You bet I'm thankful

As a collector, I've had a lot to be thankful for in the past year.

Although it certainly had its ups and downs, I loved collecting many of the new products in 2012. I probably busted more packs this year than I had at any point in my collecting career.

I'm thankful for the fact that I've been able to attend a handful of terrific card shows. A collector can always take solace in an upcoming card show. That's for sure.

More recently, I've become thankful for finding the wonderful world of Listia.

Not long ago, I showcased a slew of great finds I'd acquired from the site. Of course, the best part is that all of them were free.

In order to keep buying free cards, I sold a former-dime box Chipper Jones refractor for nearly 700 credits. Looks like I may have stumbled upon yet another benefit to those dime bins.

I haven't been quite as active on Listia in the last month or so, but I've still managed to score a few nice additions to my collection.

Although I'm not thankful for how awfully this card scans, I can't help but appreciate the fact that I was able to pick it up for just 68 credits.

Any card of Mr. Konerko in the Dodger Blue is always welcome inside my binders.

I'm thankful that I was able to pick up a five-card lot of Sportflics cards for a paltry 51 credits.

With the Listia conversion rates, that comes out to about three cents a card in actual money.

The only reason I even placed a bid was to get that "Black Jack" McDowell. The others were icing on the cake.

I've always felt that Jacobs Field (okay, Progressive Field) provided one of the more beautiful settings in baseball.

Unfortunately, with the free shipping and all, I pretty much got what I paid for. The cards were thrown in an envelope without any protection at all.

Thanks to that, an otherwise awesome "Doc" Gooden 3-D card is now missing a corner.

Since the McDowell remained unharmed, I guess I can't complain too much.

If there are such things as shipping gods, I think they were with me on that McDowell.

I have no clue as to how it came out unscathed.

Listia, card shows, and 2012 products are all fine and good.

Still, in terms of what I have to be thankful for in this hobby, there's one thing that stands above all.

The blogosphere, of course.

In a couple weeks, this blog will be celebrating its one-year anniversary.

As far as my collection goes, it's been the most revolutionary year of my life. I now have an entirely new perspective on this hobby, one that's changed me for the better.

Between the people, the discussions, the people, the trades, the people, and the contests, it's been an absolute blast.

And did I mention the people?

One of my favorite "people" in the blogosphere recently sent me a nice little group of cards in the mail. You might know him as Robert, resident Blue Jay collector and author of the fantastic blog "$30 A Week Habit".

I've lost track of the amount of times we've traded, but it's probably quite a few.

Recently, I left a comment on one of his posts asking if he happened to have any parallels of Casey Kotchman's 2012 Topps Update card. I figured it'd be a longshot.

Lo and behold, he did have one. The Wal-Mart blue parallel.

What are the odds?

Robert also sent me a pair of '87 Minis from Topps Update.

I think the Brian LaHair saga is one of the most fascinating ones I've seen during my tenure as a baseball fan.

The guy was a 39th round pick of the Mariners back in '02. After an unspectacular stint in the bigs with Seattle in '08, he signed a minor league deal with the Cubs.

He almost came out of nowhere in 2011, hitting 38 homers in AAA and earning a cup of coffee in the Windy City.

After a fantastic first half with the Cubs in 2012, he was elected to the All-Star team. After a dreadful second half, he was designated for assignment.

A few days ago, the Cubs sold him to a Japanese team.

That's one crazy ride, I'll tell you that.

Lastly, Robert was nice enough to send me a few '73 Topps White Sox out of the goodness of his heart.

Although I already had this one, I'm always thankful for an opportunity to show a Wilbur Wood card on this blog.

His cards are and always will be awesome.

Thanks, Robert!

All in all, I'm just thankful to be a part of this hobby. I don't know what I'd do without it.

Especially now that I've found the blogosphere.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!