First Anniversary Post

Today is the one-year anniversary of when I started writing a blog dedicated to vintage sportscards. Over the span of 178 posts, I've helped share my love and passion about my hobby, shown off some of the cards in my collection, pimped my own website and helped answer some questions.

I've managed to keep this a regular blog, with 3 (and sometimes 4) posts every week, and hopefully I can keep up the pace with quality information. Here are some of the highlights of my first year:

 This Mickey Mantle card introduced my sometimes low-key collection.

I added this card to my Steelers collection after more than 10 years of it being on my wantlist.

I wrote two articles for hobby magazines. One on beaters, and the other on stadium memorabilia.

I began writing another blog covering the 1973 Topps baseball set.

A new variation was discovered in the 1965 Topps Transfers set.

I shared my recollections of the progress of my oldest card (Night Owl gave me that idea).

I got to write about what I call "The Book."

In the meantime, I've shared some new additions into my collection, I've provided glimpses into a number of classic vintage sets and have met some great hobbyists who share my passion -- some may call it "sickness" -- and even managed to share tips on storing 1951/'52 Bowman cards in a binder.

I was going to share my "Top 5" posts in popularity, but the numbers have been skewed by my method of giving generic names for the headlines. My most-read post is still racking up the hits, but it's not due to the subject matter...titled Pre-"Big Game" Post, it showed some 1952 Bowman football cards as a pre-Super Bowl entry, but the search engines sent me traffic from both fans looking for Super Bowl info and players of something called Game Post (I'm still getting several hits a week with that keyword). Likewise, another post mentioned eBay in the title and got 4 times the traffic I normally get in one day.

I can't close this entry without mentioning my regular readers. Some have given me topics (keep 'em coming), others have added valuable comments to fill in the many areas i am still unclear about, and still others have let me know via email that they learned something they never knew. You guys have no idea how much that means to a writer when he's told he's given a reader insight. I thank every one of you who've been along for the ride. Hopefully, it won't stop for a long time.