Fighting it... Going three rounds with Apathy...

So, it's been a long summer. The Astros have SUCKED... there is no hope in Mudville, there is no Casey on the roster or even in the minors... we're getting farmed out to the AL, to become another incarnation of the Royals, Blue Jays, and until this year the Orioles: once proud franchises on hard times with nothing to do but watch the ship sink. I used to be able to go down through the roster and know who all the players were, where about we acquired them, etc. Now, not so much... we've got guys who I think may have been in a slow pitch church league team in Spring Training. 80% of the roster would be at AAA in any other organization. Drayton left the cupboard bare, all the while muttering "We're champions... killer bees... Junction Jack... I like trains..." on his way out the door.

Jim Crane has further dismantled what was left of the club, put up a wall of advertisements in left field completely blocking the stellar view of downtown and then began discussing removing Tal's Hill, the train in left and the Crawford boxes. The man is out of control. He accepted Selig's blood money and the fans categorically got screwed in the end. And Topps, well Topps has decided that Astros collectors don't even need cards of the scrubs we've got, no matter how promising Jose Altuve, Justin Maxwell, and Jimmy Paredes are (and for those of you scratching your heads, yes all three are current Astros). Finest and Chrome came and went with absolutely no love for the Astros. Heck, even Bowman Platinum had zero Astros in the base set and only 3 Astros in the inserts.

All that to say this... for this any many other reasons, I've been fighting blogger apathy lately. In some ways I feel like I've run out of things to blog about. In some ways, I feel like what I have blogged about is lame on most days. Trades are my highlights, I love showing off the great cards you all send me in trades. I REALLY enjoy the group breaks, although I hate it when guys who've bought in end up with 4-5 cards for their buy-in. I know that's the risk we all take with breaks, but it still kills me when I get ready to package them up...

My collection has gotten out of control over the past year. I've spent ENTIRELY way too much on sets I don't either don't like (2007 Artifacts) or have no means of completing (Museum Collection). I have twice as many 5,000 count boxes as I did when we moved to Mobile a year ago. They aren't all full, but you get my point. It's getting out of control. My computer desk is a mish-mash of half completed trades, cards I haven't put in binders and random cards I have no clue why I have them pulled. It's a disorganized mess. My entire "man cave" has turned into a pit of hopelessness... and I blame the Astros and Bud Selig.

In all seriousness... I've devised a plan... and it will be benefiting all of you, my loyal readers. First of all, I'm going to be getting my 5,000 card boxes cleaned up and cleared out. I will be separating the sets out and creating lots. I will ask nothing more than the following for each lot: shipping plus whatever you think is fair. Once the items have arrived at your location, you will see the postage charge on the package and then you take a look inside at the lot and decide what you think is fair, then paypal me. Sounds pretty easy eh?

I'll be creating the lots mostly by set. Some time in the next week or so...

I will also be working on changing the method of my collecting. The sets coming out lately just aren't doing much for me and I'm going to be changing focus to my big 3 player collections: Bagwell, Biggio and Ryan. There are cards, high end, low end and everything in between that I really do want of these three but I spend more time and money chasing boxes and junk I don't need. I will be reducing the set needs lists on the sidebar down to just a couple that I want to finish up for the sake of my sanity.

Group breaks - Yes, they are going to continue. But I'm going to do them a bit differently. I'm going to move away from the "2 teams for ___ dollars" model I've used for a while. I have grown a bit weary of getting a bunch of cards of a second team I don't really want, and I am sure you have too. This means I'll be running the sign-ups until the break fills, then secure payment from all participants. I am going to try and move away from the late 2000's UD products and get into some different products and/or sports. I want to try an NFL break, as I think I may want to pick up some Texans stuff. I will be aiming to keep the price below $10 per team shipped, with quality taking precedence over quantity of hits.

I originally considered the idea of taking a 2-3 month hiatus, but I just can't see myself being able to stay away.

Stay tuned! Lots of change and fun coming in the next few months...