2018 Year in Review

I imagine a lot of you will be posting this topic over the next few days so I am excited to read about how your collecting went.  I tend to be pretty focused with my collecting and set realistic goals to accomplish so I have some satisfaction at the end of the year.  This year was no different and I feel like I did pretty well.  Thanks for stopping by and keeping me motivated to continue this blog!

 

Here are the 10 goals that I set out for myself at the beginning of the year:

1. Discover and Catalog at least 5 "new" vintage sumo sets (pre-1997) - Grade A+
- Just when I think that there are no new vintage sets to collect, something always pops up.  I've discovered numerous fun sets this year including this tiny little 1940 pre-war beauty that I reported back on in November.

2. Add 2 more 1973 Calbee Sumo Cards to my collection - Grade A+
- This set is one that I am really going to have to get a going on with some gusto or I am going to "invest" upwards of $5000 on it before it is all said and done.  Why singles cards go for an average of $100 is beyond me.  I picked up 3 more this year, but I am still over 25 cards short of a complete set.  Here is a summary I did of this set back in 2016.

3.  Conduct some interviews of fellow collectors - A+
- I am glad I got this interview series off the ground with three interviews of Billy @ Cardboard History, Fuji @ The Chronicles of Fuji, and Tony from the Facebook Group "BBM Sumo Card Collectors."  I haven't done one in a while since I frankly ran out of people to interview.  Raz...you interested?  Give me a holler if anyone is up for it!

4.  Add at least 1 more Murai card to my collection - A+
- This set has proven to be hard as people warned me.  I picked up only 4 more from this T483 Murai World's Smokers set earlier this year as posted here and am up to 9 total in this set.  My goal is to complete this set in raw condition someday.

5. Continue to expand my German Card Collection - A+
- Living in Germany has been fun with respect to collecting German Cards.  I've walked away from many flea markets with some good stuff including these 1933 Salem Gold Film Stars detailed here.

6.  Add two more card catalog books to my library - C
- I thought this one would be one of the easier ones from me to complete.  I didn't pick up any physical books, but did get Engel's 2nd Vintage Edition of the Japanese Baseball Card Checklist & Price Guide in electronic form.

 7. Add to my Brandon Laird and Yuta Tabuse Collection - A+
- I've been whittling away at my two player collections all year long and Fuji has helped immensely along the way with this awesome Laird stash & sweet Tabuse haul.

8. Expand the B.League Basketball Sets - A+
- I love the BBM B.League Basketball Sets and will continue to collect them.  I picked up both the 1st and 2nd Half boxes this year, although I don't officially have complete sets in singles form...yet.

9. Update the BB-Series of Sumo Menko and Bromides - B+
- One of my most ambitious goals this year was to "fix" and update the BB-series of sumo cards and bromides in my book.  There were so many produced during the 1930s-1950s that is was daunting to just get to the spot where I am now....I reorganized all the sets and assigned catalogue numbers to them.  Now all I need to do is get them in electronic form in my book.  I see the goal line in sight, but unfortunately will not cross it this year, but the majority of the battle is over with.

10. Finish the 1974 Yamakatsu's Mini Card Bruce Lee Enter the Dragon (Series 1) Set and add to The Way of the Dragon (Series 2) and Green Hornet (Series 3) Sets - B-
- Gah, I'm still two short on the Series 1 set, about 10 short on the Series 2 set and about 35 short on Series 3.  I did have a nice haul reported back in June.  This set is getting harder as the years go by and maybe in 2019 I'll finally finish Series 1!

With no failing classes and some solid effort and help from friends, I am giving myself an:

2018 Overall Grade = A-
(for reference) 2017 Overall Grade = B
 

 

I'm looking forward to 2019 and I really appreciate all the support you have given this blog over the past year!  Thanks for stopping by!

1895-1899 Japanese Murai World Smokers

The 1895-1899 Murai Brothers World Smokers is one set where I have picked up a few cards here and there.  I definitely don't expect to complete it, but it is fun to dabble in these low-grade examples.  Plus the Japanese connection with the Murai Bros brand helps keep my interest even though supply is extremely low.  These 4 cards come courtesy of eBay and put my total cards in this set at 9 total now.  I am not a smoker, but every once in a while I like to have a good cigar.....and when someone is smoking a pipe it always smells so good.  Anyone else collect these or like to have a good cigar now and then?

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!!