the tall and the short of it

1989 was probably the year that i purchased the fewest number of cards in my almost 39 years of collecting.  i am pretty sure that i bought a single box of topps cards, and that was it. no fleer, no donruss, no score, no upper deck, and certainly no oddball issues like baseball talk.  that's why i was recently pleased to receive this kirk gibson card from night owl.

it was actually a couple more years after that before i was buying more than a box or two of topps flagship, but i quickly made up for lost time.  my box and pack busting peaked somewhere in the 2002-2005 range, i think, before i started to focus more on purchasing singles.  one of the releases that i bought a box of was 2002 topps 206 (part of which was released in 2003 if i recall correctly), and i am still trying to finish that set.  greg sent me an adrian beltre mini, which actually goes in the dodger binder

i'm not concerned about the minis as part of the set i am compiling, although i do have several.

these days, i'm good for buying a blaster or two of a few different products, and targeting singles through ebay, comc, sportlots, and trades.  this trade netted me a black parallel 2012 topps allen & ginter mini of clayton kershaw

which is very nice.

i'm not sure what 2017 holds in store as far as card purchases.  i've already bought 7 cards this calendar year, but no packs.  maybe i'll track spending like fuji and nick have discussed, just to see.

i do know that i will continue to refine my want lists in 2017 (coming soon 2004-2013 dodger wants), and i will remain open for trading!