(I got my) satisfaction

It gives me great pleasure to announce the following:

I am now officially on summer vacation.

Even though math is easily my worst subject, I have a strong feeling that I aced the final I took this morning. I never have to look at logarithms and composite functions again. (Until next semester, anyways.)

I felt a great deal of satisfaction after turning in that last test, knowing that I probably did well on it and wouldn't have to take another one for about three months.

Walking out the doors of my college campus for the final time this afternoon felt great. I may even treat myself to a pack or two of Bowman as a "celebration". (I'm also giving some cards away tonight to celebrate, so join my contest if you haven't already. Time's running out!)

Which leads me to ask, what is the most satisfying feeling in the hobby for you?

Is it finally picking up that cornerstone piece to your player collection? Is it just landing a great "score" at a local card show?

While I've only done it on a couple occasions, I have to admit that completing a set has been the most satisfying feeling for me in the hobby, as I'd imagine it is for a lot of other collectors.

I've never tried to complete a Upper Deck or Topps base set, as it's just not my cup of tea. But that's another reason I love my non-sport cards so much.

They've given me the chance to experience the "joy of a completed set".

The only base sets I've ever completed were the 2009 Topps American Heritage and Heroes Edition sets, as I've mentioned before. However, completing an insert set has proven to be just as much of a challenge at times, especially with my most recent quest for set completion.

The 2011 A&G "Minds That Made the Future" insert set.

It was no small undertaking, as it's rather large at 40 cards. But I'm a huge fan of A&G's historical cards, and many of the "minds" featured in the set literally altered the path of history.

For the record, I only pulled one of the inserts from a pack (Johannes Gutenberg). I had to trade for the other thirty-nine. Much to my surprise, I got down to the last couple pretty quickly. "This set completing thing isn't that tough after all", I thought.

But then I hit the set-collector's roadblock. It took me a couple weeks to track down the last card I needed. (Which is nothing compared to the amount of time I'm sure others have needed to track down that last card.)

I did eventually find it, though. #MMF-2 Alexander Graham Bell. The famous inventor of the telephone. (His wife was deaf, ironically.)

I now have the 40-card set proudly displayed on my nightstand with all my other non-sports treasures. I look through them all the time.

My single most ambitious quest, however, was taking on the 2007 SP Legendary Cuts "Legendary Americana" insert set, comprised of 100 cards all limited to 550 copies a piece.

I've been at this one for a few years now, ever since I fell in love with the first card I acquired from the set. (None other than Walt Whitman.)

I'm at 96 out of 100 right now. The day I finally complete that set will undoubtedly be one of the greatest of my collecting life. However, it's going to be a real challenge to track down those last four.

But that's part of what makes the hobby so great, isn't it?