If 2020 was about experimenting with new product, then 2021 will be about focus and restraint. Last year before the pandemic took hold, I bought box after box of Gypsy Queen because I could. GQ wasn’t around when I was a kid, so it was something new. Looking back a year later, I’m wondering why I spent a couple hundred dollars going after a set that looks like it has the same basic concept year after year instead of evolving. I won’t be completing Gypsy Queen in 2021.

I did however, fall back in love with Stadium Club. At the end of my collecting as a kid and young adult, I really liked both Gold Label and Stadium Club. What I didn’t like was spending $3/pack, but whatever. Stadium Club was especially nice because of the photography. So instead of going after Gold Label, in 2020 I chose to buy boxes of Stadium Club. And I’m glad I did. It’s a beautiful set, and I was especially pleased with the image selection. Stadium Club will remain in 2021.

The other sets I’ll complete this year will be Flagship and Heritage. The ‘72 Topps design for Heritage are going to be solid, and I’m really looking forward to when I can get my hands on it. The decision to complete Chrome will depend on cost. I might take the cash required for boxes and just apply that to the autos, and work on the set through trades and Sportslots. But we’ll see, I’ve personally pulled a couple of really nice autos the last couple of years.

Anyway, let’s get to the goals:

Establish www.apackperday.com and get into a routine of publication - A carry over from last year. But I really want to make more of an effort to write about my love for the hobby on a more consistent basis. I wrote about it last night, but in the blogging world, Inconsistency leads to Irrelevancy. So if I want to become relevant, I need to become consistent. As always, the challenge is carving out time after family and the day job.
Goal Difficulty Rating (GDR): Medium
Establish YouTube channel with pack rips, completions of sets, Mail Days, eBay sales - My kids still like the idea of us making videos together. I still want to do this, too. Finding the time and the dedication to film, edit, and post though. Wow. I don’t know how YouTubers manage it.
GDR: Very Difficult
Take 1976 Topps up to 200 cards - At the end of 2020, my 1976 Topps box has 98 cards, meaning the set is 14.8% complete. The goal for this year will be to at least double that, to 200 cards, including the Eckersley RC.
GDR: Easy
Complete remaining 1980’s Topps Base and put them in Binders - I want to complete my early 80’s Topps sets. As of today, this is where I’m at:
- 1980 Topps - 15 / 726 cards (2.1%)
- 1981 Topps - 15 / 726 cards (2.1%)
- 1983 Topps - 62 / 726 cards (7.8%)
- 1984 Topps - 628 / 792 cards (79.3%)
- 1985 Topps - 671 / 792 cards (84.7%)
  GDR: Easy
Re-binder/Re-page all previously completed sets - We’ll give this another try. All it takes is funds. And time.
GDR: Easy
Identify 35-40 cards for my various PC’s - I’m done going down the eBay rabbit hole to buy cards just to buy them. I want the cards I buy to have personal meaning. So I’m working on a list of 35-40 PC Cards that I want to look for throughout the year. The cards I purchase will span the four major sports, and so far looks to favor the Denver sports market. These are the guys I love (or loved) watching though. The list does include a 2011 Trout and the ‘84 Fleer Puckett, but this is what I’ll be working on when not trading for set cards.
GDB: Medium
Get all cards sorted numerically and uploaded to TCDB - Time and dedicated effort. Trading with other collectors is one of the things I enjoy most about the hobby community. Especially helping other set builders. In order to do that most efficiently though, the cards need to be organized in numerical order so it doesn’t take an hour to find three cards in a stack of 1,000. And if I want to achieve more impactful trading on TCDB, then the cards actually have to be entered into my For Trade collection.
GDB: Medium
Complete 150 trades on TCDB - I joined TCDB in March of 2020. Over the course of the preceding 10 months, I have completed 214 trades. At times it can be overwhelming, and when that day comes where I have to go back to onsite work, I might not be able to spend as much time proposing trades with other collectors. Cutting back just a little, to 150 completed trades over the course of the year should be a reasonable goal.
GDB: Medium
Donate commons to Twitter Hashtag @Commonsforkids - I’ve got two medium flat rate boxes ready to go now. My hangup with this goal last year was not wanting to get rid of cards in my collection. That’s done. They take up too much space. I want the completed sets for the cards I have, but I DO NOT need the duplicates. The sets can be built over time. So as I go through and enter the cards in TCDB, if I have three or four of one card, they’re gone. At most I will keep one duplicate for trading. The rest need to find a new home.
GDB: Easy

So there they are. Nine goals last year, nine goals this year. Being focused will help build a collection I can be proud of.

Did you put together Hobby goals for 2021? I would love to read them, so drop me a note below. Don’t forget to leave me a link to your want lists. Lets work out some trades! Later.