I don't buy much 2013 Topps Mini Baseball, but when I do...

... I buy Braves relics, such as this nice Brandon Beachy mini relic.

Sunday Verse

PHILIPPIANS 2: 3-4

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

Blogger Generosity: Cardboard Hogs

Gotta love trying to play catch up.  So many of you have already saw the picture of my work desk with the stacks and stacks of cards.  Last night I was working in my room trying to make sense of the mess I've created and I uncovered even more cards that I forgot I had!  Who knew one guy coming back into the hobby a few years ago could accumulate so many cards?!  Most of the cards were generously sent to me by fellow bloggers, which leads me to today's post.

Kenneth of Cardboard Hogs, a blog I've only known about for a few months now, was gracious enough to send me some free 2013 Topps Allen & Ginter.  Being a Redskins fan, I don't see much baseball on his blog, but recently he opened a few packs of A&G and didn't want to keep 'em...so to the mailbox they went.

I still haven't collated the box of A&G I bought so I don't know which of the cards sent I need for my set, but here are a few cards I pulled out of the bubble mailer to share.  What would a post on this blog be without a Brave?  I believe Hank Aaron fits that bill quite well.  Tommy Lee...just because I wanted to show his card.  The Across the Years set is one I'm still on the fence whether I want to build or not.  No mini inserts, but I'll take the Civilizations of Ages Past and Martial Mastery cards.  The 3 minis will eventually end up on my trade list, but I'm not ready to start trading again so just sit tight if you're interested.

I made lots of progress getting ready of other clutter in my room last night.  I hope to be able to really tackle the cards within the next few weeks.  In the meantime expect more "catch up" posts such as this.

I'm sure the bullpen really misses this guy

The Braves could have clenched yesterday with a sweep of the Nationals...yet the Braves were the ones swept.  The magic number still stands at 4.  I'm not one of those fans that is yelling all doom and gloom, but the bullpen did get roughed up by the Nat's bats.  Venters I'm sure is missed, but now even more so than ever.

By the way, I think I knew Panini had the Pinnacle license, but when did this set come out?  This one flew under my radar, but then again everything card related has been flying under my radar of late.  Still not a bad purchase for $.99.

Defeated!

That's the way I feel as I look at the stacks and stacks of cards on my computer desk at home.  Have you ever felt this way?  I'm at the point where I'm almost ready to just walk away from card collecting.  I still love, I really do, but I've just fallen so far behind on cataloging new cards and trade bait.  On top of that I feel as if this blog has become too much work and almost a burden.  I feel as if I owe all of you guys that have been so great to me something in the form of regular and entertaining posts.

I'm not a quitter though.  I will find the time to power through all of this, I may have to hold off on some of the blog projects I had going like scanning all of my Braves inserts, autos and relics.  Eventually I'll get back to semi-regular posting, I just don't know when that will happen.

I recently bought a rack pack of the new 2013 Topps Football and while I loved opening the pack, I just couldn't muster up the excitement that I had last year to want to build the set.  Thankfully though the recent box of Allen & Ginter I opened (and even a few packs of Garbage Pail Kids Chrome) have renewed my desire to keep collecting.

I guess going forward I need smaller and more concise collecting goals.  One thing that is apparent is I can't build (or attempt to) so many different sets.  I need to focus on one or two sets until they are done...or at least a few cards away from being done.  While I won't stop collecting my Atlanta Braves or my hometown Carolina Panthers and soon the be Charlotte Hornets again, I don't see myself searching out deals at card shows (that rarely come to my area) or online at eBay.  I'm still open to trading of course, but I've got to get my extra cards in order before I can attempt to do anymore trades.

The other realization I came too is I need to pair down my player collections.  I've expanded it way too large over the years so I need to reel that in a bit.  Eventually I'll edit the sidebar w/ the players I'm actively collecting.

So there you have it.  I just wanted to give a real update on why I've been absent of sorts.  I want to walk away, but I know I'll miss it if I do...so I just need to put in the time and effort to get caught up and then make the necessary changes so I won't feel defeated.