I have lost a little motivation to stay up on this thread as much as I have in years past, in part because I'm slowing down a bit for the year, and in part, if I'm being honest, because it seems like BO is less and less """true""" collecting focused as the years go on. But I'm still having a good time! Decided to post up everything I have in my backlog folder to get caught up on a bunch of different things. And after that, it'll probably be a bit slow of a finish to the year for me as I try not to spend a whole lot over the next few weeks. But if nothing else, I'll be back with my annual year in numbers wrap-up once the calendar turns!
Ok, a bunch of different things to share. First up, a fun group of random cards - couple current rookie autos, a Pablo Lopez Golden Mirror that I absolutely love, shown after the Twins beat the Blue Jays in the 2023 playoffs, a random Solano and Cuddyer that caught my eye, and then some more Julien - still hopeful for a bounceback! This was also my first TAG slab - I definitely didn't seek it out, but I thought it was a good price and was happy to have the card. Some pros/cons, the slab itself is super clear and really helps the card pop. But also so clear that any little speck of dust is very noticeable. Took a couple passes getting it into the sleeve clean until I was satisfied. I am also not a very big fan of the flip, the QR code (which is very cool that it links to a detailed grading info page, if you're into that) is way too big and ugly, and the text listing what the card is, is so dang small! I do think the slab looks better in person than scanned. Overall, I don't grade much and this won't convince me to seek out TAG in the future, but I did like it better than I thought I would, and won't avoid TAG in the future either
Next up, I added 2 more Morneau Triple Threads relics!
Alone, they aren't anything special, but I have a huge chunk of the 2011 TTT Unity rainbow for Morneau including all three 1/1s, so I am always on the lookout to keep filling out the rainbow. I haven't seen any of the /3s since I started this, and while some of the /18s and /27s are out there, those I'm content to wait for prices more up my alley. But this rainbow is starting to get close
If you didn't see a
dedicated thread I have for this project, I had a fun mailday tracking down a 2014 Bowman Chrome Carbon Fiber Refractor /10 of Brian Dozier for my ultimate Dozier Bowman Chrome rainbow. With this one checked off the list, I am down to only needing a Shimmer Refractor /15 and a Red Refractor /5 for the 2014 rainbow, and I'm just 3 cards away to fully completing the entire master Bowman Chrome Brian Dozier non-1/1 rainbow. Here's an updated look at the 2014 rainbow
This week I've been focusing on picking up some Pablo Lopez cards. Anyone that has talked to Lopez raves about how genuine he is, and he seems like one of the true good people in the sport. That always makes collecting a player all the more fulfilling, and that's reflected here with a couple of 2024 Sapphire parallels. Fun to knock out a big chunk of the rainbow in one shot!
And finally, last one for today - I picked up a 2022 A&G Rod Carew auto. It still absolutely blows my mind that you can find autographs of notable Hall of Famers for about the same price as a blaster, and that's something I've tried to take advantage of more this year. This card also marks the official start of yet another collecting sub-project - because lord knows I don't have enough of those already! But this one is to track down a copy of each Twins Allen & Ginter autograph and relic from over the years. I was looking through the Twins checklists, and really there's only a couple autographs that will be pricey or harder to find, and everything else should be attainable in the $5-25 range. On the relic side, there's a bunch of them, but pretty much everything should be 10 bucks or under, so why not! Ginter is one of my favorite products each year, one of the sets that helped bring me more seriously into the hobby in the 2000s, and I'm also
chasing all the Twins Ginter minis over the years, so bringing in the autographs and relics was just the natural next step
If you followed along at all this year, thank you! Right now, I'm not sure if I'll create a thread for myself in 2025 or not. I do enjoy being able to scroll through my past threads from time to time and look at where my head was at and what I was focusing on, but it has increasingly felt like I'm just going it for myself, so not sure yet if I'll buck the tradition next year or not. I'll probably post some pickups here and there in some form, but maybe a little more selectively or maybe wrapped into the annual Twins thread. Not sure yet
But maybe that leaves me with one more little brain dump for 2024 first - if you see someone doing something you think is cool, tell them! I know for myself, I am plenty content collecting for me and what I like, but it always takes things to a next level if I can connect with others that think similarly or have an appreciation for what I'm doing. And to all that have reached out to me in one form or another this year, thank you! It always gives me a little boost to help keep me going. I have tried to get better over this year reaching out to others as well. Cards are sweet, but connection is what it's all about