Why do we care so much?

I haven't posted to this blog in 1,595 days.  That seems like enough of a break.  Maybe I'll pick it up again, maybe I won't, but I am on Twitter all the time and I have something to say that just won't fit in a Twitter rant.  

In my humble opinion, there are far too many Hobby Police on Twitter.  Too many people who tell people how to collect, how not to collect, how to buy, where to buy, etc. etc.  Who cares?  Who has the energy for all that Hobby Policing?  How about this....let's all just collect the way we want to collect.  

As the great Ricky Gervais once said, repeatedly, I don't care.  

I don't care if you sell on Twitter or Ebay or Mercari or out of a van....down by the river.

I don't care if you use Ebay for comps or make up your own prices...they are your cards!  Sell them, don't sell them, whatever.  

I don't care if you stalk vendors, camping out to buy all the retail and leave none for the kids.  News flash, this hobby hasn't been about the "kids" for a long, long time.  That doesn't mean I didn't try to get my kids involved, but nothing grabbed their attention.  C'est la vie.  Having said that, you won't catch me chasing retail like that, but then again, I don't have the time.  

I don't care if you post all of your retail finds and flex or don't flex or whatever it is that bothers people today.  If it really bothers me, I can scroll right by or, if it really, really bothers me, I can mute or block you.  Problem solved.  I don't typically do that though.  I generally reserve those features for the blessed souls who really rub me the wrong way.  You know, like most fans of a baseball team in the southeast portion of my state.  

I don't care if get your cards from  Ebay, COMC, thrift stores, the LCS, Blowout, trades with your cousin Vinny, or the big box store.  I do like to see them so show them off.  

I don't care if you like graded cards, hate graded cards, only collect vintage, mistakenly think vintage starts in the year 2000 (like my kids).  I don't care if you hate PSA, hate Beckett, love either of them, swear a PSA 10 is only a BGS 9.5 or any of a million other things that Twitter Hobby Police seem to care about.  

I could write a rather lengthy post about my pet hobby peeves, but I suspect most of you would think to yourself, "I don't care."

All I really care about is that you do the hobby however you want to do the hobby.  Just let others do the same.  

Time for the Medal Ceremony

With the 2016 Paralympics set to begin September 7^th and run through September 18^th, but the winner of the contest decided, I thought you might like to see who won.

Blaster 1 athletes earned 73 medals and have 7 paralympian cards to earn more.

Blaster 2 athletes earned 57 medals with 6 paralympican cards remaining.

Blaster 3 athletes earned 61 medals with only 3 paralympian cards to go.

That means that Blaster 1 is our winner and since no one got close to the total, I’ll award the Gold, Silver and…Silver prizes right now.  That’s right, we had a tie for 2^nd.

Tim B is your gold medal winner with a guess of 30 medals, with Night Owl and Fuji coming tying for the silver medal with guesses of 28 medals.  I’ll be working on prize packs for you guys.

Thanks for playing along!

Olympic Contest - Final Packs

There are 75 base cards in the Olympic set.  I’m going to list the athletes that did not make the Olympic team so everyone will know.  There are 16 out of 75 that didn’t make the team, were injured, retired, or are former Olympians.

5 Candace Parker – Basketball

17 Holley Mangold – Weightlifting

21 Matt Grevers – Swimming

27 John Orozco – Gymnastics

30 Tyler Clary – Swimming

39 Natalie Coughlin – Swimming

40 Abby Wambach – Soccer

52 Cullen Jones – Swimming

58 Summer Ross – Beach Volleyball

59 Emily Day – Volleyball

61 Bob Beamon – T&F

62 Rulon Gardner – Wrestling

63 Jenny Thompson – Swimming

65 Carly Patterson – Gymnastics

66 Gary Hall Jr. – Swimming

72 Leo Manzano – T&F

Final packs coming up…standings will be posted once I reconcile the numbers. Then we wait for the Paralympics to start. 

Blaster 1 Pack 8

Carly Patterson - Gymnastics

Alana Nichols – Para-canoe

Jenny Thompson - Swimming

Lex Gillette – T&F

Cullen Jones - Swimming

Brad Snyder - Swimming

Conor Dwyer- Swimming

Nathan Schrimsher – Modern Pentathlon

Michael Phelps bronze - Swimming

Nathan Schrimsher silver – Modern Pentathlon

Blaster 2 Pack 8

Matt Stutzman bronze - Archery

Sue Bird silver - Basketball

Ryan Lochte RELIC - Swimming

I wish this was an orange swatch so I could pretend it's from the Brazilian prison uniform he'll get if he gets extradited down there.  Dumbass.  

Blaster 3 Pack 8

Emily Day – Beach Volleyball

Gary Hall Jr. - Swimming

Megan Rapinoe silver - Soccer

Brad Snyder bronze – Swimming

Adeline Gray  TEAM USA PATCH #48/99 - Wrestling

Like this one a lot.  Team USA Patch, numbered /99 and it's Adeline Gray.  What's not to like?

Good luck everyone and GO TEAM USA!

Olympic Contest - Rollin' 7s

There are 75 base cards in the Olympic set.  I’m going to list the athletes that did not make the Olympic team so everyone will know.  There are 16 out of 75 that didn’t make the team, were injured, retired, or are former Olympians.

5 Candace Parker – Basketball

17 Holley Mangold – Weightlifting

21 Matt Grevers – Swimming

27 John Orozco – Gymnastics

30 Tyler Clary – Swimming

39 Natalie Coughlin – Swimming

40 Abby Wambach – Soccer

52 Cullen Jones – Swimming

58 Summer Ross – Beach Volleyball

59 Emily Day – Volleyball

61 Bob Beamon – T&F

62 Rulon Gardner – Wrestling

63 Jenny Thompson – Swimming

65 Carly Patterson – Gymnastics

66 Gary Hall Jr. – Swimming

72 Leo Manzano – T&F

Time for Pack 7s.

Blaster 1 Pack 7

Courtney Mathewson – Water Polo

Galen Rupp – T&F

David Boudia - Diving

Merrill Moses – Water Polo

Brady Ellison - Archery

McLain Ward - Equestrian

Haley Anderson - Swimming

Margaux Isaksen – Modern Pentathlon

Aly Raisman silver - Gymnastics

Gabby Douglas Gold - Gymnastics

Blaster 2 Pack 7

Brittney Griner - Basketball

Perry Baker - Rugby

Kami Kraig – Water Polo

Gary Hall Jr. Swimming

Emily Day – Beach Volleyall

Casey Patterson  - Volleyball

Melissa Stockwell - Paratriathlon

Justin Gatlin – T&F

Kim Rhode bronze- Shooting

Kim Rhode insert – Shooting

Blaster 3 Pack 7

Michael Phelps silver - Swimming

Claressa Shields RELIC – Boxing

Nathan Schrimsher bronze – Modern Pentathlon

Not a bad relic.  She has a real shot at the Gold Medal.

Good luck everyone and GO TEAM USA!

OIympic Contest - The 6 packs

There are 75 base cards in the Olympic set.  I’m going to list the athletes that did not make the Olympic team so everyone will know.  There are 16 out of 75 that didn’t make the team, were injured, retired, or are former Olympians.

5 Candace Parker – Basketball

17 Holley Mangold – Weightlifting

21 Matt Grevers – Swimming

27 John Orozco – Gymnastics

30 Tyler Clary – Swimming

39 Natalie Coughlin – Swimming

40 Abby Wambach – Soccer

52 Cullen Jones – Swimming

58 Summer Ross – Beach Volleyball

59 Emily Day – Volleyball

61 Bob Beamon – T&F

62 Rulon Gardner – Wrestling

63 Jenny Thompson – Swimming

65 Carly Patterson – Gymnastics

66 Gary Hall Jr. – Swimming

72 Leo Manzano – T&F

Here we are at pack 6…just like the Olympics, we near the end.

Blaster 1 Pack 6

Kim Rhode - Shooting

Danell Leyva - Gymnastics

Tatanya McFadden – T&F

Summer Ross – Beach Volleyball

Joe Kovacs – T&F

Ryan Lochte - Swimming

Jake Dalton - Gymnastics

Matt Stutzman - Archery

Megan Rapinoe bronze – Soccer

Conor Dwyer silver - Swimming

Blaster 2 Pack 6

Michael Phelps  - Swimming

Megan Rapinoe – Soccer

Maya Moore - Basketball

Leo Manzano – T&F

Jake Gibb – Beach Volleyall

LaShawn Merritt – T&F

Matt Stutzman - Archery

Aly Raisman - Gymnastics

Ryan Lochte bronze- Swimming

Mariel  Zagunis gold – Fencing

Blaster 3 Pack 6

Allison Schmitt - Swimming

Tyler Clary - Swimming

Jenny Arthur - Weightlifting

Tom Shields - Swimming

Phil Dalhausser – Beach Volleyball

Matt Grevers - Swimming

John Orozco - Gymnastics

Holly Mangold - Weightlifting
Cullen Jones bronze - Swimming

Natalie Coughlin insert - Swimming

Good luck everyone and GO TEAM USA!

Olympic Contest - How about a round of 5's

There are 75 base cards in the Olympic set.  I’m going to list the athletes that did not make the Olympic team so everyone will know.  There are 16 out of 75 that didn’t make the team, were injured, retired, or are former Olympians.

5 Candace Parker – Basketball

17 Holley Mangold – Weightlifting

21 Matt Grevers – Swimming

27 John Orozco – Gymnastics

30 Tyler Clary – Swimming

39 Natalie Coughlin – Swimming

40 Abby Wambach – Soccer

52 Cullen Jones – Swimming

58 Summer Ross – Beach Volleyball

59 Emily Day – Volleyball

61 Bob Beamon – T&F

62 Rulon Gardner – Wrestling

63 Jenny Thompson – Swimming

65 Carly Patterson – Gymnastics

66 Gary Hall Jr. – Swimming

72 Leo Manzano – T&F

Let’s move on to the second half of these blasters. 

Blaster 1 Pack 5

Aly Raisman - Gymnastics

Maya Moore - Basketball

Rulon Gardner – Wrestling

Kayla Harrison – Judo

Diana Taurasi - Basketball

Simone Biles – Gymnastic

Missy Frankin - Swimming

Claressa Shields - Boxing

Missy Fanklin bronze – Swimming

Michael Phelps insert - Swimming

Blaster 2 Pack 5

Sue Bird - Basketball

Mariel Zagunis - Fencing

Jake Dalton - Gymnastics

Elena Delle Donne - Basketball

Ryan Lochte - Swimming

Carlin Isles – Rugby

Abby Wambach - Soccer

Missy Frankin - Swimming

Natalie Coughlin – Swimming

Jake Dalton gold – Gymnastics

Jake Dalton silver – Gymnastics  It’s a Jake Dalton hot pack…why not Aly Raisman?

Blaster 3 Pack 5

Justin Gatlin – T&F

Casey Patterson – Beach Volleyball

Melissa Stockwell - Paratriathlon

Elizabeth Beisel - Swimming

Sarah True - Triathlon

Katie Meili - Swimming

Tori Bowe – T&F

Connor Fields – Cycling BMX
Conor Dwyer bronze - Swimming

Rulon Gardner gold - Wrestling

Good luck everyone and GO TEAM USA!

OIympic contest: Halfway through with the 4th packs

There are 75 base cards in the Olympic set.  I’m going to list the athletes that did not make the Olympic team so everyone will know.  There are 16 out of 75 that didn’t make the team, were injured, retired, or are former Olympians.

5 Candace Parker – Basketball
17 Holley Mangold – Weightlifting
21 Matt Grevers – Swimming
27 John Orozco – Gymnastics
30 Tyler Clary – Swimming
39 Natalie Coughlin – Swimming
40 Abby Wambach – Soccer
52 Cullen Jones – Swimming
58 Summer Ross – Beach Volleyball
59 Emily Day – Volleyball
61 Bob Beamon – T&F
62 Rulon Gardner – Wrestling
63 Jenny Thompson – Swimming
65 Carly Patterson – Gymnastics
66 Gary Hall Jr. – Swimming
72 Leo Manzano – T&F


Sorry for the delay in posting.  Two huge projects due at work this week.  And I’m done with one of them.  So here we go.


Blaster 1 Pack 4

Sam Mikulak - Gymnastics
Sue Bird - Basketball
April Ross – Beach Volleyball
Michael Phelps - Swimming
Steve Lopez - Taekwondo
Nathan Adrian - Swimming
Mariel Zagunis - Fencing
Carlin Isle - Rugby
Abby Wambach bronze – Soccer
Brad Snyder silver - Swimming

Blaster 2 Pack 4

Nathan Adrian – Swimming
Steve Lopez - Taekwondo
Claressa Shields - Boxing
Paige Salenski – Field Hockey
Kayla Harrison - Judo
Simone Biles - Gymnastic
Rulon Gardner – Wrestiling
Natalie Coughlin – Swimming
Claressa Shields bronze - Boxing
Sam Mikulak insert - Gymnastics

Blaster 3 Pack 4

Leo Manzano – T&F
Matt Stutzman - Archery
Maya Moore - Basketball
JakeGibb – Beach Volleyball
Perry Baker - Rugby
Kami Craig – Water Polo
Brittney Griner - Basketball
LaShawn Merritt – T&F
Margaux Isaksen bronze – Modern Pentathlon
Claressa Shields insert - Boxing


Good luck everyone and GO TEAM USA!