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My 2016 New Year's Resolutions: A Look Back

Back in January 2016, I posted my New Year's Resolutions...and now that the year 2016 is over (or at least it will be in a few hours), it's time to take a look back to see how successful (or not-so-successful) I was in regards to completing my goals.
A Vault Metal addition to my Barry Larkin Collection in 2016!

1.  Barry Larkin Collection:  I wanted to be sure to get my Barry Larkin Collection up to at least 500 posts by the end of 2016.  Unfortunately, I'm going to fall just a bit shy of that (494 Larkin cards have been written about to date).  I can blame the slight shortcoming on my hectic fall teaching load this semester...I simply didn't have time to blog (in fact, there were multiple days where I didn't have a single post go live...something that hadn't happened for years before this year).  I may not have hit my goal exactly but I think that I was close enough to give myself a pass this year (I'll give myself a B on this goal).

2.  The Great Reorganization:  Another task that I knew would be a long time coming.  I didn't really set any specific goals for this other than to continue to make progress.  If I'm being honest, I really didn't do much at all in the way of reorganizing until about last week...but in that short amount of time I have made some decent progress (though I am nowhere near done).  I guess I'll give myself a pass here as well, but more like the C- variety of passing grade (as opposed to an A).

3.  The Want List:  I posted a big list of sets that I wanted to complete during the 2016 year.  Here's how I did:
COMPLETED in 2016:
2015 Topps Allen & Ginter:  A World Beneath Our Feet:  BUG- 14
2015 Topps Allen & Ginter:  First Ladies:  FIRST- 1, 16, 20
2015 Topps Allen & Ginter:  Hoist the Black Flag:  HBF- 1
2015 Topps Allen & Ginter:  Magnates, Barons, and Tycoons:  MBT- 1, 5
2015 Topps Allen & Ginter:  Mythological Menaces:  MM- 7
2015 Topps:  Robbed insert:  R- 9, 15
2014 Topps Allen & Ginter:  Outlaws, Bandits, & All-Around Ne'er Do Wells:  OBA-01 Robin Hood
2014 Topps Stadium Club:  113
2013 Topps Allen & Ginter:  Famous Finds:  FF-CG
2013 Topps Allen & Ginter:  Inquiring Minds:  JPS
2013 Topps Allen & Ginter:  First Americans:  CM
2013 Topps Archives:  Tall Boys:  FL, FM, MS
2008 Upper Deck Masterpieces:  108, 115
2007 Topps Heritage:  Then & Now:  TN7
2007 Topps Heritage:  Baseball Flashbacks:  FB2
2006 Fleer Greats of the Game:  Dodgers Greats: SS

NOT YET DONE:
2015 Topps Archives:  Will Ferrell Insert:  7  (Got 1 of 2 that I needed)
2013 Topps Chrome:  1, 10, 16, 32, 119, 220  (Got 2 of 8 that I needed)
2013 Topps Archives:  237, 240 (Got 0 of 2 that I needed)
2013 Topps Archives:  All-Star:  CR, GB, GC (Got 0 of 3 that I needed)
2012 Topps Allen & Ginter:  N43:  11, 14 (Got 0 of 2 that I needed)
2012 Topps Archives:  Classic Combos:  KK, LM, SF  (Got 0 of 3 that I needed)
2012 Topps Archives:  In Action:  CR, I, JE, JH, KG  (Got 0 of 5 that I needed)
2012 Topps Archives:  Archive Reprints:  164 (Roberto Clemente)  (Got 0 of 1 that I needed)
2011 Topps Lineage:  1975 mini parallel:  33, 103 (Got 0 of 2 that I needed)
2011 Topps Heritage:  460 (Got 0 of 1 that I needed)
2009 Topps Allen & Ginter:  Inventions of the Future:  5  (Got 0 of 1 that I needed)
2009 Topps Allen & Ginter:  Extinct Creatures:  1  (Got 0 of 1 that I needed)
2009 Topps Allen & Ginter:  Creatures of Legend, Myth, & Terror:  5, 7, 14, 15  (Got 0 of 4 that I needed)
2009 Topps Allen & Ginter:  Cabinet boxloader:  6, 10  (Got 0 of 2 that I needed)
2006 Fleer Greats of the Game:  Decade Greats:  BJ, CR  (Got 0 of 2 that I needed)
2006 Fleer Greats of the Game:  Tigers Greats:  KG  (Got 0 of 1 that I needed)
2006 Fleer Greats of the Game:  Yankee Greats:  WB  (Got 0 of 1 that I needed)
2001 Topps Gold Label:  19, 41, 61, 62, 93, 97, 106, 108, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115  (Got 0 of 13 that I needed)
1995 Upper Deck Collector's Choice:  186, 188, 189, 190, 192, 194, 196, 197, 198, 200, 494, 500   (Got 0 of 12 that I needed)

Overall, I have to give myself a solid A on this one!  I completed 16 sets (out of the 35 total sets that I picked out for the goal).  I also made a bit of progress on some of the sets that I didn't totally complete - in fact, of the 19 sets that I didn't finish, I got at least one card closer on two of them.  Thus, I either completed or inched closer to completing 18 out of the 35 sets that I decided to target in 2016.  That's no small feat - and it's an awesome accomplishment for someone who is a set collector such as myself!

4  Frankensets:  I have an idea to make a pair of Frankensets...and I've been setting aside possible cards for inclusion in both Frankensets for well over a year now.  Unfortunately, I haven't gotten any closer to actually starting said sets...and so I must give myself an F on this goal.

5.  Woodworking:  This summer, I built myself a shelf for many of my LEGO collectible minifigures.  I also built myself a brand new workbench and work area in my garage for all my woodworking projects.  Finally, we redid my entire basement (aka the "man cave") which I will add into the woodworking category even if it's not a perfect fit.  Thus, I have to say I rocked this goal this year!  This one's an easy A for a grade.

6.  Teaching:  At the time I wrote my 2016 Resolutions, I wasn't sure if I was going to teach Calculus III in the fall (a course that I did, indeed, end up teaching).  I also managed to get through my two new preps last spring...and I have started to work on my new prep for this spring already.  Therefore, since I survived (and since all the classes went well in my opinion), this goal also gets an A grade.

Overall, I had six New Year's Resolutions in 2016 of which I gave grades of B, C-, A, F, A, and A.  The only "F" grade was for my Frankenset idea...but truth be told, that was the least important goal on the list so I don't really mind.  I do know that I must do a better job on my collection reorganization in 2017...and I better put that down as a goal for next year so that I can hold myself accountable!

I thank all of you for reading, commenting, and trading during the 2016 year.  I hope that 2017 is better for everyone - and I wish you all a very healthy and happy New Year's Eve celebration (and New Year).  I do plan to post some resolutions/goals for 2017 in the upcoming days...and I can only hope that I'm as successful next year as was this year.

Now it's your turn to tell me how you did - either via a comment below or feel free to leave a link if you wrote up a similar post on your blog this year!

Comments

  1. You did pretty well on your goals. I didn't do as well as you (post will be published later in the day). Happy New Year! Oh... and that Lego shelf is awesome!

    ReplyDelete

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