T206 AKA "The Monster" Collecting Advice

[KMayUSA6060]

I was explaining to my good friend NJ Dunkin my collecting strategy for The Monster, and I explained it in a way that I feel should be shared with the rest of the board. Periodically since joining this forum, I've seen threads that ask for advice on how to approach the T206 set AKA THE MONSTER. I've seen people talk about how The Monster beat them, etc. Before I go on, I want everyone to know I am 100% against Participation Trophies. Now that that's been said, I should mention that my strategy is essentially full of participation trophies.

Also, I'm sure this isn't a "hot take" as they say in the sports reporting world, so I apologize if reading this wastes 5 minutes of your life. I just have not seen it explained like this.

The Participation Trophy Method

To start, make sure you do your research on the set. You don't need to be an expert, but grab a checklist of the backs, know their scarcity rankings, and other rare cards/variations.

The difference between my strategy, and that of a Little League giving little Jimmy who picked his nose in LF while watching the game winning hit go by him a trophy, is mine results in a greater accomplishment/goal.

Basically, it's a simple concept. Take a piece of paper and draw a line. This line can be curvy like the lady on your Swimsuit calendar that hangs on your Man Cave wall, or as straight as an arrow. On one end, put a starting line; on the other end, a finish line. The finish line is the 520/524 card set completion. Now, along the path, put tick marks (no, not the ticks you wish you were checking her for; if you don't get this, listen to Brad Paisley's Ticks). Give yourself enough room around these marks to write.

Start with the tick mark closest to the starting line, and write the answer to the following question...
What is your favorite MLB team?

The next line...
What is your favorite image pose/orientation - portrait, action, horizontal?

The following line...
Who are your Top 10 favorite players from this set?

You can go on and on with your own variations of questions regarding the set. So for example, in my case, my favorite MLB team is Cleveland. I'm currently 3 cards away from knocking out the Cleveland commons set. My favorite pose/orientation is the horizontal; once I complete the Cleveland commons subset, I will be moving onto the other horizontal cards. This is helping me stay focused, both financially and goal wise. The reason I call it the "Participation Trophy Method" is each tick mark is essentially a Participation Trophy. You'll get a sense of accomplishment, but you'll be hungry to attack the next tick mark/goal. This should help you stay engaged and before you know it, you'll have 1/4 of the entire set completed, then 1/3, then 1/2, then 2/3, then 3/4, then viola - you're done.

Hope this helps at least one person. Otherwise, I just wasted quite a bit of time at work typing this for nothing.