Over the past few weeks, I've taken a look at my stack of cards from the year 2000 and from the year 1994. Today, I decided to tackle 1997 as part of my Great Reorganization. For me, the year 1997 is a pretty easy one...the stack to sort is probably only twenty or so cards. Of course, some years will be easier than others (1998 and 1999, for example, both have two stacks of cards with a total of probably 500 or more per year for me to sort still).
In the end, I have to do every year so there's no harm in taking an "easy" one this time around! Let's go through the small stack and figure out which sets I'm going to chase after and which sets will simply be trade fodder!
1997 Bowman:
I probably don't even need to write a paragraph here for people who follow my blog. It's a no brainer that I won't be chasing 1997 Bowman...in fact, I would say this is one of the worst Bowman designs of the 90s (and that's saying something).
1997 Fleer Sports Illustrated:
I love, love, LOVE the 1997 Fleer Sports Illustrated set - this one is an obvious collect it! In fact, I've had my substantial set needs on my want list for quite some time. Perhaps I should try to track down another box* of this stuff in order to put a bigger dent in my needs!
*I actually put a bid in on a couple of boxes of '97 Fleer Sports Illustrated moments after typing that sentence. The joys of writing a post in "real time."
1997 Pinnacle:
If I had unlimited room to store cards...and an unlimited budget, I'd probably chase after the '97 Pinnacle set because it's not too bad. However, I have neither an unlimited storage space nor unlimited funds and so I unfortunately have to say that I won't chase this set.
1997 Metal Universe:
Here's a tricky one. On the one hand, I really do like the comic book effect used in the card design (and every card gets its own background, some are really quite cool)! On the other hand, I only own about a single packs' worth of cards from this set (12 cards in total)...which would make tracking the entire set down a bit of a pain.
*sigh*
I'm definitely on the fence on this one...my brain is telling me to give up on the set, that's it is simply going to be too hard to track down all 250 cards from the set when I only own 12 at the moment. My heart, on the other hand, is telling me that this is a truly unique set that hasn't really been rivaled by any other set before or since its release. Plus the comic book inspired backgrounds just look cool. I'm going to go out on a limb here and go with my heart rather than my brain and say collect it. Of course, if you have any lying around it's almost assured that I need 'em!
1997 Topps:
The '97 Topps set was probably the base set that I bought the least of throughout the entirety of the 90s. For whatever reason, the design never interested me - not to mention I was about to enter high school and so baseball cards simply weren't my number one (or even number two or three) priority at the time. Therefore, this one's an easy choice: don't chase.
1997 Leaf:
In general, I don't get the Leaf brand any respect. For whatever reason, I was never drawn to Leaf as a kid...and without those memories, I still avoid the set. Being objective, that Jeff Brantley card is actually quite nice...and yet, I can't help but think to myself "but it's Leaf." Sorry Leaf, it's not you, it's me. Don't collect.
1997 Pacific:
Too much gold foil and an ugly design? Sorry Pacific, even my usual undying love for you won't save this monstrosity. An easy choice to not collect this one.
1997 Upper Deck Collector's Choice:
The final set that I need to make a decision on is '97 Collector's Choice. If you have taken a look at my want list by now, you'll already know my answer: Collect it. Actually, I have the base set done already - I'm simply working on some of the inserts! I love me some Collector's Choice - and the '97 set is one of my favorites, of course I'll collect it!
That does it for 1997! As I said in the beginning of this post, '97 was one of the easier years for me to make decisions - really the only tough one was Metal Universe which I decided to go for (we'll see how that goes I guess)! As for the rest of the cards that I need to sort? Well, I'll hopefully have more Great Reorganization posts throughout the summer...if I don't, then I'm meeting my own personal goals!
In the end, I have to do every year so there's no harm in taking an "easy" one this time around! Let's go through the small stack and figure out which sets I'm going to chase after and which sets will simply be trade fodder!
1997 Bowman:
I probably don't even need to write a paragraph here for people who follow my blog. It's a no brainer that I won't be chasing 1997 Bowman...in fact, I would say this is one of the worst Bowman designs of the 90s (and that's saying something).
1997 Fleer Sports Illustrated:
I love, love, LOVE the 1997 Fleer Sports Illustrated set - this one is an obvious collect it! In fact, I've had my substantial set needs on my want list for quite some time. Perhaps I should try to track down another box* of this stuff in order to put a bigger dent in my needs!
*I actually put a bid in on a couple of boxes of '97 Fleer Sports Illustrated moments after typing that sentence. The joys of writing a post in "real time."
1997 Pinnacle:
If I had unlimited room to store cards...and an unlimited budget, I'd probably chase after the '97 Pinnacle set because it's not too bad. However, I have neither an unlimited storage space nor unlimited funds and so I unfortunately have to say that I won't chase this set.
1997 Metal Universe:
Here's a tricky one. On the one hand, I really do like the comic book effect used in the card design (and every card gets its own background, some are really quite cool)! On the other hand, I only own about a single packs' worth of cards from this set (12 cards in total)...which would make tracking the entire set down a bit of a pain.
*sigh*
I'm definitely on the fence on this one...my brain is telling me to give up on the set, that's it is simply going to be too hard to track down all 250 cards from the set when I only own 12 at the moment. My heart, on the other hand, is telling me that this is a truly unique set that hasn't really been rivaled by any other set before or since its release. Plus the comic book inspired backgrounds just look cool. I'm going to go out on a limb here and go with my heart rather than my brain and say collect it. Of course, if you have any lying around it's almost assured that I need 'em!
1997 Topps:
The '97 Topps set was probably the base set that I bought the least of throughout the entirety of the 90s. For whatever reason, the design never interested me - not to mention I was about to enter high school and so baseball cards simply weren't my number one (or even number two or three) priority at the time. Therefore, this one's an easy choice: don't chase.
1997 Leaf:
In general, I don't get the Leaf brand any respect. For whatever reason, I was never drawn to Leaf as a kid...and without those memories, I still avoid the set. Being objective, that Jeff Brantley card is actually quite nice...and yet, I can't help but think to myself "but it's Leaf." Sorry Leaf, it's not you, it's me. Don't collect.
1997 Pacific:
Too much gold foil and an ugly design? Sorry Pacific, even my usual undying love for you won't save this monstrosity. An easy choice to not collect this one.
1997 Upper Deck Collector's Choice:
The final set that I need to make a decision on is '97 Collector's Choice. If you have taken a look at my want list by now, you'll already know my answer: Collect it. Actually, I have the base set done already - I'm simply working on some of the inserts! I love me some Collector's Choice - and the '97 set is one of my favorites, of course I'll collect it!
That does it for 1997! As I said in the beginning of this post, '97 was one of the easier years for me to make decisions - really the only tough one was Metal Universe which I decided to go for (we'll see how that goes I guess)! As for the rest of the cards that I need to sort? Well, I'll hopefully have more Great Reorganization posts throughout the summer...if I don't, then I'm meeting my own personal goals!
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