team set completion to close out the year

it's been a while since i've not had an open order on any of the regular card shopping sites - ebay, sportlots, or comc - but that's where i stand at the end of 2018.  i do still have a few open trades, however i do not expect to see many of them result in return packages sent my way at this point.

there have been a few recent mailers show up from fellow bloggers - fuji sent a couple of cards in return for some stuff i sent him, including this 2015 topps museum collection sandy koufax card

the koufax is now the only dodger i have from this set, so i am a few away from a complete team set.

thorzul's trade me anything netted me some dodger inserts from 2018 topps update, including these cards

that tied a bow on the dodger team sets for the salute and the storybook endings insert sets, respectively.

night owl sent me the card i won in his recent giveaway along with this 2016 topps stadium club clayton kershaw isometrics insert

which is in and of itself a complete team set.

my comc order which had been growing since the summer was ordered on black friday so as to take advantage of the free shipping.  i used this order to pick up a wide variety of cards for my many collections, but at the same time grabbed the last remaining card/cards needed to complete a number of team sets:

1992 upper deck team mvp holograms (darryl strawberry)
1997 donruss elite (brett butler)

1997 fleer (mike piazza checklist)

1998 fleer sports illustrated (raul mondesi, mike piazza, dennis reyes)
1998 fleer sports illustrated then and now (paul konerko)
1998 fleer ultra (todd worrell, paul konerko)
1998 fleer ultra artistic talents (mike piazza)
1998 fleer ultra double trouble (mike piazza/hideo nomo)
1998 fleer ultra rocket to stardom (paul konerko)
1998 leaf heading to the hall (mike piazza)

1999 topps chrome (gary sheffield)
2012 topps gypsy queen (dee gordon)

2013 topps allen & ginter mini framed relics (matt kemp)
2013 topps tribute (adrian gonzalez)

2016 topps allen & ginter (zach lee)

i do not consider the 'no number' julio urias to be part of the team set, although i have my eye on one of those cards at the moment.

same with sportlots, where i have been buying and selling cards for the past several years. i've used the sportlots box option a couple of times now, and have been able to complete a number of team sets.  the latest is 1996 fleer ultra, thanks to this tom candiotti card.

i ordered that card twice. the first time the seller sent the wrong card so i had to order it again.

i had sort of unofficially targeted 1990's fleer ultra sets this past year as a series that i wanted to close out, and i came fairly close with just a few cards still needed for the 1997 team set.

finally, ebay. ebay has done a lot for my collection since i first found out about it in 1999.  i recently picked up a 1970 kellogg's bill singer card

that technically didn't complete my team set because i already had one of singer's cards, but it is encased as a psa 8 specimen, and i didn't want to bust it free.  so this singer now sits with the other 1970 kellogg's dodger cards in the 1970-1974 binder where it belongs.  not sure what to do with the psa 8 singer now.

of course, i also included a couple of new-to-me steve garvey cards in my comc order - both from 2003 donruss signature series

my collecting plan for 2019 is to focus on my steve garvey collection.

i will also check out 2019 heritage as the 1970 topps set is near and dear to me (it was the first set issued before i began collecting that i went back and completed), but i will most likely not pursue a set. dodger cards and hopefully team sets will still be a major part of my collecting in 2019, and i'll probably try to finish up my dodger topps chrome team sets from 1996 on - starting with 2003.  i picked up an eric gagne from that set with my comc order

plus refractors of kaz ishii

and andy ashby.

blue borders can't be beat when it comes to refractory dodger cards!

happy new year!