What was your "Everest" of 2012?

[btkpath]

For me, I will remember 2012 as the year that I completed this little set. It was my "Everest" and made me put all other projects aside. It was considerably more challenging than I anticipated. As I was nearing completion, my wife showed some signs of relief, until she realized that I would only be starting some other set or sets. Then she broke out in a cold sweat......

There were so many members of this forum that helped me out with this project......far too many to name, but you know who you are, and I can't thank you all enough.

What was your "Everest" in 2012?

[wonkaticket]

Amazing job and one very nice looking set! Congrats.

[atx840]

Ummm, yeah...awesome.

[Leon]

Congrats on your completion Barry. Glad we got to meet and speak at the National too...

[sdkammeyer]

VERY nice!!
Congrats on your "summit of Everest"

[bcbgcbrcb]

Congrats!!

[Sean]

Excellent set, I especially love the Matty (of course).

[teetwoohsix]

Beautiful collection Barry !!!!

Amazing job, congrats !!!

Sincerely, Clayton

[freakhappy]

Barry...that set is amazing! Thanks for sharing that with us

You should be proud of what you have accomplished. I love those CJ's!

You put that together in one year?...crazy

[jp1216]

Beautiful set Barry! Every consider crossing them all to SGC? The black/red contrast would be amazing for an entire set. Nice Jackson, Cobb etc 30 grades. (I'm seeing red now)

[t206blogcom]

Congrats! Very nice CJs.

[calvindog]

Wow, that's a serious set.

[g_vezina_c55]

Simply WOW

[Jay Wolt]

Barry great job, congrats!

[rainier2004]

Its great to see all your CJs cropped together like that. Congrats again on finishing.

I didnt see any Mt Everest summits like yours in 2012, hopefully a smaller somewhat similar summit in 2013 though...

[terjung]

Beautiful! Congratulations!

[ullmandds]

Wow...congratulations! Beautiful looking set!

No everests for me...just a few kiliminjaros!!!

[ScottFandango]

Great accomplishment!

One of the harder, if not hardest set to put together...even the commons are bears! I see some old friends in there and they have a great home!

Congrats!

[SushiX37]

My god, that's impressive. I just keep scrolling up and down the photo, taking it all in. It's amazing, congrats to you sir.

Rich

[ullmandds]

Yeah...it just keeps going...and going!!!!!! How long did it take you from start to finish?

[3-2-count]

Barry congratulations. Very very impressive!! No Everest for me in 2012.

[btkpath]

Wow!

I am quite humbled to have been flooded with so many positive comments as hardly a day goes by where I am not in awe of others' accomplishments and knowledge on these boards.

Thanks John, Chris, Steve, Phil, Sean (yeah, picking up the Matty was pretty satisfying), Clayton, Mike C., Jason, calvindog, Nelson, Jay, Brian, Peter, Scott (yes, I have very fond memories of some of our transactions), Rich and Tony for the nice comments.

Leon, it was great meeting and speaking with you at the National. What you provide to this community is invaluable!

Jon, I agree with you that the red against the black of the SGC holders is quite esthetically appealing, but I have never had great luck in crossing cards over and "maintaining the grade". I might consider it in the future, but for now I am just basking in the "red glow".

Steve, it has been great sharing this experience with you. I am sure 2013 will be the year that you "summit" and complete the 1915 set.

Several questions came up regarding when I started collecting this set....

I decided to start the 1914 CJ's after completing the 1933 Goudey set. Although I loved putting that set together, it was relatively straightforward. Money was the real obstacle, not the availability of the cards. I thought the 1914 CJ's would represent a very tough, but doable project and was anticipating it taking 10 years. From the beginning, I knew the Del Pratt had the reputation for being the most difficult card to find and when I saw one pop up on eBay one Saturday as a BIN, I jumped at the opportunity. My first 1914 CJ purchase was the Mordecai Brown (PSA 4) purchased on 5/11/08, so it took me about 4 1/2 years to complete the set. The Pratt was probably one of the first 20 cards in the set that I owned. I focussed my purchases heavily on rarity, using the combined populations on the SGC and PSA reports as my guide. Although the Pratt is the least populous card, there are probably 35 cards that have combined populations fewer than 20. The Matty, Jackson, Johnson and Cobb were the priciest, but I could count on them being available several times each year. Many of the rarest cards would go years between recorded sales in any grade.

Probably the most satisfying aspect of assembling the set, though, was the acquaintances and friendships that I have forged along the way. For that, I am truly grateful!

[RichR]

Thanks for posting that picture Barry, love it! It's quite a feat collecting that set. I've been working on the 1915 set for nine years now so you building the 14 in the time frame you did is amazing imo!

It was a real pleasure meeting you through this set!

[cyseymour]

Beautiful Cracker Jack set.

My friend actually did climb Mt. Everest. It is getting to be a more popular thing to do, and she managed to get it done. I was pretty skeptical about whether it would really happen, but low and behold... she did it.

I'm sticking to Mt. Everests of baseball cards.

[paulcarek]

Awesome accomplishment, Barry. Congratulations!

I'm curious -- what's your favorite card in the set?

[asoriano]

Barry,

Congrats on finally completing your '14 CJ set! We spoke briefly at the dinner hosted by Heritage Auction during the National last year.

A huge accomplishment and very impressive.

Turner Engle

BTW, Barry has THE coolest iPhone case I have ever seen

[Marckus99]

Woooooooooooooooow!!!

[E93]

Congrats on a spectacular set!
JImB

[Scott L.]

A really beautiful set.......I'm in awe!

Congratulations.

Scott

[btkpath]

Thanks Rich. Like I said the nicest part about collecting the set has been the people that I have had the privilege to meet. You were the first.

Thanks cyseymour (I too am sticking with "land-based" cards).

Thanks paulcarek. Well, certainly some of the "big boys" (like the Matty and JJ) in the set hold a special place in my heart It would be hard not to call the Matty my favorite, as the wallpaper on my laptop and my cellphone case both have the image of that card on it. However, truly the Frank Smith image is probably my favorite image in the set (card #90), followed by Ad Brennan and Ted Easterly.

Thanks for the nice comments Marks, E93 and Scott.

Turner, it was a pleasure meeting you too at the National this past year. My recollection is that you also had quite an accomplishment as well. Congrats are certainly in order. I still have my cellphone case; it was the best $35 I have ever spent! (well, almost).

[jimivintage]

Ridiculously impressive, man!!!

No Everest for me in 2012, but 2013 looks promising with PERHAPS the completion of the e98 set. Then it will be onto the next project....

[travrosty]

now just bust them all out of the holders and congrats!

[Rickyy]

A+++ What a Set!

Ricky Y