Accumulation

You ever get the feeling that you're starting to accumulate more than collect?

I do.

The fact of the matter is that not every new card I get is going to be a blockbuster '60s vintage pickup or a card I've been pining over for years. Much of what ends up in my collection are merely more bricks in the wall.

Do I enjoy these new cards? Of course. Do I appreciate them? Yes. Do I take the time and care to sort and file them accordingly? You know it.

But if a non-collector were to ask me why I needed most of said new cards, I'm not sure I'd have a better answer than Because I didn't have them already.

Take this Josh Reddick "Power Players" insert, for instance. I asked for it from Kerry of the great blog "Cards on Cards" recently, and he was nice enough to send it my way.

In essence, the front is about 95 percent similar to Reddick's standard 2014 Topps issue. The only differences are that intrusive "Power Players" logo and the lack of foil. But I still wanted it.

Because I didn't have it already.

While I only asked for the Reddick, Kerry was nice enough to add some extra spice to this package.

He knocked out a good chunk of my remaining Series 2 base needs. At this point, any help I can get to finally get these out of the way is much appreciated. Update is already out and 2015 Topps will be here before we know it. And yet I'm still chasing down Series 2.

Help me!

This is where the non-collectors would really start to think we're all just crazy accumulators.

You mean people go insane over cards because they have a different border? People spend money on this stuff?

Yup. And that's why I was ecstatic when Kerry emailed me a list of spare 2014 Topps parallels he had and basically told me to pick out whatever I wanted. They were mostly reds, but he threw in a green one of "Salty" for good measure.

Yes, I've seen the standard base issues of each of these while flipping through my various binders, but I'm still a parallel addict.

Different borders, different card, right?

Archives and Opening Day seem like a distant memory at this point.

I still need a decent chunk of each and I'm happy for any people can spare, but I've pretty much said all I need to say about them by now.

Are people sick of seeing these minis yet?

It sure seems like it. This one is yet another addition to my nearly 200-card Ryan Zimmerman collection. Or is it accumulation?

Probably a bit of both. 

Ooh, 3-D. Far out.

Look, sabermetrics and WAR and decimals and stuff! Risque, Topps. Risque.

Yep.

I'm definitely running out of things to say about inserts these days.

If you're lucky, though, every once in a while you'll find a card that makes you snap out of your accumulating funk.

Kerry definitely sent me one such piece with this beauty. Rickey himself represents my first in-person look at this year's "N174" Gypsy Queen insert series. Even with just one of these in hand (at the time), it already had a strong chance to earn my "Insert Set of the Year" title.

These give off every last bit of that authentic old-time feel that Gypsy Queen usually tries and fails to accomplish. All I can say is that if GQ ever decides to go with a design like this for their base cards, I'll absolutely devour them.

I guess accumulating really isn't a bad thing. Could you imagine having that intense collecting feel over every card you own? No way.

A slow, steady approach to this hobby is the best way to go.

You'd go insane otherwise.