades to pull out or pull back just a little for a reset - I feel like all my interests have been spelled out to an extent somewhere, where it shouldn't be the case where I feel down and out, but I really need those occasional reminders why certain things animate me.

It's not really all doom and gloom here and maybe it shouldn't be - there are at least a few things I would to be doing or thinking about going forward, where a part of me is emotionally invested.

1.) Making home brewed sets - from my all-time Top 100s to my so-called curated sets teasing various themes [mini-collections, stadium cards, uniform cards, Angels, etc], there is something about turning random bulk cards into something that I can sort of personalize.

I'm planning to make it where being pickier [all-time Top 100s] and doing more of roundups of themed bulk cards [curated sets] - end up being what I try to work on, in order to keep me sane.

2.) Mini-collections purge - maybe this ends up being a big deal for me, where I've been content to build up my various themed collections as part of a monolithic archive.

The inability to gather up what I've hoarded over the past three years to list and put away has left me in this perpetual bind - it might not be a solution at all, but the plan is to refer to my mini-collection cards as more of a feeder collection towards my home brewed sets.

This ultimately means seeing where I can break down a substantial number of undocumented bulk cards, to turn into Top 100 fuel for my all-time sets or using them to make themed curated sets - maybe it has never made sense to seek out all these bulk themed cards, without really looking to make them part of my own set to display and/or talk about.

One of my goals is to be able to list such cards out again in a spreadsheet - where I have a list to look at and occasionally check in case I might be picking up dupes.

3.) Decade / binder stars material - this is my catch-all collection and I have a tally of the subjects I have most cards of separated mostly by decade debuts.

I can't stop picking up odds and ends for one or more players as binder material - at some point I might need to get the actual cards in pages to update my player binders.

An idea in mind was to list out all the cards I had for 10-15 subjects - where it might be a thing to have something like 500 cards in-hand for any one particular subject.

4.) Regional collections - I'm not a team collector where I'm scoping out all the cards for one team, but having one team I do collect in general just makes sense.

I don't know if I have ever bothered to rein in my Angels collections - but for 2025, it might mean making a curated set out of random team cards, trying to keep up with my regional binder stars and updating loose card projects [Opening Day starters, all-time autograph collection, all-time register and frankenset].

5.) Loose card projects - maybe much of what I'm doing is considered 'loose card projects,' but I think I need to keep up with or revive ones that end up being neglected.

Maybe I need to keep tabs on my Hall of Fame collections, milestone numbers collections and award winners collections - where I can tally up new additions and see where updated numbers.

6.) A-Z singles - it's been a long time since I thought about maintaining this collection where maybe the idea was have a temporary collection of cards that might be keepers, but not at the same level as my personal collection cards.

As is, what I may end up doing is turning my A-Z singles collections into sort of my loose card PCs - where I am able to round up a number of miscellaneous cards that might be misfits at the moment.

7.) Personal collection cards - I don't know if I've maintained an update in recent years, but may end up doing so, just so PC cards do not get lost in the shuffle.

Some online rummages - the deeper cuts

Maybe I have not dwelled too much on doing a round up for a bigger order of cards that comes from online purchase - but it's kind of a thought exercise and maybe I don't get the same joy if I do not pore over my assorted claims.

2007 Upper Deck 1989 Reprints Roy Campanella #89UD-RC - I'll make keepers of cards I find loose in the wild since there is lingering sentiment over the 1989 Upper Deck set design.

2003 Topps Postseason Highlights Gold Troy Glaus #721 - Serial #’d 1128/2003 - Angels Top 100 fuel; now I might need the regular card to pair this with.

1998 Upper Deck Ken Griffey Jr's Hot List Roger Clemens #17 - I wanted this card at some point, actually picked up a copy but that might be MIA or counted in my cheat sheet leaderboards for my decade / binder stars collections.

1998 Topps Jeff Montgomery #184 - not as showy as his 1995 Topps Stadium Club card #266, where he is posed in front of a fire truck, the one-time closer from the 1990s is posed with a fire extinguisher.

1998 Topps Jim Edmonds #75 - I have the Minted in Cooperstown version in my Angels all-time Top 100 cheap-azz keepers collection, so I figured I'd pair it with the base card, even though the Minted in Cooperstown is really separate set and not a parallel.

1989 Score Paul Gibson (Hand on Crotch in Background) #595 - x2 - I made claims on a couple of copies posted and I actually got both cards; I found the MIA copy I once lost years ago and put in one of my all-time Top 100 cheap-azz keepers collection, but the copy I got from a last year [from the same seller go figure] might still be bundled with an MIA purchase I have not sorted further.

1998 Fleer Tradition Golden Memories Hideki Irabu #316 - this was a freebie claim, but ends up being subset rather than a real insert; it's hard to think not to dwell on the idea that Irabu was a sore disappointment, but he was a human interest story as well, where he might not have gotten resolution in his life.

2023 Topps Finest Flashbacks Finest Phenoms Masataka Yoshida #55 - I grabbed this rookie year card, where it teases a retro design.

1996 Upper Deck Juan Guzman #474 - I don't know whether I had a copy of this card, but claimed it because it's a big glove card.

1998 Fleer Tradition '63 Vintage '63 Jay Buhner #54 - a game face Buhner with a wad in his cheeks looks a little dejected as he throws his batting gloves to someone; maybe he just ended an inning like he struck out.

1998 Upper Deck Jamey Wright #82 - Pitchers hitting

1998 Upper Deck Armando Reynoso #167 - I'm not sure whether this goes into my men at work collection, where the pitcher working on laying down a bunt or in my pitchers hitting collection; this would not count as a bunt card since it's not a game action card.

2003 Topps Chrome Scott Spiezio #407 - I might be looking to make the random Angels card keepers, where maybe I want to come up with enough cards for certain guys to make a page for or to use as needed for a regional loose card project.

2005 Topps Total Adrian Gonzalez #249 - Stadium card

2023 Choice Portland Sea Dogs Niko Kavadas Card #14 - he made his MLB debut a day after I claimed this minor league team set card.

1998 Upper Deck Todd Worrell #113 - I'm not sure what to do with a card like this where Lee Smith makes a cameo; the two may have been junk wax era contemporaries, they might have been teammates at one point.

Smith is the one eventually inducted in the Hall of Fame so maybe it's a bonus baby card - even if it could be a star-on-star cameo card.

1988 Mother's Cookies Oakland Athletics Stadium Giveaway Matt Young #21 of 28 - he is a lefty, but he is having fun with a righthander's glove, posted in a fielding position.

1996 Fleer Jim Edmonds #46 - the random Angels bulk card for my player collection.

2003 Topps Bazooka Bobby Kielty #137 - Hats-off; National anthem

2003 Upper Deck MVP Mike Lieberthal #304 - Retro uniform

2003 Upper Deck Victory Bobby Abreu #68 - Retro uniform

2012 Topps Adron Chambers RC #90 - this has a cut on the surface

1998 Fleer Tradition Jay Bell #121 - a fun card where it looks like he is pictured with presumably his son.

1998 Fleer Tradition Kevin Brown #27 - the same image was used for his 1998 Fleer Tradition '63 Vintage '63 insert; this looks like the uncropped, horizontal image of Brown sliding headfirst into a base.

1998 Fleer Tradition Jay Buhner #68 - the same image was used for his 1998 Fleer Tradition '63 Vintage '63 insert.

1999 Pacific Crown Collection Orlando Palmeiro #8 - a dependable, fourth outfielder type from the mid 1990s through the early 2000s, I want to be able to add a card of his to an Angels all-time Top 100 cheap-azz keepers collection.

1998 Fleer Tradition Alan Benes #141 - Pitchers hitting

1999 Pacific Crown Collection Norberto Martin #6 - needed a card of Martin for my Angels Opening Day starters collection.

1998 Fleer Tradition '63 Vintage '63 Jason Dickson #1 - Pitchers hitting

1976 SSPC Brian Downing #141 - this is an 'old school '70s cool' card of a player who would eventually be a consistent bat for the Angels through the 1980s.

1981 TCMA The 1960's Billy Martin (Black Back; No MLB logo) #1981-364 - just an old-timey looking card from a retro, tribute set from the early 1980s.

1999 Topps Stadium Club Bruce Smith #89 - this might be UV era bulk fodder from a long time ago, but I grabbed this NFL card because of the great action shot of Smith taking quarterback Steve Young to the ground.

2021 Super Products Pieces of the Past George Washington #3 - I may bite on cards of no-context non-sport subjects on a whim.

Some online scavenging - the gimmes

I don't want to say I'm paying some kind of premium to fuel the illusion of engaging with someone else on social media in a more meaningful way - but it's been a thing where there are individuals who have these sale marathons where they spit out so many f/s posts.

Even if the low end material ends up stale at times, such posts gives me something to look at - where I end up making another run of odds and ends claims that starts up another tab.

My feed gets lonely at times where there isn't anything apparently going on - but then it gets busier, when there are three or four sales going on at the same time.

These end up being part one of my claims resulting in a purchase - maybe I can spend an hour or two rummaging around in a dollar and under box in-person and have better results perhaps, quality and quantity wise.

At times maybe it's a favor for sellers to be digging out bulk material that cater to odds and ends interests - where your mileage may vary depending on number cards claimed within a purchase.

2021 Topps Stadium Club Chrome David Ortiz #278 - since he's a decade / binder stars guy, he ends up a 'gimme player,' where it's easier to bite on a random card that catches my eye.

1998 Fleer Sports Illustrated Then & Now Darryl Kile #102 - Pitchers hitting; occasionally sellers will throw out a freebie post with cards to claim and I jumped on this one.

This card was curled but maybe I can attempt to flatten it out.

1998 Fleer Sports Illustrated Then & Now Covers Harmon Killebrew #3 of 12 C - within these social media sales, maybe I’ve tried to claim cards outright if it catches my eye off the bat.

1998 Fleer Sports Illustrated Then & Now Covers Eddie Mathews #4 of 12 C - within these social media sales, maybe I’ve tried to claim cards outright if it catches my eye off the bat.

1998 Fleer Sports Illustrated Then & Now Covers Willie Mays #5 of 12 C - within these social media sales, maybe I’ve tried to claim cards outright if it catches my eye off the bat.

1998 Fleer Sports Illustrated Then & Now Tony Gwynn #90 - I might still be trying to make keepers out of nicer, if dated base cards as binder material for decade / binder stars guys.

1998 Upper Deck 10th Anniversary Preview Retail Eddie Murray #60 of 60 - I have no lingering sentiment for Murray cards in his odd-team stint with the Angels that didn't last a season, but there might be a little novelty.

1998 Fleer Tradition Chipper Jones #10 - hats-off; it might be a case where I decide to divert a binder material card as a mini-collections card.

1998 Fleer Sports Illustrated Then & Now Scott Rolen #128 - I might still be trying to make keepers out of nicer, if dated base cards as binder material for decade / binder stars guys.

1998 Donruss Elite Scott Rolen #81- I might impulsively key in on a player like Rolen and make claims if I see at least two or three different cards posted.

1998 Score Barry Bonds #5 - within these social media sales, maybe I’ve tried to claim cards outright if it catches my eye off the bat.

1998 Fleer Sports Illustrated Then & Now Jim Thome #135 - I might still be trying to make keepers out of nicer, if dated base cards as binder material for decade / binder stars guys.

1998 Fleer Sports Illustrated Then & Now Frank Thomas #134 - I might still be trying to make keepers out of nicer, if dated base cards as binder material for decade / binder stars guys.

1998 Fleer Sports Illustrated Then & Now Tim Salmon #129 - Angels material

1998 Fleer Tradition '63 Vintage '63 Tim Salmon #2 - Angels material

1998 Fleer Tradition Tony Gwynn #250 - inking it up; it might be a case where I decide to divert a binder material card as a mini-collections card.

1998 Fleer Tradition '63 Vintage '63 Kevin Brown #25 - pitchers hitting; Baserunning

2000 Topps Stars Spotlights Vladimir Guerrero #152 - with other collectors kind of making him their guy, maybe it ends up being a cliche where Vlad is the 'gimme player' for me, where I'll make one more random card I may or may not have keepers.

2019 Topps Finest Aaron Judge #51 - he's a 'here and now' superstar, where it's easy to bite on a random base card I may or may not have.

1994 Upper Deck All-Time Heroes Ted Williams #50 - he's a GOAT level 'gimme player' for me, where it's easy to bite on one more random retro card I may or may not have.

2004 Upper Deck Alex Rodriguez #541 - there is lingering sentiment, where I've resigned myself to bite on one more random card I may or may not have.

2005 Upper Deck Alex Rodriguez #134 - it might still be fun to make the occasional scattered base cards keepers.

2021 Super Products Pieces of the Past Babe Ruth #SP1 - he's a GOAT level 'gimme player' for me, where it's easy to bite on one more random retro card I may or may not have.

My all-time Top 100 cheap azz keepers collection - 63-55

The idea for a Top 100 project collection was probably four years in the making, but it never got anywhere - only within the early months of this past year where I was really motivated to put something together

Past the pandemic, I had noticed the build up of the different bulk cards I'd rummaged at card shows - while that was great for my assorted mini-collections, I kind of lost my way listing out cards in a spreadsheet and putting cards away for some closure.

I got tired of the idea aimlessly collecting mini-collection cards where I needed to see if I can dig from the piles - so maybe I needed to scrutinize what I found, to see if there was Top 100 fuel outright.

I wanted to curate a Top 100 set where I had something to build on - but I also didn't want to think too much about it, where I needed that first all-time collection to get off the ground.

63. 1996 Best Tucson Toros Dave Hajek #10 - thinking about the random cards that end up in my Top 100, this one is definitely on fire.

62. 1992 Upper Deck Tom Selleck #SP4 - I liked Mr. Baseball, but had to look the part up on YouTube, where Frank Thomas makes an appearance.

In the movie's universe, Thomas is Ricky Davis, the young hot shot pushing the longtime veteran star [played by Selleck] off the New York Yankees - which explains why The Big Hurt was in Yankees colors as shown on the card.

61. 2001 Multi-Ad West Michigan Whitecaps Brian Saltzgaber #28 - the subject blowing a bubble makes a random, no-context minor league card of a coach infinitely more fun to look at.

60. 1998 Skybox Premium Dwayne Rudd #29 - I love the viking horned helmet worn by a player who plays for the [Minnesota] Vikings.

59. 1990 Hoops Sam Vincent #223 - one of my early inspirations for a Top 100 set was this NBA card, though I did not realize there were two versions and I'd gotten the corrected version showing only Vincent and without the Chicago Bulls player wearing #12 on this card.

58. 1998 Upper Deck Choice Dino Ciccarelli #93 - one of my early inspirations for my Top 100 set was this hockey card, featuring a photo op where the player is feeding a rhino at the zoo.

57. 2013 Topps Jurickson Profar #286 - I figured this pie in the face card wasn't a bad find for a little over a dollar, where it's a fun variation of a one time uber prospect, turned into a disappointing, but perfectly average rank-and-file player.

56. 2021 Topps Stadium Club Ronald Acuña Jr. #56 - it was part of a recent purchase, so I figured it would be 'easy' to sneak in a card of a 'here and now' baseball star, teasing his wild hair [as of 2020 or whenever the image was taken].

55. 1994 Topps Stadium Club Orel Hershiser #400 - I don't know what is going on in this card, I thought he was cleaning up after a cow milking competition at the ballpark, but this story from MLB.com gives more context about sod.

Random card buys - Ivan Rodriguez

I claimed these Pudge Rodriguez cards from an online seller for $0.50 each because they tease some play at the plate action - these cards might end up as star power for my tools of ignorance collection or possibly highlights on a binder page I may make for the HOF catcher.

As is, only when I gave these cards a second look, did I realize the images might be taken from the same play - where a baserunner slides into home plate in the 2000 Fleer Ultra card, while Rodriguez gestures to the umpire he made the tag on the 2000 Topps Stadium Club card.

I really want to know who the Oakland baserunner is on the card - presuming the image used was from the year before the cards were made, my best guess would be Tony Phillips, who came back to play for the A's in his final MLB season in 1999.

Mini collection confessions through my card show rummage

Maybe it's been for a couple of years, but I've been at a crossroads with my mini-collection cards - I love making them keepers out in the wild, but I've gotten overwhelmed with just thow many I've gone out and brought home.

I haven't actually listed out the past couple of year's worth of cards somewhere like a spreadsheet - where I've counted them up as a year-to-year achievement where I can see how many cards I've picked up and how many towards specific collecting topics.

Maybe the worst part is having the actual cards sitting in loose bricks or in boxes - where I can't dig them up on a whim, be able to look at them where the cards maybe displayed in a binder to flip through or have it where I only have 'so many.'

I'm not really shying away from more loose cards, it's just I need to find ways back to accounting for them - as well as finding the motivation to get back into managing bloats and backlogs with these loose cards.

Awesome action cards - I do not know whether I've ever had the card, but grabbed the 2003 Topps Jim Thome #71 with the Mountain Dew signage in the background.

Awesome action cards - I'm not sure if it's an 'odd thing,' but find the 1998 Skybox Dugout Axcess Greg Maddux #6 funny because he is pitching with sunglasses on; I assume he is pitching either live BP or an intrasquad game, rather than at an actual MLB game.

There is a lot of signage in the 1998 Upper Deck John Smoltz #32 - so it's a kind of fun to identify them.

I've tried to collect what I call 'good job, game over' cards like 1998 Upper Deck Luis Gonzalez Houston Astros #103 - where a player is shown congratulating one or more teammates at the end of a win.

I can imagine myself being a big leaguer with a sense of accomplishment and/or relief to be able to go out onto the field and celebrate a victory - even if it is only one game out a 162-game schedule.

It looks like Gonzalez is congratulating Craig Biggio here - so a HOFer cameo is pretty cool too.

Awesome outfield action and inking it up cards - because I was able to get him to sign something once in-person, I find it fun to find images of the perpetually grumpy Albert Belle doing any sort of 'fan service.'

Tools of ignorance - I always waffle on whether cards of star players or better should go into my mini-collections or my decade stars collections.

When I can pick up old loose cards of Ivan Rodriguez or Mike Piazza at the bulk level, where the cards do not matter - I maybe content to add them into my mini-collections where I can have some star power.

I'm not not sure whether I had the Russell Martin card before, but it looks like Carlos Beltran is shown walking back to the dugout - I might have tabbed it as a 'bonus baby' card where a better player is shown on a lesser player's card, but a case can be made where Martin was a low-key star at points of his big league career.

Some mini-collection odds and ends

Maybe I was feeling idle, so I wanted to see if I can knock out some scratch the itch cards - nothing high brow, but maybe a mix of cards that hit some of my mini-collection needs.

Trying to go through my memory banks, a flagged cards folder on my phone, my eBay watchlist, my blog Top 10 and saved TTM fuel images to round up random cards to hunt for - having my possible wants material in scattered formats ends up leaving me feeling a little messy.

I found a seller online I was willing to buy around 20 cards from, but then past $1.99, shipping was going to be around $7 - maybe there was no budget option despite saying so otherwise on the seller's postage chart, so after spending about an hour crafting up a probable 'buy list,' I ended up throwing my hands up in the air.

I ended up cutting the number to the bare minimum that would ship for $1.99 - where I wanted the following cards in-hand and committed to picking them up for a little over $0.50 each.

1988 Colorado Springs Sky Sox CMC Jeff Kaiser #4 - Awesome action; Oddities - I love how a pitcher is all dressed up in catchers' gear, mugging it up for the photographer.

2007 Upper Deck Gary Matthews Jr. #225 - Awesome outfield action - I've wanted this card because it captures his greatest play in his pro baseball career and probably helped put him on a lot of people's minds, where he had kind of just moved from team-to-team.

1994 Fleer Update Rico Brogna #U156 - Broken bat shots - I found this while trying to scan through someone selling cards on Twitter; at times, I find mini-collection cards by just digging through card images others have posted.

1993 Milk-Bone Super Stars Dog Food Issue Will Clark #7 - Facial hair - I fall under being a 'junk wax guy,' but for all the Clark cards I've seen, there might only be a couple that features a stache on The Thrill.

1991 Topps Woolworth Baseball Highlights Bert Blyleven #7 - Inking it up - I had to have this card featuring a player in the twilight of his big league career, taking the time to sign autographs; the copy I received looks like it might hava burn mark, so it might be a filler copy for now.

1990 ProCards A and AA Darrin Chapin #19 - Pitchers hitting - I guess he's not actually hitting, as much as he's posing with a bat in his hand, but it's kind of an odd image I end up counting.

A slice of card show miscellany

I was able to attend a couple of card shows last weekend and maybe the routine is taking a little breather where maybe boredom does set in - on this particular outing, I've bought assorted bulk cards, some dollar cards and a couple of low end singles, but I don't know if I can make my way back into the dealer room, where I just might be done for the afternoon.

However, despite feeling like this maybe it, it's almost a challenge - where I do want to go around and see if there is still at least a table or two to find some keepers.   

I found a table with some $0.50 boxes to dig through - there may have been a small stack of 1999 Fleer Sports Illustrated cards that had some nice images but they weren't priced as commons. 

The seller was packing up his display case and I probably decided to move on - but came back around when it looked like another collector was on a mission, searching deep and pulling cards out of the other boxes at the table.

I figured as long as this other guy [and then another collector] was still rummaging through assorted cards - I would do the same thing as long as it wasn't awkward where the seller was waiting on only me.

The seller started putting some slabs back on the table - maybe just killing time seeing if he had any more bites while people were still lingering. 

I thought something peculiar was happening behind the scenes where maybe it was a guy the seller knew buying him out of the very boxes three people at the table were going through - the seller seemed to get angry for a moment where he told the guy to “get outta here,” but was only really joking around and it looks like money exchanged hands.

I could see where the probable buyer was telling the seller to wrap things up as is - where he probably didn’t want anymore people go through the cards that he may have just bought in bulk.

"This will be it," the seller said to the other guy.

It looks like I found a photo print of Gene Autry and Nolan Ryan sized into a trading card - regardless of how I feel about unlicensed cards or cards printed out of someone's garage, maybe the 'lil photo was too odd not to make a keeper.

On my own, I dug out about 30 cards from the dollar bins and while I didn't consider all them dollar cards - I figured I didn’t have time to play around and weed out 'lesser' cards to leave behind. 

“Can’t really lose for a dollar,” one of the other guys looking through the cards said. 

I presented my cards to the seller and even picked out 12 of the $0.50 cards I was hesitant on buying - maybe I should have just grabbed a handful of the non-dollar cards, because when I tried to show them to the seller, he gestured to let me have the cards and said "I’ll make you happy and give those to you."

Some more card show stuff

Some older Angels cards from 'my era,' which was probably 1990s early 2000s - I probably have a number of these cards but they were cheap enough, where I added them into my take home stash.

Mini-collection cards - some batting cards, a home run trot card and baserunning cards.

Mini-collection cards - some fielding cards, a throwing card, a double play throwing card and a pair of 'dirt fetish' cards no matter how incidental.

Mini-collection cards - some 'fun cards' up top including a gum card, a player having some fun and an oddity where Randy Johnson is pictured with a camera.

Bottom row features - a Kris Bryant 'game face, focused' card, a Curt Schilling 'men at work' card and Javy Baez and Kevin Pillar 'personality shots, fired up' cards.

Mini-collection cards - some unique perspective cards in my book, including some 'event captured' cards, some cards with what I consider 'panoramic / majestic' images and a Sean Casey 'signage' card where 'Bud' can be made out in the background.

Google Sheets glitches

I can fake working on spreadsheets and Google Sheets files in particular to account for the cards in my various collections - it makes me feel good to feel like I'm curating and cataloging all sort of cards in the files I've created, but maybe I'm doing something wrong.

As I'm trying to list out my last 'runs' of awesome action collecting topics subset adds for the year - I've discovered numerous instances where either Google Sheets or 'user error' is causing the information I've added to cells [to further classify cards in my Google Sheets file] to be displaced or disappear entirely.

There maybe instances where information is added in the right place where my 'batting' cards are grouped as such - but why do I find instances where the 'batting' tag is under subsets, when they should be grouping tags.

Bear with me, but everything listed under the subset column should be under the grouping column - I don't know if I'm putting the information in the wrong place all this time, but I feel like there are gremlins messing around with my Google Sheets file.

It maybe a case where the file is bloated with all sorts of entries from at least 15 years ago- so when I try to load the file, it lags and somehow jumbles things up.

What I've resorted to doing is seeing if I can copy over the main file and see if the apparent mess ups show there - I'd really like to see if I can just work on adding to a previous version where I feel like things are intact [through a certain point].

The nuclear option was to create new related files for a fresh start - even if it means breaking up the bulk of the listings of different mini-collections under my 'awesome action' umbrella.

I hope using separate files will be easier to look at and add listings of cards into without the worry about mushrooming file size - but it maybe a case where the transition will begin some time in 2022.

collecting topics - AA - pitching - 12-6-21

collecting topics - AA - fun - game - personality - 12-6-21

collecting topics - AA - unique perspectives - 12-6-21

collecting topics - AA - fielding - 12-6-21

collecting topics - AA - batting and baserunning - 12-6-21

collecting topics - AA - celebrations - confrontations - curtain calls - 12-7-21

collecting topics - AA - strictly other sports - 12-7-21

My experiences with some junk boxes of doom - box 4.1

This was the last of the 4 boxes I bought for $3 each off a bargain table at a card show.

This maybe dumpster diving at its finest - not everything is going to be salvageable, but I'll see what I can rummage through for the curiosity factor.

To this day I love digging through cards and sorting them out, though with these boxes - it was more about hoping I wouldn't have to toss certain cards that are too dingy to make keepers otherwise.

In this box, the oddball panels of cards are definitely what caught my eye - I'm not really an oddball collector, though perhaps I want to see if I can pick up types of overlooked, non-mainstream issues I still don't really see as 'real cards.'

Because I don't trust my hand cutting skills and may just give up trying to separate these cards individually - I'm probably going to leave these cards 'as is.'

Just a couple of the cards are damaged [too bad one is the Wally Joyner], but rather than cut things up where the suspect cards will mostly likely end up in the circular file - I'm keeping the panels together where the cards in their entirety are still presentable.

My experiences with some junk boxes of doom - box 3.2

Maybe I find the pair of random cards unique in an odd sort of way - something I can goof on, whether there is really something to make fun of or perhaps not.

Maybe my first exposure to NBA cards was in the early 1990s and while I've never collected basketball seriously to this day - maybe the late 1980s Fleer stragglers are interesting to look at from an 'old school cool' point of view.

I remember the craze with these 1992 Topps Gold scratch off cards - a childhood friend's father bought at least a case of 1992 Topps boxes, to pull the contest cards and take advantage of using a pen light to see which areas would lead to 'winners.'

Through collecting sports cards, maybe I imagine myself as a historian - so while there is the tired caveat [these cards aren't worth anything], each are keepers for my 'beyond the glory' collection.

Finally, maybe a couple more 1994 Upper Deck SP wrong backs - I thought these kinds of errors where a Topps, junk wax era thing, not something that carried on through the early UV era.

My experiences with some junk boxes of doom - box 3.1

These are mostly the highlights of my third junk box I picked up for $3 each - there was a good number of cards in the last two boxes that were in semi-rigid holders, which may or may not have reflected the 'better' cards, but may have been the most interesting to go through.

Literal junk wax to sort through and toss for the most part - in some twisted way, maybe I need to pick up these boxes when I see them once in a while, just to get back to my roots.

Not worth much, but I like the Steve Garvey and Mike Schmidt in particular - a pair of old school 1980s cards of longtime stars through that era.

Some 1989 Topps Jim Abbott rookies - to bring me back to my beginnings as a collector perhaps.

Two of the same Tony Gwynn insert cards and a small stash of Will clark cards - including a 1987 Donruss rookie that I'd probably pay a few bucks for outright, if I didn't have it already.

More Will Clarks - he was big league star for just about the entirety of his big league career, but may have been a considered a superstar for a 2-3 year period with the San Francisco Giants through the late 1980s.

A small stash of Bo Jacksons - one of the brightest stars of the junk wax era, even though a 'what if' in most fans' minds in both football and baseball.

Some 1987 Donruss Ruben Sierra rookies - how much were these going for at his late 1980s peak?

These cards brings me back to getting into collecting and through browsing actual hobby publications - reading about the crop of junk wax rookies that were going to be stars for years to come.

This stash of First Topps Cards could have been a penny stock investment for an adolescent collector - looking to see whether the value and gone up or down in his latest Beckett.