Friday, July 20, 2018

What's YOUR Cardboard Bucketlist?

Recently, I talked about how I've always wanted to get to the National, more properly known as the National Sports Collector's Convention.

As I was typing, it got me to thinking about things I want to do in the hobby, a "Bucketlist", if you will. My list isn't long, but it's not going to be easy to do any of these...which is why I haven't done them already, of course.

  1. Attend the National. It should be the easiest, but it won't be. I went into more detail in "Burnout". 
  2. Convince the card companies to give EVERYONE active in the league at least one card a year. I would have to do some extensive research to figure out when the last time it happened for the NBA was, but I'm going to say it may have been 1991-92. I have zero idea for hockey, because I'm still learning. I don't mean to say that every set should be everybody- stars are stars for a reason- but everybody who gets into the NBA or NHL should get at least one card to commemorate that fact. 
  3. Get cards made for the other sports. There are 6 that get their seasons documented...there are dozens that might occasionally get one or two cards in SI for Kids or Goodwin Champions. That's not good enough...which leads me to number
  4.  Start my own card company. I realize that if I want it done right...I'm going to have to do it myself. I don't have the knowledge, capital or resources to make it happen, though. 
  5. Make my own custom cards. I know Panini really, really does not care about #2. Proof of this: They called a 330 card set in a 525 man league Complete-so again, I need to do it myself. I've started to work on this, but I have no idea how to size things or get them printed...the main and only real goal would be to make a card for the people who don't have a single one ever made. While I mostly am going on about the NBA here, there is actually much more need in NASCAR, which has almost nothing for the first 40 years of the sports' history documented on cardboard. 
  6. This is another I've discussed in the past. I still want to create a Museum and Hall of Fame for trading cards. This hobby has existed for about 140 years, it's more than time to recognize it's history. 
I didn't consider something like "Finish scanning everything and get my sets sorted back together for the first time since 2003" because, with enough time, I'll accomplish that. It's just something that needs time, not something that is challenging...but with how much work is involved, it could very easily be on this list. I estimate that I won't catch up until 2021, but it's probably going to be longer than that, as I still have around 50,000 cards awaiting scans, not even taking into account the stash I have built up for the Card of the Day project.

So what's on YOUR Cardboard Bucketlist? 

20 comments:

  1. Since these are bucketlist things, they're ludicrous goals I don't ever expect to accomplish but...

    1). Complete the New York Highlanders T206 team set.
    2). Have an autograph of every single Yankees prospect at a given moment in time (all of them, from the newest draftees to the newest international amateurs still in the DR/Venezuela/PR).
    3). Acquire a Bryce Harper autograph

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    1. #2 sounds like it would be really tough, as the rosters change constantly. Good luck!

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  2. Obtain an original Babe Ruth card from when he was on the Red Sox.

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  3. Great question. 1)Break a box of the 2011 Topps Baseball Update 2)Get rid of exclusive contracts (i.e. Topps with MLB) 3) Start my own company in which I could buy and sell cards 4) Get autographs in person of some of my all-time favorite players (Bob Horner, Yaz, Nique, Tom Terrific, Steve Bartkowski, etc.)

    I had to think some but this was great fun.

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    1. Yes, ending the exclusive contracts would benefit everyone in the hobby, and the leagues themselves!

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  4. I could not agree more on number 2, that is why I enjoy going back and collecting the early 90s cards, whether it was football, baseball, or basketball. You will not see a set like 1990 Pro Set football ever again, where punters and O-Linemen are getting their own card, and coaches too! Ever time a set comes out like Topps Total or Panini Complete it gets discontinued a couple years in. The only one doing a decent job right now is Topps WWE where you can get a complete roster.

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    1. That's why the early 90s are my favorite time in cardboard history. They did it right back then.

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  5. I looked at yours and thought, "wow, super ambitious and super unrealistic! I was going to say something like 'get a '57 Koufax.'" But now that I think of it, it might be fun to go huge and unreasonable. I think I may make a post out of this.

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    1. I was sort of hoping this would become a Bat-a-round, looking forward to seeing your post. I figured if it's a bucket list it had to be hard stuff, easy stuff would be done already.

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  6. Great list. A bucket list for sure.

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  7. I agree with your top item. That's mine for sure.

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    1. It'll be in new Jersey again in 2020...that's a haul but driveable from your area in one day. Maybe I'll get to that one as well. Probably not though, because...well, everything I talked about last time.

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  8. Great post. I've got a few ideas. Gonna write up a post and when I do... I'll leave the link here.

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    1. Awesome, I look forward to seeing it!

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    2. Here's my list...

      http://sanjosefuji.blogspot.com/2018/07/my-sports-card-bucket-list.html

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  9. Great list! Great Bat-a-round topic!

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    1. Thanks! I was kind of hoping it would take off as one.

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  10. Certainly ambitious, but I'm rooting for you! I have my own list ready to go for tomorrow's post!

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