14,000th and The Collecting Manifesto

Recently received the 1989 and 2002 Reds Kahn's sets in the mail. I was sitting at 13,997 unique Reds cards (not bad for two years, I say). So while I suppose I could count any of the cards as my 14,000th, I decided the third card from the first set out of the mailer would be it.

1989 Reds Kahn's #36 Rolando Roomes. A little underwhelming, but then again, 14,000 is just another number that happens to have a bunch of zeroes. Roomes had a 3 year career, first a year with the Cubs, then a year and a half with the Reds, then a half a year with the Expos. His best year was 1989 when he hit .263 in 107 games for Cincinnati. Congrats on being my 14,000th, Rolando. Truly a story to share with the grandchildren.

Now, onto the manifesto. It is brief. It is the reason I've accumulated this many Reds this quickly.

The Red Cardboard Collecting Manifesto

1. Don't set any specific goals

2. Be a cheapass

There it is. Team sets will fill themselves when they are ready. Go out looking for anything specific and you will overpay. Don't overpay. This is the zen.

Go Reds.