It's been awhile. I probably could have predicted my somewhat lengthy absence from the blogs. Every fall, the season change hits me hard in September, sapping my energy and motivation. So I just wasn't that into cards during this time. I usually end up doing more reading during this time, which was true again this year. I read a couple basketball books, but here are the baseball books I read this fall/winter:
My favorite of the group was Crazy '08, which is an interesting take on the 1908 season (the last Cubs championship season before 2016). The Worst Team Money Could Buy is about the 1993 Mets. It was a somewhat entertaining look at that team, but lacked some depth. The David Ross and Billy Wagner biographies weren't spectacular, but they were ok. I'm currently working on reading a biography of Luis Tiant, but since I've shifted my attention back to cards, it's been a little slow-going.
With spring coming and the days getting longer, my energy starts to come back and I get back into cards. It just follows this pattern every year. I have been working on my Frankenset, and am happy to announce it is complete! You can check out the checklist here. I hope to provide some additional posts in the coming weeks/months with some interesting facts about the set.
A belated thanks to Tom over at Waiting Til Next Year, who graciously sent some cards that helped me complete my 1984 Fleer Sticker set and come within one card of finishing the 1992 Diamond Kings. Hope to finish that off soon using a eBay gift card I have in the hopper.
I've shifted my collecting attention again to my Cubs all-time roster. I'm cataloging using TCDB and Baseball-reference.com, trying to find the specific cards I need that are in the "most attainable" category. I'm at 830 different players right now, and my eventual goal is to get to 1000. I think it's possible.
Hope you all are well. Thanks for stopping by.