It started with the haul of cards that I purchased at the card show in Newark, DE.  The '83T Boggs RC, the '83F Sandberg RC, the '84F Strawberry RC, the '85T Gooden RC.  These were signature cards when I was a kid that I could never afford in a million years.  Now that I'm an adult, why did I still consider these cards to be well beyond my means?  A tweet by one of my Twitter friends, @waxtopia, about the '83T set made me realize that maybe I wasn't alone in thinking this.

For example, let's start with Don Mattingly rookie cards.  When I was a kid, Don Mattingly rookie cards might as well have been Mickey Mantle rookie cards.  They were THE signature card to own when I was a kid and they were far beyond my financial means at that time.  Do you know that up until last year, I had never owned a Mattingly rookie?  To this day, the only one that I own is his Topps rookie card.  Why do I still continue to think that his rookie card is unattainable?  Why haven't I picked up copies of his Fleer and Donruss rookie cards?  I'm sure the same could be said for a number of the star players from the mid-80's (Mattingly, Strawberry, Gooden, Puckett, Gwynn, Boggs, etc.).

When I started collecting again, after my late high school / college hiatus, I thought I would only tip my collecting toe in the water and focus on BGS 9.5-grade cards that I always wanted as a kid: Boggs RCs, Puckett RCs, Mattingly RCs, etc.  This way I could have that "dream collection" that I always wanted as a kid, but all the cards would be in top condition.  Along the way, I must have gotten distracted by Bryce Harpers, new Topps flagship releases, autographs, set building...you name it!  I'm starting to think that I should refocus some of my collecting efforts (and funds) to get back to what I originally set out to do.

I'd love to hear your thoughts.  What rookie cards (or cards) did you always want to have when you were a kid, but you still don't own? 

Well, it appears that April 18th is the site's two year anniversary.  I started this site roughly two years ago in an attempt to share my love for the hobby in the form of a blog, and have a central spot to highlight my collection, store my want / trade lists and track my TTM successes.  In the time since launching the site, my life has changed considerably (living in a new state, baby girl, job changes) and the frequency of postings and hobby purchases have fluctuated as a result.  Throw in the fact that my collecting focus has changed from time to time: graded Red Sox, graded vintage, current stuff, stuff from my childhood, complete sets, TTMs, Ginter, baseball, football, etc.  With all of these, I've really been thinking about what the future holds for this site, if anything.

So, I just re-upped for FIVE MORE YEARS!  I love this hobby.  It's long been a passion of mine, ever since I was a kid.  New 2014 Topps frustrates me.  I love dufex inserts from the 90's.  Ginter is so freaking cool.  Panini is making progress, although I still can't get over the lack of logos.  I'm loving the challenge of building sets.  I've started paging my sets in binders.  Still love BGS 9.5 and BVG 8.5 cards.  I'm passionate about the hobby and I feel like my opinion / thoughts / posts may be interesting to collectors.

Hope you won't get sick of me.  The hobby lives...