Goals: Finish What I Started 34 Years Ago

I returned to collecting cards in early 2011 after stopping roughly in 1983. I got swept up in new cards and discovering what I had missed in the 28 years I was gone.

I chased Heritage 2011 - and, of course, I'm still working on the short prints. I had fun with the flagship set of 2011. I dabbled heavily with A&G 2011 and Gypsy Queen 2011 - especially the cool paper frames. Some Lineage, too.

Then 2012 arrived and I felt lost. I didn't much care for anything and felt some burn out.

So, I fine-tuned my focus. It was easy really, pursue what always makes me smile.

Vintage and the sets of my youth (arguably vintage as well).

To me, vintage is either anything from the year I was born (1968) and earlier or from the year I stopped collecting - 1983 - and earlier. I can't decide.

At many local card shows, I've grabbed old cards here and there. Guys I had heard of - stars and semi-stars - and just cool looking cards I've found. I tend to focus on Reds and Tigers (my teams) and Cubs (my Dad's team and my still-living Grandpa's team).

But I also have renewed my focus on finishing the sets of my youth. 1976, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983. As for 1977, I never had too many of them, so I bought a hand-collated set in the fall of 2011 at a garage sale. Through some other buys, please note I have a small collection of '77 dupes.

My top priorities right now are to finish 1976. I'm very close now and this is the set from which my other Grandpa had brought cards home for me from a garage sale in the early '80s. This is a very sentimental completion goal for me. I wrote all about it not long after starting to collect again.

Next priorities are to finish 1978 - the first cards I ever brought home from drugstores - and 1981 - a set I've always just had a fondness for and one I'm closer (although still far) to completing. 1979, 1980, 1982 and 1983 are taking a backseat - although I'd be happy to get them.

Many of my cards from my childhood sets were wiped out years ago in a basement flood. Sigh.

While I always took supreme care with my cards, I made up games with them and held them often. A few '81s suffered the consequences. Take Chet Lemon, for example. 

Another card I loved.

Despite my loyalty to the Reds, I always respected the then-rival Dodgers (and the '81 All-Star strips and sweet mustaches).

Meanwhile, it's nagging me but I believe I owe a collector an email from way back when. Had some Tiger cards, as I recall. He's probably long gone but just wanted to apologize for forgetting to return the note.

Meanwhile, part two, anyone know what happened to JABO? I was involved in his cards-being-sent-around-the-country-project. I had mailed then overseas and they came back to me recently several months later. He seems to be out of the collecting biz now.

Finally, if you care to read my previous post and want to vote on some all-time Indians in my pet project, please take a look and then go to the poll. A few hours left to vote and then I think I'll tackle the Giants (if anyone cares to nominate a few).

Nostalgic Wax: 1981, The High Point

When Fleer and Donruss returned to the baseball card scene in 1981, I was annoyed. They were cheap imitators - never mind that I never actually bought a pack of either.

At 12, I wasn't quite paying attention. I had pre-pubescent things on my mind by this time. Don't ask. I knew nothing of card company court cases and monopolies. I think I mostly feared that Topps would go away and, to me, Topps was (ahem) tops.

I cherished my 1981 Topps. They were, well, groovy.

I loved the hat with the team name, position and team colors within it. I thought the photography was an improvement, certainly from the year prior.

I still love 1981 Topps. Even the still shots - and there are plenty.

In 1981, I was at the zenith of my childhood obsession with baseball cards. I collected for two more years but my interest was likely never higher than in 1981. I turned 13 that summer. Girls had hit my radar. By 1984, I was out of the hobby - returning only briefly with random pack purchases in 1988, 1989 and 1994 before coming back full steam last year.

In 1981, I spent countless hours toting around baseball cards, studying them. I was still concocting elaborate games - sort of my own private Strat-o-matic - using my cards. I'm certain that my 1981s spent more time in my hands than any other set. I know this because while 99.9% of the cards I collected as a youngster are in the best possible condition one could expect, several of my '81s show much wear and tear.

Clearly the cards directly above were among my most loved/most frequently used in my various games. No, I wouldn't mind crisp, clean versions of those cards - although I'll of course always hold these exact cards dear to me.

Stay tuned, in the next day or so I'll highlight a recent trade involving a fine shipment to help my growing '81 set collection. I'm still dozens and dozens and dozens away but considerable progress was made this week and I'm grateful for that.

1981 is currently my number three priority set to chase and once I find the final dozen 1976 cards I need, '81 will move to number three. At that point, 1978 will move into the top spot.