Yep, it’s been awhile since I’ve written. That’s okay. Life has gotten in the way over the last few months. You’d think being locked in your house would be conducive to blog writing, but the truth is I’m overwhelmed at the moment with the day job. This typically happens in my industry towards the end of the year, where everyone tries like hell to finish their projects. Tomorrow’s the start of another long week, but I’m feeling rested and ready to tackle those challenges.

But I thought I’d give a really quick update on the status of some things. Since the last time I posted anything, I have completed three sets, one of which including obtaining the final five short prints from 2019 Heritage! That one especially feels good, as those short prints are a real pain in the neck. The other two sets completed were 1986 and 1987 Topps. They’re all paged up in the binders, and looking mighty fine if I do say so myself. This means though, that I have moved back a year to 1985 Topps. I sorted through all the ones I had from childhood, and bought a 300 count starter lot off eBay. That was enough to get me started. As it stands now, I’m at 391/792 cards (which is 49.4%). I’ve already got the binder started because I thought I was over halfway, but I guess that’s close enough. I’m liking what I’m seeing so far. Tonight I made a 50 card purchase from a Sportslots seller, which I will probably do again next weekend and the weekend after that until I’m done. I don’t want to spend too much cash on commons, and Sportslots has definitely turned out to be the way to go in this fashion. Spreading it out weekly like this is easier on the wallet too. I’m patient in this regard. This complete set is 35 years overdue anyway.

The other major project is also slowly making progress. I am up to 47 of the 76 Rookie Card Autographs from 2020 Chrome. I buy one or two per week, which I am fine with. I’m slowly whittling down the cheaper cards, and have pulled the trigger on one of the big boys plus a half big boy (as in Trent Grisham below). And it’s a damn good thing I pulled a Randy Arozarena from my jumbo box that I opened. That dude had an incredible World Series, and what his cards did with all the flippers was flippin’ nuts! The scans below are the last two autographs I’ve picked up, and they’re both great. I really like the photograph on the Dylan Cease card, as it makes me feel like I am in the batters box staring him down. He’s also got a really nice signature.

2020 Topps Chrome Dylan Cease_RA-DCE.jpg

As for Trent Grisham, I really like the intense look on his face. It looks like he’s getting ready to flat hammer that pitch. And the fact that Topps was able to get him into a Padres uniform for Chrome when he was a Brewers in Series 1 means this pitch was probably delivered from a Rockies pitcher. Ha!

The signature on this one is pretty sloppy though. His “T” especially, as it looks like a “Y” to me. It’s got an overall scribbly feel to it. Where does the first name end and the last begin? It will be interesting to see what the value of this card does in 2021. Grisham had a really good season in this COVID restricted bubble, but can he keep it up for the full 162? If he gets off to a good start in April, I suspect this card will be harder to get at a reasonable price. But if he falters, well, then I overpaid. We’ll see, but I’d rather not take the chance. I just want to complete this project.

2020 Chrome Auto Trent Grisham_RA_TGR.jpg

So that’s it for now. I spent a little time yesterday making some more scans of the cards in my Mike Trout collection. Please check those out if you feel so inclined. Also, I’d be interested to know what you think of the photo captions on each card. Does it work for you? Let me know in the comments. I’m determined to do a couple of cards from my PC until all have been scanned, and I’m thinking I’ll caption them this way. I’m open to feedback here, so I can change if needed before getting too far down the road.

I’ll try to be back tomorrow. Work duties permitting of course… Until then, stay safe everyone!

JDM