Gifts n' Goals

While I was spending my blogging time on the Young Guns Chronicles, Alex Ovechkin was busy passing Gordie Howe for #2 on the NHL's all-time goal-scoring list.

I'd share my thoughts on The Great Eight and The Gr8 Chase, but I'm already dishing out more NHL posts than anyone wants to read, so I'll skip that. Plenty of other topics to cover anyhow.

Just before Christmas I received a small bubble mailer from Dennis and a very surprising PWE from Gavin.

You've probably seen Gavin's 1991 Fleer creations pop up in your mailbox or on your blogroll. I received this Wade Boggs card almost immediately after reading this post. (There was another card included but I was instructed not to share.) The coin was a gift from Dennis, who also sent me two Whalers autographs:

And an Immaculate Collection Rookie Cleats card of ArDarius Stewart, which I'd requested from one of his tradebait posts.

I've added this to my updated Immaculate Collection tally, which you can view under my blog header. All of my pages have been updated, btw.

Since I didn't receive any sports card gifts from the family - not that there's a card shop nearby or anything - here's a few things I couldn't fit into prior posts, just to wrap up the 2022 collecting year:

I kind of planned an entire post around Mikaela Shiffrin, but Matt at Cards Over Coffee beat me to it. Great minds think alike, eh? It's cool to see another Shiffy fan on the blogs. (Is her nickname Shiffy? It should be.) Here are the scans anyhow. I picked these up earlier in the year:

Then I added these later in the year:

Now if I'm correct, this is 18 different Mikaela cards - not counting the Sports Illustrated single I wrote about before the 2018 Winter Olympics. But I guess not every single you see here is listed on TCDB, because they're only giving me credit for 16. Ah well. 

These beauties are headed for my Women on Cards binder, along with the Paige Spiranac singles I scooped up on COMC, non-sports celebs, and other great female athletes. While I'm on the subject...

Why doesn't Sydney McLaughlin have any cards? She's only the most dominant track and field athlete in the world. Get on it, Upper Deck!!

No, no... Sydney with a 'Y'. As in 'Y' hasn't Sports Illustrated for Kids included her in a set? We don't need you to make more Davante Adams or Bo Bichette cards!

One of my goals for 2023 will be to clear out the remaining 700+ cards in my trade bait box and flip them for some set fillers and other cards that fit my collection. I didn't get a chance to show off my final completed trade of 2022, and my 545th TCDB transaction overall, but here it is:

That's 1995 1st overall pick Ki-Jana Carter in the old Redslurs uniform, with a Packers logo in the top right corner as rare cardboard proof of his tryout with Green Bay. I could swear that Eric Dickerson was in Packers camp at the end of his career, but maybe he was just offered a tryout and decided to retire instead? [Editor's note: he was acquired by GB but failed a physical.]

Once I reorganize my boxes and binders I'll give you all a tour - perhaps in video form 🤔

My other goals for the upcoming year will be:

• Make more progress on my 1956 Topps setbuild. With four more graded cards I'll cross two major milestones: 60% set completion, and 200 PSA-slabbed singles.
  

• Finish at least five sets. I've got about 15 set builds near completion, and maybe ten of them are realistic. 2022 Topps and 1993 Diamond Kings will be trade targets for sure, along with 1990-91 Skybox basketball.
  

• Start a new (non-card) collection. My inner child has been screaming at me to get back into Starting Lineup figures. I was so psyched to hear that a reboot was going to be released... but the price point was a major letdown. I've got a closet full of McFarlane figures I can't give away. Why would I spend $50 on a Luka Doncic figure when I can pick up 5-10 classic SLUs and relive my childhood?
  

Eight year-old me ripped the base off of Dave Righetti and Fernando Valenzuela, so I used some tape to stand them upright. Perhaps I'll share more about my SLU collection in a recurring series here - if there's interest?

My main objective is to spend less time on COMC/TCDB, less time sorting and acquiring cards, and more time enjoying what I've already accumulated. Because there is another kind of Chronicles to complete....

Thanks for reading!



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