Never Gonna Happen

One of the things I love the most about my father is that he keeps things real.  Sometimes too real.  He told me I could be almost anything I wanted to be... within reason.  He encouraged me to set challenging yet reasonable goals for myself.

Little League baseball is the perfect example.  I dedicated years of my childhood to playing ball.  I was fortunate enough to play on a few all-star teams.  But I was short, chubby, left-handed (who played second base), and when I finally reached high school, I couldn't hit anything they threw at me.

In short... I accepted the fact that I'd never end up playing for the Oakland Athletics at a fairly young age.

Did I quit playing?  Heck no.  I enjoyed the challenge and had way too much fun.

That same philosophy can be applied to my collecting habits.

1999 UD Century Legends Epic Signatures #RJ

I recently purchased this Reggie Jackson for the 1999 UD Century Legends Epic Signatures set I'm currently trying to build.  If you asked me who was on my Mount Rushmore of autographed card designs, this would be on it.

I love how Upper Deck combined the player's portrait with the black and white photo of Tiger Stadium in the background.  This allows the blue Sharpie to really stand out.

And the checklist is rock solid.  Here's who I've acquired so far:

Getting back to the topic at hand.  Just like I came to terms with my baseball career... I've come to terms with completing this set.  It's never gonna happen.

Why not?  Well... out of the thirty cards on the checklist, I've whittled my way down to eleven cards on my wantlist.  Four of them are reasonably attainable.  Bill Mazeroski, Don Larsen, Eddie Mathews, and Willie McCovey can all be obtained for $30 or less.  It's just a matter of whether or not I'm willing to spend that much on their signatures.

Six of them are either expensive or crazy expensive.  I'm not sure if these guys were short printed or not, but Alex Rodriguez, Barry Bonds, Frank Thomas, Greg Maddux, Nolan Ryan, and Tom Seaver sell for hundreds of dollars.  I'm willing to spend $100 for any of these.  Maybe even $125.  However... it's probably more realistic for me to tryout for the Oakland Athletics.

Then there's Juan Gonzalez.  Gonzalez doesn't sell for triple digits, but he's not in the under $30 category either.  So while I may eventually add three, four, or five more signatures to this set, I've accepted the fact that completing this set is never gonna happen.  But that's okay, because I'm going to have fun trying.

What about you...

Are you currently building any sets that you're pretty sure you'll never complete?

I look forward to reading your responses.

Happy Tuesday and sayonara!