Blog Bat Around: What Do You Collect?

One of the most common questions I hear from people who don't collect cards ask me about my collection is "what do you collect?" Usually, I just say "Oh, I collect Red Sox cards here and there," mainly because it's a lot easier than explaining all the various factors that go into my collection. It wouldn't be easy to explain to non-collectors what a refractor and serial numbered card is, so I stick to saying Red Sox cards.

I've always wanted to talk about everything that I collect, which is why I was so glad that Night Owl started a Blog Bat Around about that very question: what do you collect? 

This will be my very first Blog Bat Around post and I'm very excited to be a part of it. Especially since I can go in-depth about nearly every aspect of my collection. 

Teams: Red Sox and Cubs

I've been rooting for the Red Sox all my life and they will forever be my favorite team. My dad is also a die-hard Sox fan, but he grew up near Chicago and has been rooting for the Cubs for decades. I  am a huge fan of both teams, but I'd root for the Sox if it came down to it. Regardless, these are the 2 teams that I heavily collect cards of and are the 2 teams that I will always seek out cards of. I don't know the exact totals, but the last time I counted each collection was at about 3,000 cards which I'm sure has grown quite a bit since I last counted. 

Craig Kimbrel Cards

I collect cards of many, many different players with some totals reaching well above 100 cards. However, I only super collect one player, because of how daunting a super collection can be. I never saw myself super collecting any player until I realized that it's pretty similar to player collecting, just a bit more serious. Because of these reasons, I began to super collect Craig Kimbrel at the very beginning of this year. Already, the Kimbrel Collection has grown to 101 different cards and counting. Kimbrel is scheduled to become a free-agent this offseason, but no matter if he resigns in Boston or not, I will definitely continue to super collect him.

Jackie Bradley Jr.

I can't say that I super collect Jackie Bradley Jr but I also have to say that he is a higher priority than my other standard player collections. Regardless, I collect Bradley pretty seriously and have accumulated around 30 cards of him since I started collecting him last year, included 2 graded cards. What makes my Bradley collection different from other collections is that I collect pretty much every type of card of him. Graded cards, prospect cards, minis, numbered cards, and inserts are are just some of my collection of Bradley cards which makes this collection very different from my others. 

Other Player Collections

Player collections make up the majority of what I collect. I have nearly 200 player collections of players that range from 4 cards (Rafael Devers) all the way up to over 400 cards (Nolan Ryan). I've been player collecting all my life and it's really been the player collections that have grown the most throughout the years. Each time I go to the show, my goal is to find player collection cards. All those times I look through the dime bins are to find new cards for my player collections. As a result, I've expanded these collections to about 4 different 5200-count boxes and counting, a total I certainly expect to continuously grow so long as I collect the players that have grown my collection in the first place. 

Besides player and team collections, I also collect a few vintage card sets. Each set is a different priority for me, and the order of priorities is, oddly enough, in the same order as the years they were released in.

1972 Topps

1972 Topps is the highest priority out of all my sets because of how long I've been collecting it and how close the set is to being finished. I've wanted to complete this set for years now, but I think this year could finally be the year I do it since I'm just 26 cards away from completing the 787-card set.

1975 Topps

1975 Topps is definitely one of the most colorful Topps sets of all-time, which makes it one of my favorite vintage Topps sets ever made. I'm a bit further back on the 1975 set than I am with '72, but 145 cards is not a huge total and should be reachable fairly soon.

1976 Topps

1976 Topps is one of the most underrated sets in Topps history and one of my personal favorites. I'm extremely far back on this set, way more so than '72 and '75, but I still would like to complete it. Just after I complete the 2 sets listed above. That being said, if anyone has 1976 Topps cards to trade I will gladly work out a trade for them.

1979 Topps

The final set is certainly not going to be completed very soon given the 3 sets above it aren't done yet, but 1979 Topps is a set I'm determined to complete someday. The cards typically go for a good price and the set is a reasonable 660 cards. However, I won't be able to prioritize this set until the 3 others are completed because the previous cards are older and will only climb in value.

3D Cards

The most prominent oddball cards in my collection are, without a doubt, 3D cards. These cards were some of the first cards I ever collected and have even expanded to 2 full binders of cards. They range from early 70's 3D cards like this Sam McDowell all the way up to early 2010's 3D cards of players like Matt Kemp and Joey Votto.

I certainly collect some cards other than what I listed above, but the rest is way more all over the place and has far less of a focus than the teams, players, sets, and oddballs listed above. I'm very happy with the balance I have in terms of what I collect now, but you never know, I could always find something new to seriously collect pretty soon.