BBA: Hobby Accomplishments

Zippy Zappy has launched the latest Blog Bat Around, giving us something of a greatest hits retrospective of some of his more intense collecting efforts (Go see his T-206 Highlanders team set). The goal of the BBA is to share your three proudest collecting achievements. Here are mine, and I honestly am not sure what order they should be placed in.

FINISHING THE RUN OF CHARLIE BISHOP CARDS

Bishop, an underwhelming pitcher for the Philadelphia and Kansas City Athletics, inhabits a branch of my family tree. I have collected an example of every baseball card depicting him, with most being the best or second-best known example in terms of condition. This includes an insanely rare, discontinued regional hot dog card. There are elements of this obsession that fellow collectors can empathize with, but I doubt others realize how personally proud I am of these cards.

 

COMPLETING THE 1993 FINEST REFRACTORS SET

I still marvel at putting this one together, completing the goal in 2024. 199 cards is a deceptively large checklist when it comes to hard to find items like these. They're not just regular cards. They occupy a special part of collectors' psyche and it makes turns them into a different breed of negotiator when trying to pry one away for your collection. I had to work to source those cards.

 

RUNNING WITH THE WALLET CARD IDEA 

I didn't start the wallet card idea, and I probably picked it up a few years after it largely disappeared. However, what I am absolutely proud of is taking it to extremes. I'm proud of the cards I picked ('86 Donruss Canseco; '85 Topps McGwire; '89 Upper Deck Griffey; '89 Fleer Billy Ripken, etc.). I'm proud of the list of cards that will follow in future years. I'm proud of following through on the idea of researching these selections far beyond the typical writeup. I'm proud of the adventures that I have taken them on (go read (or listen) the Billy Ripken post if you're not familiar with how that year turned out). I'm still building out a narrative voice for how I want this project to evolve, but these are truly the most fun I have had with cards.