State of the Collection, Looking Ahead

The last two days I've been looking back at what I've done with my collection during 2009. Today it's time to look ahead and set some goals.

First of all, I cannot keep up the pace of the past two years. They were catch-up years, as I worked to fill in what I missed during the years I was away from the hobby. Today I am pretty satisfied with what I've got and how it is stored. I really don't think I'll be getting cards in the bulk that I have over the past two years. Instead, I can focus on narrower things.

One goal is to keep getting the new stuff. That should be easier now that Topps has the exclusive MLB contract. The other companies are really going to have to wow me to get me to buy any of the logo-less stuff. From Topps in 2010 I expect to add to my base set, Heritage, Allen and Ginter, Chrome, Bowman, and Turkey Red. Since many of my team set binders are arranged by decade, I'll need to start several new binders.

A second goal is to add more unusual or odd-ball Cubs team sets to the collection. I'll write more about this in the future, but one of the sets I'll be chasing are the team-issued cards given out at Wrigley Field on Baseball Card Day. There are a few other odd-balls that I'll be looking for as well.

A third goal is to put the rest of the Topps complete sets in binders. I have to get 1986 - 2009 put away. I really like the accessiblility and the protection the binders give me. Putting the cards in binders also give me the opportunity to give everything a quick look and make sure I'm not missing anything.

Goal number four is to finish the Turkey Red 2005 set and to get a Topps Chrome 1996 set. It's mostly shortprint cards left with the Turkey Red, so I'll be adding to that a few cards at a time. I've been searching ebay weekly for complete 1996 Chrome sets, but in two months, not a single complete set has been listed. I may have to build that one myself.

My last goal is to enjoy what I've got and share it with you. Having everything handy and easy to get to should make that easy to accomplish that goal.

Goals are nice to have. Now comes the hard part - reaching them!