But I'm not thrilled with the answer.

The winning entry on my poll was for Topps Series 2, but I must say that I'm intrigued about opening the Pro Debut box. What to do, what to do?

I guess I could show the results from the final of three lots of Ichiro cards I purchased for 99 cents each on eBay. That's 70 cards in total for my PC for less than three bucks. I did have some duplicates, but I easily added at least 50 new cards to the Ichiro collection.

Here's nine of the cards. Most are Upper Deck, but there are some Topps and Fleer in there as well. I already had the ones in the top row. I have about eight copies of the one of him in the suit.


The pack also included two sets of three parallel cards. The top is the Victory game set. I got a single, double and triple card, but not the home run (how appropriate). The bottom is from 2002 Topps, commemorating Ichiro's MVP/Rookie of the Year double in the previous season.


Finally, some horizontal cards. Unfortunately, the foil on both the top and bottom cards are peeling up on the left-hand side. They will do for now, but I'm probably doomed to searching high and low for a replacement.

But this post brings me to my next poll. How do you like to organise your player collections? Do you organise them by year, by manufacturer, or by year *and* manufacturer? Currently, I've got mine by year, but I'm thinking of switching to manufacturer. There's something to be said for both - by year, things are more organised, but you run the risk of gaps and open slots on pages where you don't have nine cards (or a multiple of nine) for a year. At least with manufacturer you can add cards as you buy them, but it makes it harder to find an individual card in the binder.

I guess it boils down to personal preference, so what's your preference? Vote in the poll to the right, and add a comment if you'd like to expound upon your vote. Thanks for participating!

Real life always seems to get in the way. I've got a stack of cards that need scanning, but no time to do it and an scanner that is not talking to my computer due to some sort of lover's quarrel (ah, silicon love). The result? Nearly a month without posting. Egads!

To make it up to you, my wonderful readers, and to celebrate the 50th follower on the website, which apparently happened at some point during my absence, I have an RGB Cards first. No, not a contest. Or a group break. How does a poll sound? Look to your right. Try to ignore the box for The Belt that hasn't been updated in a while. I'll have to fix that soon.

I have ordered, from Orange County Sports Cards, two boxes. One is 2011 Topps Pro Debut Series 1, the other is 2011 Topps Baseball Series 2. The package has apparently cleared customs, according to the USPS tracking site, and should arrive at my house most likely within the week. It should make a welcome distraction as I work on report cards this week.

I also ordered some Ultra Pro binder pages from an eBay seller here in Australia, since I was flat clean out of them. Unfortunately, I can't read too well. I thought I was ordering four boxes of the pages. Instead, I was ordering four lots of ten sleeves each. I should have known that seven bucks, shipped, was too cheap for a box! (As a point of reference, a box of 100 usually costs me 50 bucks at my "L"CS. They are damned expensive here in AUS. No wonder I try to bring back as many as I can whenever I visit America).

So because of this, I only have enough binder sheet to open one box right now, either the Pro Debut or the Series 2. Which box should I open first? And which will have to wait until I can order more Ultra Pro sheets? I leave my fate in your hands.

In the spirit of Chicago politics, and the All-Star game: vote early, and vote often. The poll will be open for a week, or until the package gets here. Whichever is sooner.

Image credits: 
toddmckimmey.com
Pro Football Hall of Fame
Associated Press