2017 Year in Review

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas from the Japanese Sumo Wrestling Cards and Menko Blog!

It definitely has been an exciting year and one full of lots of adventures.  The biggest is that we moved to Germany and, along with the move, all the exciting adventures in travel, culture, and card collecting that come with it.  It was a busy 2017 in terms of my card collection so I'd like to wrap up the progress on my goals that I set for myself this year so I can clear my conscious and set some new goals for 2018.  Here are the 6 goals I set for myself this year:

1.  Finish the 4th Edition of my Sumo Menko & Card Checklist. (A+)
- I did it!  With a ton of work and some late nights, I was able to push out the latest edition of my book.  Every year I am finding new sets and expanding on others so it was time for a refresh of my book.  I am already stockpiling new material for the next edition and at this rate am going to aim for a Summer/Fall 2019 release.

2.  Focus on branching out of the sumo world and collecting cards of the local German sports teams and hopefully the main sets of the entire league. (F)
- This goal did not come to fruition and I can't see myself picking this up as a goal in 2018 either.  The modern card and collecting market here in Germany really doesn't lend itself to the kind of collecting I want to do.  Plus, we haven't really invested time in following any local teams with any sort of passion.  It was a valiant effort, but RIP goal #2!

3. "Discover" and catalogue at least 5 vintage sumo sets (pre-1960), add at least 3 of the 1973 Calbee cards to my set, and complete the base 2017 BBM set from opening boxes and trading. (A-)
- I did extremely well on this goal.  I knocked the number of vintage sets out of the park, picked up a few 1973 Calbee cards, and have almost completed the 2017 BBM Sumo Set.  With respect to the BBM set, I need to see how many cards I fell short, but I am almost there.  I'll likely have a similar goal for next year.

4. Start collecting Murai Tobacco Cards. (A+)
- I did well on this goal.... although someone warned me what I was getting myself into here.  I ended up picking up 6 Murai cards which I thought was a week accomplishment at first until I realized how difficult these are to find.  I'll likely carry this goal over to next year as well.

5. Build the 2017 Topps Heritage set and I plan on trying to complete that set through boxes and trading. (D)
- I bought a few packs, but I just couldn't muster up the momentum to working on this set, nor even come close to finishing it.  Sadly, as much as I really want to come back to collecting some American sports cards, there are too many Japanese interests pulling me in other directions.  RIP Goal #5!


6. Interviews! (D)
- Lots of thought went into this one of how exactly I want to do this, but no action yet.  I will likely pull this over to next year as I might be ready at that point.  My main problem is I don't want to half-ass anything and I want to be able to ask interesting questions on a variety of topics.  More to follow on this one in my 2018 Collecting Goals Blog.

Overall Grade - B
- Math in public, combined with a subjective score of how I felt I did, puts me at a B.  It was a great year!

Have a great New Year and I will catch you on the other side!!