2016 Year in Review

This will be the last post I get out this year as the holidays will likely tie me up over the next week. It surely has been a great year.  I really had no expectations on where this blog would take me, but I'm enjoying it and having a great time interacting with the community of collectors. I'll post my 2017 goals early next year, but wanted to mention a few of my card collecting accomplishments this year.

1st - I've been able to connect with a few other collectors and enjoy immensely their perspectives.  The Raz Card Blog and The Chronicles of Fuji are among my favorite. The Japanese Baseball Cards Blog and Baseball Cards in Japan are excellent blogs as well where I get to absorb more Japanese card knowledge than I know what to do with.  I was also able to connect with a Facebook Group that focuses on the modern BBM sets. Thanks guys!

2nd - My line of work has always been a priority right behind my family so I am fortunate to be able to get some time to focus on my collection and sharing it with the wider collecting community.  What I didn't realize is that my fellow collectors have motivated me to broaden my collecting interests too. Although I haven't dove in yet, I have ideas for next years. Thanks Raz and Fuji!

3rd - I finally expanded my proxy bidding knowledge thanks to Dave at Japanese Baseball Cards and Raz at The Raz Card Blog.  Through some spreadsheet comparisons and research I've been able to try another service besides JAUCE which has the good potential to save me money in the long run.

4th - This has been a busy year at work and we eventually moved down to AL for a 10-month assignment at the end of summer. My schedule became more predictable and I've been able to start selling more on eBay to "thin the herd" of my collection. I've had doubles and misc stuff I've had slated to sell for a while....so I've been able to move it and put some of that money back into my collection.

5th - I've been able to regularly add new cards and menko to my sumo collection throughout the year for which I'm very grateful. I thought the older stuff,that I don't already have, would dry up, but I keep finding more and more of it which prevents me from working on the more modern stuff.  No complaints though, since the older stuff is much more rare and harder to come by.  There is too much to mention specific things that I've added, but all of it will be included in the 4th edition of my Sumo Book.

 

6th - My vintage Japanese Pro Wrestling PC has come a long ways this year. I added a few more cards to my 1974 Yamakatsu New Japan Pro Wrestling Master Set. I'm also 1 card away from completing the base 1976 Yamakatsu All Japan Pro Wrestling set, not to mention all the other cards I've added to that Master Set. I've also been able identify the complete 16-card Japanese Pro Wrestling Menko set from 1974. In one me card away from completing that set as well.

Cheers and everyone have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!