2019 Collecting Goals

It's a new year, and that means arbitrarily re-assessing my collecting goals, and this year's goals certainly fall into cliche New Year's Resolution territory.

1 - Get a handle on the Player Collections

I've got several official and unofficial player collections over several sports. I just added this Fernando Romero On Demand online exclusive from eBay. Do I have a list of the cards I have of Romero? No. When I see a card on COMC or eBay or at a card show that has Romero on it, do I know if I have it or not? Nope! So before I start buying a bunch of singles, I need to organize want lists. So, a goal by this time 2020 is to have all of my player collections listed.

2 - Get Crackin' on the Bat Rack Frankenset

So far, I'm on page 2 of a bat rack Frankenset. I've been on page 2 for I think about 3 years now? In 2019, that will change. I've been making a nice stack of bat rack cards - I just need (once again) get a definitive list going of what I have and what I still need.

3 - Finish the 1959 Topps Set

This is the first one I'm not sure I'll be able to do in a year's time, but goals shouldn't be too easy- it's better to pick something challenging to strive towards, so there's a sense of accomplishment in achieving it. I'm currently at 375 cards in the set, roughly 65% complete. It would be nice to finish in 2019, on the 60th anniversary of the set.

4 - Make a significant dent in the 1964 Topps Venezuelan Set

In 2018, I added 0 cards to this set build. Granted, no one has any locally. The only way to add cards to this collection is buying online. It can be tough to gauge condition from a photo, and the cost for the cards including shipping can pile up quickly. But Zero? C'mon man. I know for a fact I won't finish the set this year - the bigger names are way beyond my budget. But I want to set a goal of 5 completed pages in 2019. That should be possible, assuming I can find decent examples for decent prices. I'll admit the political situation in Venezuela has made me hesitant to chase this set too hard - I see a lot more of these on sale lately on eBay, shipping directly from Venezuela. The country is experiencing major inflation issues, and I felt guilty about possibly taking advantage of people desperate for basic necessities. So I didn't even really look at listings. I probably missed some "good deals" that way.

5 - Re-organization / Overhaul the Collection's Infrastructure

I have some cards in albums, some in boxes, cards piled on tables, cards in no particular order. Cards I want to trade / give away mixed in with cards I want to keep. I want to install some new shelving to be a better fit for the Monster Boxes I have, as well as add more boxes to manage all the overflow. I want to add several more albums and fill them with player collections. Right now, everything is in chaotic disorganization., making it very hard to make trades or even just find cards that was sure I already had in my collection.


In general, I want to make a greater effort to collect with a purpose, while still enjoying the hobby in a highly subjective and completely arbitrary fashion.

Any tips on any of the items above? What collecting goals are you working on for 2019?