One thing I struggle with is patience. When I want something, I want it immediately, not later. Many times I wind up spending more than I should on things because of that. I think that Black Friday is a good time to post about that shortcoming, as it's one of the biggest shopping days of the year. I usually spend too much on this day. This year I didn't do too badly. I mostly avoided the big card sales on the Dave & Adam's and Blowout Cards websites. I stayed away from the Topps online sale. I only added a handful of cards to my collection on COMC to bump me over the free shipping threshold. I took my kids to the local LEGO resale store, and they saved a little money while spending their allowance on some figures they'd been saving for. I only grabbed a couple of minifigs for myself. I've also gathered a few LEGO sets for myself as I purchased the LEGO sets my kids have on their Christmas lists. It's a good thing we all like the same stuff.
Thanksgiving this year fell on my birthday, which happens every few years. It was a pretty decent birthday, although birthdays don't matter all that much to me anymore. Our Thanksgiving meal was low-key, but it was good. My wife and kids gave me a LEGO set from the recent Thor: Ragnarok movie. I took a nap and scanned a bunch of cards and artwork to build up my stock of blog post drafts. My wife is gone on a girls' weekend now, so it's just me and the kids and the dogs for a couple of days. So far it is going okay.
Sometimes I can be patient. According to this post from 2015, it took me about two years to pick up my first copy of this card. I probably overpaid for it, but this photo variation of R.A. Dickey's card from 2013 Topps Opening Day just hasn't shown up all that often. If I am remembering right, that auction from a couple of years ago sat at $19.99 for a very long time before the seller dropped the price and I picked it up. When today's copy popped up on eBay for just a couple of dollars, I had to bid on it out of principle. I wound up winning it for a fraction of what I spent on the original card. I guess the shine has kind of come off of R.A. Dickey's cards in the last few years. I still like getting his cardboard, though.
I’m totally with you. I usually will pay more now than wait for the uncertain future when it comes to cards. Black Friday works well because I can have my cake and eat it too. Ha!
ReplyDeleteI wish I could have bought more cards this Black Friday/Cyber Monday, but I blew the budget on other things, like all of the Topps Now cards of Astros in the playoffs. I can't complain too much, though. I'm at a good place in life right now.
DeleteHappy belated birthday!
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