{"id":6170,"date":"2020-01-06T09:00:12","date_gmt":"2020-01-06T09:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mojobro.com\/bigleaguecards\/2020\/01\/06\/inside-the-pack-hobby-goals-for-2020\/"},"modified":"2020-01-06T09:00:12","modified_gmt":"2020-01-06T09:00:12","slug":"inside-the-pack-hobby-goals-for-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mojobro.com\/bigleaguecards\/inside-the-pack-hobby-goals-for-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside the Pack: Hobby Goals for 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’m not big on making resolutions at the start of each year in my personal life; I find that they often fall by the wayside and I end up disappointed a few months into the new year. I do, however, make hobby goals each year. These encourage me to stay active in and excited about the hobby, but if I fall short, there’s no sense of personal failure. Last year, my main goals were to acquire an early-career Jackie Robinson card, display some of my favorite vintage cards in my office, and go to more local shows. The first two goals I excitedly met, but I fell short on the last one. So, here are my top 5 hobby goals for this upcoming year:<\/p>\n

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  1. Go to more local shows.<\/strong> Like I said, this one didn’t make the grade last year, so I’ll start with it again this year. I often get excited about going to smaller shows in my general area, but when the time comes to go, I convince myself it won’t be worth the time. When I do go, I’m usually wrong, as I often find things well worth the effort and energy at the show. My bias against smaller shows has likely prevented me from unearthing some good finds, so I want to make more of an effort to get to more shows this year.<\/li>\n
  2. Get more active on Twitter.<\/strong> There are tons of great Twitter accounts about the hobby, producing great content (blog posts, podcasts, etc.) that I typically miss. The only reason I know this community of Twitter users exists is that I hear people talking about it sometimes! I typically don’t do much hobby talk on social media since much of it is centered around breaks and razzes that I typically avoid, but I’d love to consume the other content that’s out there. (If you know of any hobby-related Twitter accounts worth a follow, please comment and let me know!)<\/li>\n
  3. Introduce someone to the hobby.<\/strong> Last year, my friend sort of happened upon the hobby and became a collector, but, as I wrote at the time, only of Allen and Ginter cards. While I’ve made friends in the hobby, I’ve never successfully introduced a friend from outside the hobby to collecting. Having this friend get into collecting was thrilling and exciting for me, as I had a new person to talk to about hobby-related things and I got the opportunity to see the hobby through fresh eyes. I’m hopeful that, between my friends and, as they get older, their children, I can find another person to introduce to card collecting.<\/li>\n
  4. Create a more focused collection.<\/strong> A few weeks ago I wrote<\/a> about how sometimes, just by virtue of having acquired a card, I felt the need to keep that card in my collection even if it didn’t really fit. It’s one thing when those cards evoke a strong memory, like the ones I mentioned in that blog post, but it’s another when I acquire a card with the specific intent to sell it, then decide to keep it. This happened recently with a 1932 Sanella Babe Ruth card I purchased. The price was good, and it was hard to resist, and I saw an opportunity to make about $50 on it. While I’ve always wanted to own a Babe Ruth card from his playing days, this card was probably top on my list of Ruth cards I had no desire to own: it’s oversized, you can’t see his face, and it’s a German issue from the year that the Nazi party became the largest party in the German government. (Just seeing the font on the back of the card makes me a little uneasy.) But, I got the card in the mail, and thought to myself, “Why would I sell a Babe Ruth card I got such a good deal on?” Now it sits on display in my room. At the same time, I passed on one of my white whale Duke Snider cards, an actual collection I have, because it sold for a few dollars more than I was willing to spend. I need to focus on buying things that actually fit my vision for my collection, and selling things that don’t (in order to get more money to buy things that do).<\/li>\n
  5. Go to the National.<\/strong> I’ve already got my room booked, but until I book the non-refundable flight, it isn’t “real” yet. I had a room booked last year, but ended up canceling and going on a trip with my wife instead. Trips with my wife are great — but the National is the National! This year I’m committed to going, setting up with my friends, and buying plenty of new things for my collection.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

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    I’d love to hear some of your collecting goals for 2020. Comment and let me know what you achieve this year!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    I’m not big on making resolutions at the start of each year in my personal life; I find that they often fall by the wayside and I end up disappointed a few months into the new year. I do, however, make hobby goals each year. These encourage me to stay active in and excited about […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6171,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"amp_validity":null,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mojobro.com\/bigleaguecards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6170"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mojobro.com\/bigleaguecards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mojobro.com\/bigleaguecards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mojobro.com\/bigleaguecards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mojobro.com\/bigleaguecards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6170"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mojobro.com\/bigleaguecards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6170\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mojobro.com\/bigleaguecards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6171"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mojobro.com\/bigleaguecards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6170"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mojobro.com\/bigleaguecards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6170"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mojobro.com\/bigleaguecards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6170"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}