Resolved to Looking Forward

In the world of newsletter writers, wrapping up a calendar year without penning a column about resolutions for the upcoming calendar year would be, well, just wrong. 

Sure, some folks may choose to do the so-called “Year In Review,” piece, and that’s all fine-and-dandy, but looking back is not my jam.

So, forward we trudge.

Plus, I would likely lose the keys to this Nonsense Newsletter car, as well as all my credibility with the masses who actually read this column each week if I chose not to write something like this.

So, with that said, let’s talk about hobby resolutions for 2024!

First and foremost, I want to connect to more actual people in the hobby. 

The way the technology is set up, the way the trends in the hobby are going, it’s super-easy nowadays to turn this entire thing into one giant electronic transaction. 

In fact, most people do it this way — which is unfortunate.

I’m vowing to do less of that in 2024.

I’m going to take more road trips to card shows, both local and beyond. 

I’m going to utilize DMs and chats more than I have in the past.

I’m going to talk to these people about things other than trading cards.

I’m going to step up my social media game with the hopes of making connections that are more meaningful than just “this-is-the-card, please buy it.”

Secondly, I’m going to pay more attention to the business-end of my hobby business. 

This means more research, more thought put into every buy, sell or trade, more focus on the growth of the business.

I love the hobby, but it’s been more than that to me for a very long time — 2024 is the year I do everything possible to move the business to the next level. 

With singles pricing coming back to reality, this is way more possible than it had been in the past few years. 

Third, I’m going to venture back into the baseball hobby.

For the past few years I’ve focused on hockey alone, for reasons I’ve outlined in previous columns. 

I have not regretted a single moment in the hockey hobby and will continue to be an active member of this amazing group.

But, this year, I’m dipping my toes into baseball once again. 

For me, it’s the sport that started it all for me, many years ago, and it’s a facet of the hobby I truly love. 

This means building up the breaking portion as well as the singles market within my business, and really diving into both aspects! 

Finally, and perhaps more important, I’m reigniting some semblance of a PC.

For many years, I had a very, very, very limited PC (namely Lanny McDonald), but in 2024 I want to get back into vintage baseball for myself.

I love the old stuff, before the cards were chromed-out, before they were shiny, before there were subsets and parallels and all that jazzy found in today’s cards. 

Back when the options for collecting were Topps…and Topps (and maybe Fleer, Donruss and Bowman to some degree). 

Back when there weren’t 40 different rookie cards for one player. 

So, that’s the resolution list for 2024, and God willing, I’ll be able to check the boxes to each of these items before writing this column for 2025. 

Happy New Year everyone!