The "25 Card" or "50 Card" Collection

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Posted By: Al C.risafulli

Peter, that's where I went wrong.

I started the Nifty Fifty a year or so ago, and thought it would be a great way for me to maintain focus. Of course I wasn't about to abandon my '38 Goudeys or my Henry Johnson confectioners; if I have "signature" sets it would be those two. And I was midway through a T205 set, and I wasn't going to turn my back on that project, either.

So I started chugging away on 50 cards, and then decided I wasn't satisfying the jones to buy new cards. So I decided to start a run of 1970s sets - cheap enough cards, easy to find, and they didn't really "count," since I'm a vintage collector and I don't consider those cards to be "vintage."

Then I started working on the Monster a little - I've always collected T206 since I was a boy, they're cheap and plentiful and have great HOFers. So I added that.

Then I acquired one too many N28s, and started to work on that set as well.

Suddenly, my 50 card collection that I started to help me maintain focus, resulted in me having less focus than I've ever had in my collecting life. I'm slowly whittling away cards now, moving back toward being a HOF and type collector and trying to regain focus.

I was fired up about the concept of the Nifty Fifty when I first heard of it, and I really evangelized it quite a bit, but ultimately I kept making excuses for side projects. I guess I have no discipline.

-Al