2018 Grades
5. Get to 10 Bowman Chrome Luis Torrens base autographs
A
Finished the year at 17.
4. Get to 10 Filip Chytil Young Guns rookies
F
Never bothered to get more than the two I already had. This is why your goals should never be specifically about the cards you're super focused on at the time of establishing your goals.
3. Zero boxes or full priced blaster boxes
F
Bought a hobby box of 2018-19 Upper Deck MVP, a blaster box of 2018 Bowman and two blaster boxes of 2018 Topps Stranger Things Series 1. My soul hurts just typing that out.
2. No more card shows
F
Went to two. At least the two I went to were great though.
1. Budget!
F
Don't think I went a month where I didn't buy cards in some capacity. I kept the purchases low-ish (other than in August when team sets came out for the MiLB teams) but woof, I need to set more specific parameters with how to spend money.
Well that was disappointing.
Unrelated Scan #2
2019 Goals
6. Get to 20 Bowman Chrome Luis Torrens base autographs
Giving myself an extra sixth goal this year. I'm only three cards away from hoarding 20 LT BoChro-Prospect Autographs. It's so close I can taste it!
5. Go a whole month without buying any baseball cards
Tried this once and worked. Gonna do it again.
4. $50 budget cap per month (Except August)
I'M INCLUDING STAMPS, ENVELOPES, INDEX CARDS AND SHARPIES INTO THE CARD BUDGET THIS TIME. TTM SUPPLIES AND IP AUTOGRAPH SUPPLIES COUNT TOWARDS THE BUDGET. ADJUST YOUR CARD BUDGET ACCORDINGLY, KENNETH!
3. Keep it to two blaster boxes (at most) for the year
Every now and then I get the itch to rip (and stock up on wrappers). The idea is to avoid hobby boxes or anything even more expensive than that and stick with blasters. One blaster box might not be enough to quell my hunger should something cool like Stranger Things Season Two come out, so I'm giving myself a generous two box limit. Of course the obvious loophole here is that loose packs and even rack packs are fair game. I assure you all that I will exploit that loophole a lot, because I've been doing so since 2014.
2. Reach 100+ TTM's
Since I started collecting TTMs in 2013, I've had an unending streak of 100+ returns per year. Gonna try to keep it going this year too.
1. Keep Blogging
Halfway through the year I realized that I had a legitimate shot at blogging at a consistent rate for the entire year. Something I hadn't been able to do since 2015. The idea was to blog on every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, along with extra posts mixed in for various occasions. I'm not sure if I can keep it up in 2019, but it was nice to know that I managed to reach double digit blogposts for every month in 2018 during a year when every other blog appeared to start slowing down and in some cases shut down completely for prolonged periods of time. The loose goal I've got in mind for next year is to at least reach 10 blogposts per month. Think I can do that.
So there we go. I think the 2019 goals are a lot more obtainable than they were in 2018. Wish me luck. I wish all of you luck with your goals as well.
As always thanks for stopping by and take care :).
You're too hard on yourself!
ReplyDeleteBest of luck in 2019!
I mean, I'm a results guy. Effort is one thing, but I go by what ended up happening (either it did or it didn't).
DeleteHere's to the future!
ReplyDeleteCheers.
DeleteYou're Goal #2 is quite impressive. I'm still hemming and hawing over whether or not to send one to Ken Rosenthal or not. Thanks for the tip on the address by the way.
ReplyDeleteGood luck in 2019 with your goals!
Good luck if you ultimately decide to send it out. Rosenthal would be a fine TTM addition if you ever get it back.
DeleteGood luck to your other 2019 goals too BTW.
Some of those above goals (don't buy cards for a month) I did last year without even knowing I did it. Lack of time and money is a bitch. ... Good luck!
ReplyDeleteI've gone nearly half a year without buying any cards. For me it's all about self control and realising that I really don't need everything.
DeleteI personally find it hard staying away from retail. Like I know it's the worst value for your dollar... but the thrill of busting packs is so tempting. I like that you set a realistic goal of 2 blasters for the year. I might try this in 2019. It's definitely saying I'm avoiding them, but giving me the flexibility to crack under temptation twice during the year.
ReplyDeleteAnyways... best of luck on your 2019 goals!
For me the real trouble is laying off impulse buys on eBay. I don't have too many retail outlets near my house or anywhere I frequent so I can avoid them. But once I see something neat on eBay... woof.
DeleteAs for the blasters, I still think going after them over a hobby box is better should a Stranger Things Series 2 come out. So I wanted to give myself some breaking room for that.
After seeing what a complete set (with all 3 insert sets) sell for on eBay... I'm gonna forego building the set and just buy it. Obviously less fun... but I need the extra money for my eBay purchases.
DeleteI like the $50-per-month budget idea. Though I'd probably have to exploit a loophole limit that one to non-card-show months.
ReplyDeleteI'd encourage everyone to set a specific limit per (insert time period of choice here). It really helps to keep you in focus for the months where nothing important is coming up/there.
DeleteStranger Things Season 2 releases 3 April. I already have my preorder in. Time to start saving.
ReplyDeleteHmm, I think I'll just buy the completed sets this time.
Delete