I'm making some serious progress lately in terms of completely overhauling my collection. Oh sure, this process started over two years ago (back before I moved) but it's entering the final stretch as I am now going year-by-year and deciding which sets to collect and which sets to ignore. Of course, for every set that I decide to collect, I then need to make a binder, fill it with 9-pocket pages, and then after filling the binder as best I can, update my want list. It's a long process, but ultimately one that I hope will be worth all the time I've spent!
For today's post, I am going to take a look at the year 1994 and decide which sets to keep/collect and which to ignore. As it stands heading into today's post, I don't actually have a single set from 1994 on my want list at the moment. That means I have a "fresh slate" so speak. Let's see what happens.
The "No Way" Group:
This group contains nine cards from four different sets. At this point in time, that's all I have from each of the sets so saying "no" to each of these is an easy choice. A few of the above cards will still stay in my collection however - I plan to make a Reds' Frankenset and a few of the cards have a real good shot at making it in the binder!
The first cut is always the easiest. Unfortunately for me, it only gets harder from here as I have to keep making cuts since A) I can't afford every set in the world and B) even if I could afford it, I wouldn't have room to store them all! Remember, I prefer to store my sets in binders so bookshelf space is at a premium in my house!
Actually, I sort of lied because the next round of cuts was almost as easy as the first group.
More "Nope" Sets:
The Scott Leius Twins' card sure looks more like a Reds' card to me given that you can clearly read (and see) Sanders' jersey in the card. I like that Rijo a lot as well - but alas that's it for my '94 Upper Deck collection so that set is out. I also had to give up on Stadium Club (again that's a nice Rijo) and '94 Donruss (which isn't a terrible design, at least for Donruss' standards). The final easy cut was that of 1994 Fleer Ultra, one of my least favorite Ultra designs of all time.
Now that ends the easy portion of whittling down 1994 sets. At this point, I have five sets remaining to go through, each of which I own at least a small stack of already.
First up:
1994 Pacific:
Now, I'm on record as saying that I love most things Pacific, especially the late 90s Pacific stuff. Unfortunately, I don't have the same affection for early 90s Pacific - this set is a bit too gray for my tastes...and given how hard it is to find Pacific stuff anymore, I'm sadly going to have to say not going to collect. I will, however, probably find room in my Reds' Frankenset for some of the '94 Pacific cards.
1994 Topps:
Here's the first truly difficult choice from 1994. On the one hand, I have quite a few 1994 Topps cards in my collection already. On the other hand, I never cared much for the '94 set...and it doesn't really evoke any strong memories from my childhood for me. Given that I have little to no connection to a set that I deem a fairly poor design, this one gets a not going to collect rating.
I'm writing this post and making my decisions in real time, so I apologize if the "flow" of the post isn't great...after each paragraph, I have to spend a rather lengthy amount of time sorting through the cards of the given set!
Anyhow, after sorting through the '94 Topps cards (I'm pulling out cards for my Reds' Frankenset and my non-Reds' Frankenset - both projects that I want to start once I'm done with my Great Reorganization)! The rest of the '94 Topps cards got placed in my "for trade" box...and since it's 1994 Topps we are talking about, they'll probably be used as packing material for future trades!
1994 Bowman's Best:
In general, I have no problem ruling out a Bowman set. And, if I'm being honest, the 1994 Bowman's Best set really doesn't come anywhere near living up to the title of "best." So why the tough decision?
Easy. These cards mostly came from a box of cards that was a wedding present for me (and my wife). It was the one present that we got that was specifically for me rather than all of the other presents which were basically for my wife.
Ultimately, while the cards in the stack do have some emotional connection for me, the set itself doesn't. I think I'll pick out a bunch to fit into my Frankenset (both Reds and non-Reds) and put the rest in the 'ol trade box. Therefore, this gets a not going to collect decision.
1994 Upper Deck Collector's Choice:
The Collector's Choice line is a long favorite of mine (as opposed to the Bowman line which I generally despise). However, I don't have all that much of the '94 set...and the design isn't really all that good either...and so I see no option but to not bother collecting this set either. There are a number of good or interesting cards however that will probably make their way into one of my two Frankensets.
As I said earlier, I'm writing this blog in "real time" as I go through my cards. Frankly, I'm as surprised as anyone that I have yet to say "yes" to a single set from 1994...and at this point there is only one option left to consider.
1994 Fleer:
Out of the five major sets that I had to make a decision on, the 1994 Fleer set is probably the set I owned the least of. However, it's also probably my favorite of the five sets - the design is truly top notch...and the set as a whole is severely underrated.
Speaking of the whole set, 1994 Fleer weighs in with a whopping 720 cards - and I own about 65 or so right now (a mere 9% of the entire set). All that said, I think I'm going to surprise some people (myself included) when I say this is a set that I will collect despite me currently needing so many cards from it!
That finishes off my look at 1994. I'm not really picking the years to sort through in any particular pattern...mostly based on how much time/energy I have and how big/small the stack of unsorted cards is for that year. No matter, I need to get every year done eventually...and thankfully I've been making solid progress thus far!
For today's post, I am going to take a look at the year 1994 and decide which sets to keep/collect and which to ignore. As it stands heading into today's post, I don't actually have a single set from 1994 on my want list at the moment. That means I have a "fresh slate" so speak. Let's see what happens.
The "No Way" Group:
This group contains nine cards from four different sets. At this point in time, that's all I have from each of the sets so saying "no" to each of these is an easy choice. A few of the above cards will still stay in my collection however - I plan to make a Reds' Frankenset and a few of the cards have a real good shot at making it in the binder!
The first cut is always the easiest. Unfortunately for me, it only gets harder from here as I have to keep making cuts since A) I can't afford every set in the world and B) even if I could afford it, I wouldn't have room to store them all! Remember, I prefer to store my sets in binders so bookshelf space is at a premium in my house!
Actually, I sort of lied because the next round of cuts was almost as easy as the first group.
More "Nope" Sets:
The Scott Leius Twins' card sure looks more like a Reds' card to me given that you can clearly read (and see) Sanders' jersey in the card. I like that Rijo a lot as well - but alas that's it for my '94 Upper Deck collection so that set is out. I also had to give up on Stadium Club (again that's a nice Rijo) and '94 Donruss (which isn't a terrible design, at least for Donruss' standards). The final easy cut was that of 1994 Fleer Ultra, one of my least favorite Ultra designs of all time.
Now that ends the easy portion of whittling down 1994 sets. At this point, I have five sets remaining to go through, each of which I own at least a small stack of already.
First up:
1994 Pacific:
Now, I'm on record as saying that I love most things Pacific, especially the late 90s Pacific stuff. Unfortunately, I don't have the same affection for early 90s Pacific - this set is a bit too gray for my tastes...and given how hard it is to find Pacific stuff anymore, I'm sadly going to have to say not going to collect. I will, however, probably find room in my Reds' Frankenset for some of the '94 Pacific cards.
1994 Topps:
Here's the first truly difficult choice from 1994. On the one hand, I have quite a few 1994 Topps cards in my collection already. On the other hand, I never cared much for the '94 set...and it doesn't really evoke any strong memories from my childhood for me. Given that I have little to no connection to a set that I deem a fairly poor design, this one gets a not going to collect rating.
I'm writing this post and making my decisions in real time, so I apologize if the "flow" of the post isn't great...after each paragraph, I have to spend a rather lengthy amount of time sorting through the cards of the given set!
Anyhow, after sorting through the '94 Topps cards (I'm pulling out cards for my Reds' Frankenset and my non-Reds' Frankenset - both projects that I want to start once I'm done with my Great Reorganization)! The rest of the '94 Topps cards got placed in my "for trade" box...and since it's 1994 Topps we are talking about, they'll probably be used as packing material for future trades!
1994 Bowman's Best:
In general, I have no problem ruling out a Bowman set. And, if I'm being honest, the 1994 Bowman's Best set really doesn't come anywhere near living up to the title of "best." So why the tough decision?
Easy. These cards mostly came from a box of cards that was a wedding present for me (and my wife). It was the one present that we got that was specifically for me rather than all of the other presents which were basically for my wife.
Ultimately, while the cards in the stack do have some emotional connection for me, the set itself doesn't. I think I'll pick out a bunch to fit into my Frankenset (both Reds and non-Reds) and put the rest in the 'ol trade box. Therefore, this gets a not going to collect decision.
1994 Upper Deck Collector's Choice:
The Collector's Choice line is a long favorite of mine (as opposed to the Bowman line which I generally despise). However, I don't have all that much of the '94 set...and the design isn't really all that good either...and so I see no option but to not bother collecting this set either. There are a number of good or interesting cards however that will probably make their way into one of my two Frankensets.
As I said earlier, I'm writing this blog in "real time" as I go through my cards. Frankly, I'm as surprised as anyone that I have yet to say "yes" to a single set from 1994...and at this point there is only one option left to consider.
1994 Fleer:
Out of the five major sets that I had to make a decision on, the 1994 Fleer set is probably the set I owned the least of. However, it's also probably my favorite of the five sets - the design is truly top notch...and the set as a whole is severely underrated.
Speaking of the whole set, 1994 Fleer weighs in with a whopping 720 cards - and I own about 65 or so right now (a mere 9% of the entire set). All that said, I think I'm going to surprise some people (myself included) when I say this is a set that I will collect despite me currently needing so many cards from it!
That finishes off my look at 1994. I'm not really picking the years to sort through in any particular pattern...mostly based on how much time/energy I have and how big/small the stack of unsorted cards is for that year. No matter, I need to get every year done eventually...and thankfully I've been making solid progress thus far!
I've got a three row monster box with nothing but 1994 Pacific in it if you change your mind. Or any of your readers for that matter.... Could probably come up with a starter that leaves you with only a few pages worth to find....Email at QAPLAGCA at yahoo Some may be subject to speckle marks from sticking together.
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