100k bDay

Hi there! Happy Jeff Fisher Day! Here are some quick thoughts I've had since my last post, and then I'll get to discussing my 100,000th card.

I do not like the new Blogger. I have switched back to Blogger 'Classic' for as long as allowed.

Holy sh!t my last post has over 600 views?!?!? I know I was away for a couple weeks, but I've had longer blogger breaks before. None of my previous posts had ever earned so many views in such a short amount of time.

New rule here at The Collector: Brie Larson leads off every blog post. At least until I can establish the cause of the sudden spike in views.

Speaking of The Collector..

Oh, my God, they found me. I don't know how, but they found me.

Has anyone been watching the NHL playoffs? It's crazy business. The Rangers, Penguins, and Oilers are done (but don't worry, one of them will probably land the #1 overall pick.) Happy birthday, Sidney! :p

We were about three minutes away from seeing the Maple Leafs eliminated until the Blue Jackets finished the game like a bunch of drunk high school kids forced to skate through a scrimmage ran out of gas. It's my fault. I read this headline in the Canadian media and instantly became a BJs fan. If the Leafs win a Stanley Cup and no one's there to see it...


Anyway, you're not here for hockey talk. You're here to see my 100,000th card, am I right?

I have meticulously cataloged my collection at least three times since December, adding everything that the Trading Card Database counts as a "card" - including cans, coins, tin packs, and stickers. Along the way I've realized that an exact count is practically impossible without losing a few battles to my OCD. I've got a number I'm comfortable with and I'm going from there:

A few weeks ago I made a deal with GCA of The Collective Mind, sending a handful of cards and $20 his way in exchange for a big box of cards from his hoard. For a minute it looked like card #100,000 would be in there.. but we didn't quite make it. 

My original plan was to list some cards on eBay in mid-late July, pile up some more PayPal cash, and purchase a significant single to celebrate this milestone just in time for my birthday. But then I got lazy and didn't list anything on eBay. 

I had $37 left in PayPal from previous sales, so I bought a card that I needed to finish a 13 year-old hockey set. The seller had multiple copies listed for months and had one left. I bought it. I paid for it. 

I didn't get it. The seller suddenly claimed that he was out of stock and refunded my money. Probably so he could resell it somewhere else for double the price. Par for the course in this godawful year. 

The price of retail boxes and blasters are out of control. There's no National this summer, and I haven't been to Target since February. I've opened exactly two boxes this year - a blaster of 2020 Gypsy Queen the Easter Bunny/my wife gifted me, and a box of 1993 Leaf Series 2 baseball which cost me less than a blaster ($19 shipped.)

And so I emptied out the piggy bank for ten packs of penny sleeves and this box of 2018 Topps Opening Day, which will contain card #100,000:

I'm working on the 2015 and 2019 Opening Day sets, and 2018 is one of my favorite recent flagship issues. Since I've only got 33 of the 200 cards in the 2018 OD set I should be able to complete the set and have a manageable stack of duplicates left over. 

There are seven cards in each pack, so the milestone card should be in pack #8. Kinda fitting since today is 8/8.

And here it is:

Hopefully I'll pull a dupe so that I can complete the set while setting this J.P. Crawford RC aside for posterity. I'm going to leisurely open the rest of the box throughout the weekend so I'll have a box break recap on my actual birthday. But this was a nice pre-bDay treat (and it arrived two days earlier than expected.)

 
Thanks for reading, and have a great weekend!





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