A new way to approach collecting - and it has me selling a lot of PC

When I first started this blog, there were two goals - collect Nicolas Batum and build the Murad set.  That was it.  And you know what?  It worked.

Just chronicling those two elements - while giving a bit of commentary on the rest - was enough to build a blog with some readership.  And that readership gave me permission to enter the card collectors online "club".

And because that approach worked, I went for it all the way.  I mean I really went for it.

But here's the catch:  I'm not 100% in love with Murad.  So my collection was more about the obsession of completion, and not the labor of love that it should've been.

And Murad, even though it's Batum's rookie year, has no Nicolas Batum.

I love retro sets.  I do.  But I should've stopped collecting Murad after I made a habit of searching for the best prices on Andre Iguodala mini cards.  I wasn't into it.

And yet, I waited for three whole YEARS for the 2012 Topps Heritage set to come out because I love the 1963 Topps release.  1963 design Topps Heritage is something I never get tired of looking at.  I rarely looked at my nearly complete Murad set.  So how do I fix that?

Well, I'm selling off the pieces of the Murad set that I can - the rest I'll give away to a younger family member.  Problem solved.  Focus on building the wonder that is 2012 Topps Heritage, and leave the rest to the side.

Now onto my Nicolas Batum cards.......

I'm parting with many of those as well.  I know, shocking right?

The rarer cards I'll keep.  But many of the other cards only need to fill one piece of the "rainbow".  Do I need 17 copies of the blue /499?  No.  So I'll be pairing those down.  I'm keeping the rarer chrome and keeping the printing plate.  And I'll always be on the lookout for the superfractor and red chrome cards.  But so much of the Batum chase is focused on amassing too many of the 'wrong' pieces of that puzzle.

Does that make sense?

Would you rather have 1 single copy of a blue chrome /99 or numerous copies of regular blue /499?  The choice is pretty simple.

As it is, my Batum collection isn't on par with other super collectors.  I'm going to fix that.

So that's my focus right now with this blog.  Piecing off the Murad and focusing on the Topps 2012 Heritage set.  I'd rather have a labor of love than a labor of compulsion.

Plus - I'm making one more DRASTIC change to the way I collect cards that I'll roll out on Thursday.  I know my readership has shrunk, but those that come for the Thursday or Friday post will be pretty surprised by my new collecting idea.