My dad has dementia and so conversing with him isn't always the easiest thing to do, but I try to stop by to see him everyday, even if it's for only 15 minutes or so. Yesterday I stopped by and was making some small talk by talking about 2019 being right around the corner. My dad, in his infinite wisdom, said something along the lines of, "Yeah, but we'll still all be breathing the same air in 2019 that we are right now." While I know this might not make sense to everyone, what I got from it was there is no reason to wait until 2019, or next month, next week, or even tomorrow to make a change.
Today I came across Warren Buffet's 25-5 rule and decided this is what I need to do with my collection. I wasn't familiar with the 25-5 rule, so in case you aren't either, here's a brief summary. List out the 25 most important things and then cross out all but the most important 5. Everything else is just slowing you down. Focus only on the 5 most important things.
So I decided to try it with my collection.
1. Hank Aaron Topps cards
2. 500 HR Bat cards
3. 3000 Hit Club Bat cards
4. Ken Griffey Jr.
5. Mike Piazza
6. HOF RC's
7. Paul Goldschmidt
8. Brandon Webb
9. 1981 - Current Topps Sets
10. TTM Autographs
11. D-Backs Team Sets
12. Travis Lee
13. Randy Johnson
14. Basketball cards
15. Football cards
16. Hockey cards
17. Golf/Non-Sport cards
18. Mini Collections
19. Mormon Athletes
20. Player Collections (Mattingly, Gooden, Salmon, etc.)
21. Diamondbacks cards
22. Topps-Page-A -Year
23. Vintage
24. Ryan Roberts
25. Insert Sets/Oddball
I'm sure there are more, but these are the 25 I came up with in about 5 minutes. Now to try to get down to 5.
1. Hank Aaron Topps cards
2. 500 HR Bat cards
3. 3000 Hit Club Bat cards
4. Ken Griffey Jr.
5. Mike Piazza
6. HOF RC's
7. Paul Goldschmidt
8. Brandon Webb
22. Topps-Page-A -Year
24. Ryan Roberts
I got down to 10 pretty easily. But 10 ins't 5. What else can I cut? My 500 HR Bat cards and 3000 Hit Club Bat cards are already complete, so it's just a matter of adding to it when someone joins the club. I'm still going to collect Griffey, Piazza, and Webb, but I'm going to limit myself to just a Top 10 cards for each player. I can replace cards within the Top 10, but I want to keep it at just 10.
So that leaves me with:
1. Hank Aaron Topps cards
2. HOF RC's
3. Paul Goldschmidt
4. Topps-Page-A-Year
5. Ryan Roberts
Now I need to purge the rest of my collection. If you have any interest in anything above, not on my list of 5 (plus the 500 HR and 3000 Hit Bat cards), let me know. I plan on trading or selling eveything else. Keep in mind that if you plan on trading with me, it will need to be for something on my top 5 list which I know is limited. I also want to apologize to anyone that may have given me something or traded me something in the past that I'm now letting go of. I've just gotten to the point where I can't keep up with everything I'd like to collect, plus having to deal with all of my parents things over the past few months has put things into perspective.Not only do I not have room for everything right now, but what happens 40+ years from now when nobody wants my stuff.
I hate posts without any actual cards, so here are some cards that are up for trade/sale because they don't fit my 5. I'd do $8 shipped in a bubble mailer for the 4 cards if anyone is interested.
Nothing wrong with paring down the collection and focusing on what's most important. I'll surely be taking a look when you put things up for sale/trade.
ReplyDeleteGah, that Shawn Green card, I'd love that one.
ReplyDeleteI'm not at the point you are at right now but I see myself getting there. And I'm dealing with a parent with dementia, too. I think you're making the right decision. I have a handful of Goldschmidts that hopefully you don't have.
I'll set the Green card aside for you.
DeleteWhat are your needs in Topps Page-A-Year?
ReplyDeleteI'll post soon about this.
DeleteI'm interested in trading/ purchasing. Can we talk offline, or is everything being made available thru the blog?
ReplyDeleteThanks! You can email me at daniel24303 at gmail dot com.
DeleteGood luck with your downsizing!
ReplyDelete"but what happens 40+ years from now when nobody wants my stuff"
ReplyDeleteI think about this a lot -- I don't want to have a giant collection no one wants which my son and/or wife would have to deal with at the end of my life (hopefully decades from now). I haven't purged anything yet but have cut back my goals for what to acquire, and have loosely in mind what to keep and what to ditch in a future purge. I already purged my comic books but it's harder for me to let go of cards.
Even with dementia your father dropped some serious wisdom there. Glad to see you were successful in implementing Buffet's 25 - 5 rule. Although I probably should streamline my collection a little more, I'm not ready to narrow it down to 5 things.
ReplyDelete