Hobby Resolutions

It’s time to start thinking of New Year’s resolutions. Last year mine was hobby related and I plan to do that again this year. The question is which resolution to choose? I’m going to explore a few options and choose one in 2024.

Before diving in, it is worth looking at how I did last year. Last year I made a list of 52 cards and had a rule that I had to grab one of those each week before buying anything else. This worked well for the first few months, but I fell off the idea largely due to the fact that some of the cards were no longer desirable (Wander Franco) and others were priced excessively (2022 Sapphire cards). Rather than be beholden to a list made in December, I pivoted and made sure to have one PC card each week. I’ll give myself a pass on this one as I do all my resolutions. Let’s look at the options

No Wax

The first option I’m considering is going the singles only route. For me though, I love to rip packs and I’ve already cut my wax purchases down to the bone. My guess is I don’t choose this one, but I bet it is a popular choice for many, especially given the growing gulf between wax prices and the price of singles one gets from said wax.

Finish a Project

The core of my PC are graded rookie cards of MLB HOF players inducted after 1999. I chose that time frame as it limits it to players I’ve actually seen play. I’m a few cards away from finishing, but I am down to players I’m not big on or players who have expensive rookies (Nolan Ryan). I think finishing or making progress on this collection would be a great goal, but it is also not one that I am excited about. Maybe that makes it ideal for a resolution. On the other hand, buying cards out of a sense of obligation and not because one wants them is not optimal.

Only Wax

I’m a contrarian at times and every time I see the “buy singles” brigade when someone asks a question about what box to buy, I get the urge to go buy a bunch of wax. This would be the ultimate zag when everyone else is zigging. The problem is that the “buy singles” folks are right. It’s a strategy I subscribe to. I just don’t like forcing it on others when that’s not what they are asking about. This one gets points for fun but would require me to forego logic and reason for a year. Again, that might be fun. I’m surprised I’m not automatically rejecting this one.

Grading

I’m way behind on grading and catching up on that could be a decent resolution. It definitely would be useful, but it would also be expensive and not that much fun. Some people love sending cards off and then being surprised by the grades, but I’ve always found the whole process stressful instead of fun. This would be another resolution to me that would be more about obligation than having fun with my hobby.

No Grading

I can see this one being popular as well. Anecdotally, I’ve noticed premiums on graded cards declining. I’m going to dig into this with numbers very soon after the start of 2024. Grading costs money that could be used to buy more cards. I predicted a big drop in the cost of grading services last year, but it still hasn’t arrived. I’m not sure how much worse CGC’s or BGS’s sports cards numbers have to be to lower prices, but I can’t imagine they can afford to be complacent much longer. Regardless, choosing to stop grading for a year and not worrying about all the grading rigamarole sounds appealing.

Budgeting Schemes

This is the one I’m most likely to choose. This can be as simple as setting a card budget each month (a good practice to have anyways). I’m more interested in how the monthly allotment is split up though. I’ve noticed that I get a lot of cards in the $20 to $50 range. I’m considering changing how I do things and getting one really nice card a month or a couple of nice ones a month. Because I can’t make anything simple, I’m already planning on using three different strategies that vary by month.

One Set

I’ve always wanted to just go all in on one product and just focus on that one set all year. This one is a fun idea, but I’d have a hard time deciding to do this this early. Products unfortunately vary in quality by year. I’d want a set that is both fun and affordable to open and has affordable singles. Topps Heritage would’ve been my choice a few years ago, but Topps has ruined that product for ripping IMO. If 2024 Topps has a killer design I might consider this option though. The other option here for me is going after a 2023 set as there are some I like.

One Team/Player Only

Another one I can see being done widely is deciding to go after only one player or team for a year. With breaking, one can even choose this option and still get the thrill of ripping packs. I’m a Braves fan with a growing Pete Alonso collection so I don’t think this one works for me as I like too much variety.

Increase Trading

This is the one I really want to do, but the hurdles for trading aren’t going anywhere and this requires a ton of effort unless you have a good local card community. I don’t so this doesn’t work for me sadly.

Go to Shows

This could help with the trading resolution. Shows are the one hobby activity that are still largely foreign to me. The nearest decent ones are a five to six hours drive from where I live and my school year starts before The National which still just remains a bucket list pipe dream for me. If I lived near a large city, this one would be tempting.

Wrap Up

I meant to write a short column for this week but got a bit carried away. Honestly, I could go for another 1000 words pretty easily, but I try to cap the newsletter articles at around 1000 so people will actually read it. Let me know what resolution ideas you have and if you are going to do one this year. I’ll update you all with my choice in 2024.