Friday, June 10, 2022

I need ideas....

I used to post on here almost daily for a few years (300+ posts).  Last year I strayed away from that as I had my card collection in 3 different locations at any given time due to moving.  I still managed to post over 200 times though, which is better than every other day.

This year is a totally different situation. Through the middle of June I have posted only 29 times.  That's a far cry from my usual love of the hobby. To put into perspective annually in the month of October I post more than what I have done through the first five months. 

I'm certainly not as busy as I used to be as I am still recovering from a foot injury that has had me unable to work since the last week in February.  I've been to the doctor more in 3 months than I had from 2000 to 2021 combined.  

I just don't have much to say.  
I've been frustrated with the hobby.  
I'm frustrated with my collection.

When Topps Series 2 was announced and Andrew McCutchen wasn't listed on the Brewers checklist and all the Opening Day rookies weren't included, I strongly considered quitting the hobby because I had it with Topps holding players back.  

Now as we know some of the top hobby rookies were included as SP in Series 2 (Bobby Witt Jr, Julio Rodriguez, Spencer Torkleson).  This is a redemption that makes me consider staying.  The fact that Cutch is getting a SP Brewers card in Series 2 is a redemption too. 

So many people were saying that due to the increased production runs Topps couldn't feature guys who debuted in April into a product in June.  I say that's nonsense.  

Many players debuted in June/July 2011 and were featured in 2011 Topps Update.  
In addition all mid July All Star Game cards are featured in Topps Update.  That's only a two month turnaround.

The biggest counter I have to all this though is 2018 Topps  was released October 22nd 2018.  Andrew McCutchen had a SP Yankees photo variant in the set and made his debut September 1st.  Less than a 52 day turnaround from debut to mass retail release (remember when you could buy cards at retail before the hobby release?)

So I thought it was absolute nonsense that guys who debuted April 7th couldn't be included in a mid June release.  

Topps has gone the Vlad Jr Short Print route for all these opening day roster rookies which is nice to see.  They also offered a McCutchen card in a Brewers uniform.  I guess I will continue to collect cards, but part of the joy is sharing the hobby with others.

I need some fresh ideas on things to post.  What do you do for writer's block? 

Will theme weeks be a fun idea?  (Color parallels, throwback uniforms, cameo appearances, etc)

Would it be fun to do some Getty image research on photos used?

I'm looking for some ideas on things to write about. Please leave your comments below.

7 comments:

  1. I used to really like basketball cards and how they did Series 1 and 2. It made sense...no one was held back or anything. Series 1 was most of the big players from all teams, and then Series 2 was generally rookies, guys who switched teams, and then maybe some subsets. Felt like a formula that worked well.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hope you get some blogging inspiration soon. Wish I had ideas, but I barely pump out 10 posts a month these days and the bulk of them are either flea market finds or care package posts.

    As for Topps, this is the first time in over ten years that I can say that I'm more interested in the game of baseball than the cards. But holding back players sounds dumb.

    ReplyDelete
  3. If they can't turnaround fast enough to get players who were on the opening day roster into Series 2, then either delay the release longer, or, here's a crazy idea, do more (but smaller) series. I don't know, I guess it's not so bad if those players end up in Update, but then guys who change teams in July don't get into Update anymore. So do a Series 3 and then have a smaller Update release for the deadline deals, maybe? (Don't get me started on how guys who changed teams at last year's deadline are on their old teams in 2021 Big League, which just recently came out!)

    I don't have a blog, and I guess I'd say if there aren't things you want to write about, don't force it. My favorite blog posts, to be honest, tend to be series such as Nick's Short-Term Stops or Chris' All-Time Teams, and Frankensets, but either of those can be a big undertaking. One of my favorites that you did recently was the all-star team of guys you have on cards with Cutch--just this week I was filing away some of my player-collection acquisitions and was looking to see whether anyone qualified. (No one I found did, but the three-player cards in Opening Day this year brought some guys closer. Ohtani will probably get there--I pulled an Opening Day card of him, Trout, and Rendon.)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Like you said, you've been posting quite a bit over the last few years. It's possible that it finally caught up with you. Maybe you just need a break?

    ReplyDelete
  5. I'm in the same boat and don't have the central theme like you do. I think it has a lot to do with all the 'investors' and other recent hobby developments that I am NOT a part of. I've given up on Topps flagship (and about everything else new besides A&G) and I haven't even been watching baseball since 2020. I'm just filling in my want lists for the cards, sets, and players that I cared about before all these changes.
    I've started a couple posts with rants about all the high prices and how it's all about rookies that haven't done anything, but I can't seem to pin them down to readable form yet.
    I miss the Blog Bat Arounds...

    ReplyDelete
  6. Sadly I have entered this stage as well. The posts on SCC right now are recycled from another blog I had so I am running on empty as well. I have felt for myself that blogs that have themes are even harder to write. It's why I gave up on them.

    I don't know what to suggest here since I am in the same boat. I have been trying to study other blogs and read my older posts back when my blog was at the top of its' game and have some ideas for myself from that. But, overall, a rut I am in.

    The only suggestion I have is go look at your cards, take time with them and maybe inspiration will strike.

    ReplyDelete
  7. The Getty images idea would be fun to do, maybe see how far back you can do the research. But it's been typed, if you don't have ideas then don't worry about it. Forcing a post could lead to burnout.

    ReplyDelete