Hollywood42's Rolling 2024 Pickups + Hobby Thoughts and Brain Dumps - Page 3

Hollywood42 · 12-27-2024, 09:06 PM

Thank you for saying that! Definitely share what you pick up if you decide to get more involved again!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Highlander23

Just read through the whole thread today! Enjoyed seeing all your additions through the year. I've gotten away from cards the past few years and focused on autographs...mostly TTM ones, but the siren call of cards has been luring me back recently so it was fun to see a collection like yours and how you put it together. Not sure what I will do next, but I would definitely encourage you to keep sharing.....it does connect with a lot more people than you think! I will definitely keep an eye out for Twins cards now as I get more stuff!!

I lucked out and got connected with a big Dozier collector. I still can't believe it, honestly! What Twins collector were you referring to? I've gotten to know a number of different people with similar collecting tastes, but always curious of who else and what kinds of collections are out there

Quote:

Originally Posted by Slette

Oh wow, and holy crap - I completely missed your Dozier pickups from a while back. Simply incredible. Did you get those from that big Twins collector who sold off a whole bunch earlier this summer?

Hollywood42 · 12-31-2024, 10:27 PM

It's time to cap off this thread and work on putting it to bed. I have a couple of different wrap-up posts that I like to do at the end of each year, let's start with reviewing my 2024 goals quick to get that out of the way:

1. Finish my Twins checklisting project through 2010

Context - I've been working on typing up my Twins needs from every set, from every year. I started with 1961 and have been working my way forward set by set. I entered the year having 1961 through 1996 complete, and where I stand now is partway through 2007

So, I didn't reach this goal, but honestly, I'm thrilled with this progress. I'm in the 2000s era where there were just so many different sets produced, so each year takes a ton of time. The number of sets will get better as I get into the 2010s, but then we enter the era of the undying list of parallels, so it's not going to speed up very much. I really only work on this checklisting project when I feel like it, as I don't want to be not enjoying my hobby time, so progress is sporadic. But I'm getting there slowly but surely, and maybe by this team a year from now, I'll be about all caught up

2. Process a small backlog of Twins cards

Technically a fail as I do still have a very small stack of cards on my desk to get through, but I made progress

3. Clear out non-PC cards I don't want/need

I'm going to call this a work in progress success. I recently got all of my non-PC stuff organized and loaded into Trading Card DB, and have been using that stuff as trade bait to turn into more Twins PC cards. And that's been a big success so far. I haven't drastically cut down my non-PC inventory, but it has slowly but surely been chipped away at, while being turned into cards I do want. It's also been fun to dive back into the world of trading, which is what helped me get into the hobby years ago

4. Start a Minnesota collection and add 15 cards to it, and 5. Start a method for telling the stories of my Minnesota collection

15 was a very arbitrary number, but my count is currently at 7. It's a battle because there are only so many hobby dollars to go around, and this year in particular presented a number of amazing, albeit expensive, opportunities for my Twins PC that I just couldn't pass up. But I'm content with this small start of a Minnesota collection. I did not share anything I've picked up for it yet, but I have visions of how I want to do this - I'm really excited to share more about it in 2025

So goal-wise, I'm maybe at a 50% success rate at best

but that's kind of how it goes. No regrets or disappointments here, I'm very content with my year in the hobby

At risk of putting far too much content into a single post, I also want to hammer out my top 10 pickups of the year. This is always a personal favorite of mine to look back at my highlights of the year, and this year was banging! This is by far the most challenging top 10 list I’ve had to put together. It was an insane year of collecting and by big card measures, by far my most successful! The first couple entries on this list start pretty innocuously, but it ramps up pretty quick. And so many are complete toss ups with how I decided to order them. I also tried to limit myself to single cards for each slot as best I can, but a number of things just made sense to group together, so I wasn't very strict about it. With all that said, let's get to it:

10. 2015 Topps Update Byron Buxton Sparkle SP RC

No long drawn out story behind this card, which I'm sure disappoints you all, this is just a card I had been hunting for a fairly long time and finally had the opportunity to pick one up this year. Key rookies are a big focus within my Twins collection so this is a wonderful fit!

9. 2023 Topps Gilded Collection Gold Framed Hall of Fame Autographs Rose Gold - Bert Blyleven, Jim Kaat, Tony Oliva

One of my trends that developed this year is starting to skip a monthly-ish blaster box purchase and instead go grab a Twins Hall of Fame autograph instead. The realization sinking in that I can have a big selection of really nice looking HOF autographs for the exact same price range as a blaster opened up a piece of my brain, and is something I did a handful of different times this year. These 3 were the first examples, each card coming in the $20-30 range. These cards all look gorgeous to me and it's awesome to add some ink of some franchise greats

8. 2016 Topps In the Name Relics Brian Dozier “O” 1/1

I have always loved 1/1 letter patches and really enjoy the opportunity to add them to the collection. It feels like prices have really risen on them over the past few years, but they're a ton of fun to splurge on every now and then. This Dozier "O" is my second Dozier from the set, joining the "Z" I already had - 4 more to go to have the full name!

7. 2007 Topps Allen & Ginter Minis Wood Justin Morneau 1/1

This is about where my top 10 list starts to heat up. Any other year and this is probably a top 5 item for me without much question. This year just had so much good! Allen & Ginter is one of the sets that helped bring me into the hobby more seriously in the 2000s, and what can I say, wood minis are awesome. With such hard to find cards, and such a competitive market for them, they are tough adds. This is my second Ginter wood mini in my Twins collection, but with no offense to Tyler Duffey, my first of a more significant player, and my favorite player no less

6. 2012 Topps Finest Rookie Autographs Printing Plates Black and Cyan Brian Dozier RC 1/1s

Spoiler alert, Doze is going to dominate this top 10 list, and if you’ve followed along with me this year, you know why! So many of these could be in just about any order. Here, we have the black and cyan auto plates from his 2012 Finest rookie card. Dozier only had rookie ink in Finest and Heritage High Number, and only Finest had 1/1 autos - and here are 2 of the 5 that exist. These alone would have been incredible pillar adds to my Dozier and Twins collection, but they're just the tip of the iceberg on the year...

5. 2002 Topps Pristine Gold Refractors Joe Mauer RC /70

This is another one that would be a no-doubt top 3 selection in any other year. I’ve been prioritizing over the last year or two hunting Mauer rookies I'm missing, and I did a pretty good job last year filling in a lot of gaps of the more common cards. Which mostly just leaves me missing some of the bigger rookies now. This may have been my only new Mauer rookie on the year, but I absolutely love it. I think the early Pristine cards are a little underrated and I was thrilled to land this one! The other two Mauer Pristine Golds remain high on my list, as does Red and Blue Bowman Best autos, and someday, a Bowman Chrome X-Fractor auto. It’s getting pricey! But this tier of rookies is a ton of fun, and Mauer's induction into the Hall of Fame earlier this year just makes it even sweeter

4. 2012 Bowman Sterling Canary Anniversary Refractor and Red Refractor Brian Dozier 1/1 RC

This year was incredible for some Brian Dozier adds, and these are a few of my favorite pieces. Doze is in my top 3 favorite Twins of all time, and landing some of these still feels surreal. It’s a feeling I likely won’t replicate anytime soon, as the other Twins in my top 3 just don’t quite fit the same mold in terms of what cards exist and if they are going to be realistic to pick up - Morneau’s only big rookie (2001 Bowman Chrome Gold Refractor) is tough to find but will be doable someday, while Mauer’s hardest few rookies will probably never be in my collection due to price. So being able to track down some of Doze’s absolute best cards sure is unique. Bowman Sterling probably doesn’t have much hobby interest in general, but I think these cards look very nice, and I absolutely love the Canary Anniversary Refractors pattern

3. Brian Dozier Superfractor mania

2014 Bowman Chrome Superfractors 1/1
2016 Topps Chrome Superfractors 1/1
2017 Bowman Chrome Superfractors 1/1
2018 Bowman Chrome Superfractors 1/1
2018 Topps Chrome Superfractors 1/1
2018 Topps Finest Superfractors 1/1

I mean, I look at these in my collection and I don't even know what to say. I'm truly just stunned to have gotten so lucky to add so many shiny gold circle cards of one of my all time favorite players. This is a year I will never forget.

2. A Ginter gold mine of 2006 Twins

2006 Topps Allen & Ginter Mini Bazooka Back /25 - Joe Nathan, Luis Castillo, Justin Morneau, Lew Ford, Joe Mauer, Nick Punto, Johan Santana, Shannon Stewart, Francisco Liriano, Harmon Killebrew

2006 Topps Allen & Ginter Mini No Number (print run 50) - Joe Nathan, Luis Castillo, Justin Morneau, Lew Ford, Joe Mauer, Torii Hunter, Nick Punto, Johan Santana, Shannon Stewart, Francisco Liriano

And more!

I formalized and started publicizing a collecting goal this year of completing Twins mini rainbows of all Allen & Ginter sets - the full Twins team set in each mini version from base minis down to Bazooka/Brooklyn Backs /25, from each year or A&G. It’s been a blast to work on this more seriously and I’ve made a ton of progress! With the most insane batch coming from the great @gintergoldfever on Instagram (go check him out if you're at all into A&G! He's working on a 2006 master set and is down to just a few more Bazooka Backs to complete his set) who generously worked out a deal with me for a massive haul of 2006 Twins minis, including 10 of the 11 No Numbers and 10 of the 11 Bazooka Backs. This truly felt like a once in a lifetime type of mailday and I won’t forget the excitement of opening up the package when the day finally came! I’m left with one No Number and one Bazooka that will be tough to find, and a handful of Blacks that I just need to pony up the $5-20 each for, and then the 2006 Twins run will be complete. I have no idea how long it’ll take, but it’s all part of the journey. And this was an incredible chapter.

Here's the majority of the specific cards I got in this deal:

And here's where the full 2006 Twins mini master set stands today:

1. 2012 Bowman Draft Chrome Superfractors Brian Dozier RC 1/1

It was an absolutely insane year of collecting Dozier, and this piece was the one to top it all off. I am usually pretty content to slow play most cards, figuring (naively, perhaps), that most things will surface eventually and I’ll have a chance to pick up most of what I want someday, whether it’s tomorrow or 10 years from now. But 1/1s are just different. Because, well, there’s only one of them. When they pop up, you don’t know if you will ever get the opportunity again. So when you get the chance to pick up perhaps the best card in existence of one of your favorite players, you take that chance immediately. And you look at that card every day. This is another one that I look at and still just can't believe is in my collection, and as completely excited as I am to have it, I just don't know what to say!

Thank you to everyone who followed along with my collecting journey this year! It has been an incredible ride and was the busiest, most exciting year of my collecting life so far. I have a lot of gratitude for how it played out, and excitement for what the future holds!

Tomorrow I'll post up one more final year-end summary post that I like to do, sharing some stats of my collection additions this year, what the most common players I added to the PC were, and so on. But I won't officially add any more new cards to the collection in the next 3 hours, so that closes the book on my 2024 pickups!

StateEx · 12-31-2024, 11:39 PM

Very cool stuff. I've enjoyed periodically checking in and am always impressed by what you're finding. That Mauer 2002 is awesome!

Hollywood42 · 01-01-2025, 10:59 AM

Thanks very much, I appreciate it!

Quote:

Originally Posted by StateEx

Very cool stuff. I've enjoyed periodically checking in and am always impressed by what you're finding. That Mauer 2002 is awesome!

Time for the last post in this thread, barring any residual conversation that may come - my year in stats! I'm a numbers guy and it's always fun for me to see how the year shook out

Total cards added in 2024: 711 (up from 2023's 547, but both are still down from ~1,500 in each of the several years prior)
Month with most new cards added: September (196)
Month with least new cards added: January (4)
Number of different days with a card added to the collection: 74 (20% of total days this year)
Top 5 players added by # of cards
1. Miguel Sano: 81
2. Justin Morneau: 40
3. Byron Buxton: 37
4. Joe Mauer: 25
5. Brian Dozier: 24
Total unique players with a card added in 2024: 123
# of ___ added in 2024:
- Autos: 27
- Relics: 5
- Rookies: 117
- Numbered cards: 214
- 1/1s: 23
Top 5 years added by # of cards
1. 2024: 120
2. 2022: 108
3. 2023: 79
4. 2006: 49
5. 2021: 39
Top 5 sets added by # of cards
1. 2024 Allen & Ginter: 47
2. 2006 Allen & Ginter: 35
3. 2020 Allen & Ginter: 32
4. 2022 Allen & Ginter: 30
5. 2024 Topps: 27
Top 5 set/subset added by # of cards
1. 2024 Topps base: 23
2. 2023 Topps base: 16
3. 2024 Allen & Ginter Minis: 13
4. 2022 Topps Chrome Platinum Anniversary base: 12
5. 2010 Allen & Ginter Minis No Number: 10
First card added in 2024: 2023 Topps Gilded Collection Gold Framed Hall of Fame Autographs Rose Gold Bert Blyleven (1/4/24)
Last card added in 2024: 1973 Topps Dan Monzon 469 (12/28/23)

Always fun for me to look at the numbers and see what sticks out. Miguel Sano isn't someone I set out to add a lot of cards of this year, but is largely propped up by a very generous collector who sent me a care package loaded of a ton of his cards. Allen & Ginter dominates this list after focusing on my mini rainbows quite a bit this year. And only adding 4 cards to my collection last January is probably a record monthly low for me! But beyond that, no real surprises here, but always a lot of fun to look back on

Thanks again to everyone who followed along this year! With your encouragement, I will keep these threads going in 2025. Not sure if I'll get that thread up today, tomorrow, or next week, but it's coming. Happy New Year!

12-31-2024, 10:27 PM	#52
Hollywood42 Member Join Date: Mar 2013 Location: Minnesota Posts: 39,459 Hollywood42	It's time to cap off this thread and work on putting it to bed. I have a couple of different wrap-up posts that I like to do at the end of each year, let's start with reviewing my 2024 goals quick to get that out of the way: 1. Finish my Twins checklisting project through 2010 Context - I've been working on typing up my Twins needs from every set, from every year. I started with 1961 and have been working my way forward set by set. I entered the year having 1961 through 1996 complete, and where I stand now is partway through 2007 So, I didn't reach this goal, but honestly, I'm thrilled with this progress. I'm in the 2000s era where there were just so many different sets produced, so each year takes a ton of time. The number of sets will get better as I get into the 2010s, but then we enter the era of the undying list of parallels, so it's not going to speed up very much. I really only work on this checklisting project when I feel like it, as I don't want to be not enjoying my hobby time, so progress is sporadic. But I'm getting there slowly but surely, and maybe by this team a year from now, I'll be about all caught up 2. Process a small backlog of Twins cards Technically a fail as I do still have a very small stack of cards on my desk to get through, but I made progress 3. Clear out non-PC cards I don't want/need I'm going to call this a work in progress success. I recently got all of my non-PC stuff organized and loaded into Trading Card DB, and have been using that stuff as trade bait to turn into more Twins PC cards. And that's been a big success so far. I haven't drastically cut down my non-PC inventory, but it has slowly but surely been chipped away at, while being turned into cards I do want. It's also been fun to dive back into the world of trading, which is what helped me get into the hobby years ago 4. Start a Minnesota collection and add 15 cards to it, and 5. Start a method for telling the stories of my Minnesota collection 15 was a very arbitrary number, but my count is currently at 7. It's a battle because there are only so many hobby dollars to go around, and this year in particular presented a number of amazing, albeit expensive, opportunities for my Twins PC that I just couldn't pass up. But I'm content with this small start of a Minnesota collection. I did not share anything I've picked up for it yet, but I have visions of how I want to do this - I'm really excited to share more about it in 2025 So goal-wise, I'm maybe at a 50% success rate at best but that's kind of how it goes. No regrets or disappointments here, I'm very content with my year in the hobby At risk of putting far too much content into a single post, I also want to hammer out my top 10 pickups of the year. This is always a personal favorite of mine to look back at my highlights of the year, and this year was banging! This is by far the most challenging top 10 list I’ve had to put together. It was an insane year of collecting and by big card measures, by far my most successful! The first couple entries on this list start pretty innocuously, but it ramps up pretty quick. And so many are complete toss ups with how I decided to order them. I also tried to limit myself to single cards for each slot as best I can, but a number of things just made sense to group together, so I wasn't very strict about it. With all that said, let's get to it: 10. 2015 Topps Update Byron Buxton Sparkle SP RC No long drawn out story behind this card, which I'm sure disappoints you all, this is just a card I had been hunting for a fairly long time and finally had the opportunity to pick one up this year. Key rookies are a big focus within my Twins collection so this is a wonderful fit! 9. 2023 Topps Gilded Collection Gold Framed Hall of Fame Autographs Rose Gold - Bert Blyleven, Jim Kaat, Tony Oliva One of my trends that developed this year is starting to skip a monthly-ish blaster box purchase and instead go grab a Twins Hall of Fame autograph instead. The realization sinking in that I can have a big selection of really nice looking HOF autographs for the exact same price range as a blaster opened up a piece of my brain, and is something I did a handful of different times this year. These 3 were the first examples, each card coming in the $20-30 range. These cards all look gorgeous to me and it's awesome to add some ink of some franchise greats 8. 2016 Topps In the Name Relics Brian Dozier “O” 1/1 I have always loved 1/1 letter patches and really enjoy the opportunity to add them to the collection. It feels like prices have really risen on them over the past few years, but they're a ton of fun to splurge on every now and then. This Dozier "O" is my second Dozier from the set, joining the "Z" I already had - 4 more to go to have the full name! 7. 2007 Topps Allen & Ginter Minis Wood Justin Morneau 1/1 This is about where my top 10 list starts to heat up. Any other year and this is probably a top 5 item for me without much question. This year just had so much good! Allen & Ginter is one of the sets that helped bring me into the hobby more seriously in the 2000s, and what can I say, wood minis are awesome. With such hard to find cards, and such a competitive market for them, they are tough adds. This is my second Ginter wood mini in my Twins collection, but with no offense to Tyler Duffey, my first of a more significant player, and my favorite player no less 6. 2012 Topps Finest Rookie Autographs Printing Plates Black and Cyan Brian Dozier RC 1/1s Spoiler alert, Doze is going to dominate this top 10 list, and if you’ve followed along with me this year, you know why! So many of these could be in just about any order. Here, we have the black and cyan auto plates from his 2012 Finest rookie card. Dozier only had rookie ink in Finest and Heritage High Number, and only Finest had 1/1 autos - and here are 2 of the 5 that exist. These alone would have been incredible pillar adds to my Dozier and Twins collection, but they're just the tip of the iceberg on the year... 5. 2002 Topps Pristine Gold Refractors Joe Mauer RC /70 This is another one that would be a no-doubt top 3 selection in any other year. I’ve been prioritizing over the last year or two hunting Mauer rookies I'm missing, and I did a pretty good job last year filling in a lot of gaps of the more common cards. Which mostly just leaves me missing some of the bigger rookies now. This may have been my only new Mauer rookie on the year, but I absolutely love it. I think the early Pristine cards are a little underrated and I was thrilled to land this one! The other two Mauer Pristine Golds remain high on my list, as does Red and Blue Bowman Best autos, and someday, a Bowman Chrome X-Fractor auto. It’s getting pricey! But this tier of rookies is a ton of fun, and Mauer's induction into the Hall of Fame earlier this year just makes it even sweeter 4. 2012 Bowman Sterling Canary Anniversary Refractor and Red Refractor Brian Dozier 1/1 RC This year was incredible for some Brian Dozier adds, and these are a few of my favorite pieces. Doze is in my top 3 favorite Twins of all time, and landing some of these still feels surreal. It’s a feeling I likely won’t replicate anytime soon, as the other Twins in my top 3 just don’t quite fit the same mold in terms of what cards exist and if they are going to be realistic to pick up - Morneau’s only big rookie (2001 Bowman Chrome Gold Refractor) is tough to find but will be doable someday, while Mauer’s hardest few rookies will probably never be in my collection due to price. So being able to track down some of Doze’s absolute best cards sure is unique. Bowman Sterling probably doesn’t have much hobby interest in general, but I think these cards look very nice, and I absolutely love the Canary Anniversary Refractors pattern 3. Brian Dozier Superfractor mania 2014 Bowman Chrome Superfractors 1/1 2016 Topps Chrome Superfractors 1/1 2017 Bowman Chrome Superfractors 1/1 2018 Bowman Chrome Superfractors 1/1 2018 Topps Chrome Superfractors 1/1 2018 Topps Finest Superfractors 1/1 I mean, I look at these in my collection and I don't even know what to say. I'm truly just stunned to have gotten so lucky to add so many shiny gold circle cards of one of my all time favorite players. This is a year I will never forget. 2. A Ginter gold mine of 2006 Twins 2006 Topps Allen & Ginter Mini Bazooka Back /25 - Joe Nathan, Luis Castillo, Justin Morneau, Lew Ford, Joe Mauer, Nick Punto, Johan Santana, Shannon Stewart, Francisco Liriano, Harmon Killebrew 2006 Topps Allen & Ginter Mini No Number (print run 50) - Joe Nathan, Luis Castillo, Justin Morneau, Lew Ford, Joe Mauer, Torii Hunter, Nick Punto, Johan Santana, Shannon Stewart, Francisco Liriano And more! I formalized and started publicizing a collecting goal this year of completing Twins mini rainbows of all Allen & Ginter sets - the full Twins team set in each mini version from base minis down to Bazooka/Brooklyn Backs /25, from each year or A&G. It’s been a blast to work on this more seriously and I’ve made a ton of progress! With the most insane batch coming from the great @gintergoldfever on Instagram (go check him out if you're at all into A&G! He's working on a 2006 master set and is down to just a few more Bazooka Backs to complete his set) who generously worked out a deal with me for a massive haul of 2006 Twins minis, including 10 of the 11 No Numbers and 10 of the 11 Bazooka Backs. This truly felt like a once in a lifetime type of mailday and I won’t forget the excitement of opening up the package when the day finally came! I’m left with one No Number and one Bazooka that will be tough to find, and a handful of Blacks that I just need to pony up the $5-20 each for, and then the 2006 Twins run will be complete. I have no idea how long it’ll take, but it’s all part of the journey. And this was an incredible chapter. Here's the majority of the specific cards I got in this deal: And here's where the full 2006 Twins mini master set stands today: 1. 2012 Bowman Draft Chrome Superfractors Brian Dozier RC 1/1 It was an absolutely insane year of collecting Dozier, and this piece was the one to top it all off. I am usually pretty content to slow play most cards, figuring (naively, perhaps), that most things will surface eventually and I’ll have a chance to pick up most of what I want someday, whether it’s tomorrow or 10 years from now. But 1/1s are just different. Because, well, there’s only one of them. When they pop up, you don’t know if you will ever get the opportunity again. So when you get the chance to pick up perhaps the best card in existence of one of your favorite players, you take that chance immediately. And you look at that card every day. This is another one that I look at and still just can't believe is in my collection, and as completely excited as I am to have it, I just don't know what to say! Thank you to everyone who followed along with my collecting journey this year! It has been an incredible ride and was the busiest, most exciting year of my collecting life so far. I have a lot of gratitude for how it played out, and excitement for what the future holds! Tomorrow I'll post up one more final year-end summary post that I like to do, sharing some stats of my collection additions this year, what the most common players I added to the PC were, and so on. But I won't officially add any more new cards to the collection in the next 3 hours, so that closes the book on my 2024 pickups! __________________ Collecting the Twins All my PC wants/haves available at hollywood42cards.com

12-31-2024, 11:39 PM	#53
StateEx Member Join Date: Jan 2022 Posts: 1,034	Very cool stuff. I've enjoyed periodically checking in and am always impressed by what you're finding. That Mauer 2002 is awesome!