Well, the incentive plan came into place today. I finished my math comments, which earned me two packs of Masterpieces to open. Unfortunately, it's too late for me to write a big post about what was inside. In fact, due to the whole writing reports thing, my writing juices will be pretty well sapped for the rest of the week.

But before I go into a mini-hiatus, I need some help. This whole missing hit thing with my box of A Piece of History is driving me crazy. Everywhere I've looked, it talks about four hits per box, yet I only got three. What can/should I do now? I managed to save all the wrappers (by virtue of not emptying the waste basket) and put them all in the empty box. What else might I need?

Anybody else have experience with Upper Deck boxes and missing hits? What is their policy and procedure? How did they make good? Is it even worth pursuing? This hasn't happened to me before, so any and all advice is welcome. Thanks!

Okay, so as most of you know, I've just gotten back into the habit hobby after a pretty long layoff. And I'll admit, I wasn't the best person as far as taking care of my cards was concerned. Basically, if it didn't come in a top loader or penny sleeve when I bought it, then I sure didn't put it in one. And there may have been some rubber bands used, but I will neither confirm nor deny that.^*

At any rate, I'm serious about things this time around. Not because I think I'm going to make a mint on baseball cards, but because I want to be a valuable member of the community, and that means doing right by people when I trade with them. And that means taking proper care of my cards.

On Saturday, after what will no doubt be a painful and gruelling trip to the dentist, I am going to reward myself with a trip to Perth to the one halfway decent card shop in W.A.^** And I am planning on buying some supplies to keep my cards nice and the corners sharp, but what do I need to buy?

I know I'll need top loaders, and should I bother with penny sleeves as well? I think I want to get some pages to store my 2010 Topps in (I've decided to make that my first big set I'm collecting). What should I look for in a good page full of plastic pockets? I know that I should get PVC-free pages to preserve the ink. I also remember reading something about diamond corners vs. square corners. What's that all about?

Basically, I'm relying on you, dear reader, to set me in the right direction. What sort of supplies does the avid collector buy to preserve their baseball card collection? Thanks for your help!


* The only thing that I will say is that, in my defense, they were all junk wax cards from the late-80s so I don't feel too bad.

** According to the folks on the interwebs. They also say it's a bit pricey. I get the feeling, though, that they're the only card store in the whole state that sells baseball cards. I hope this means they sell boxes, or at the very least, packs.