Getting My Hands Dirty with the Checklist
So yeah, I grabbed the 2025 Topps Series 1 Baseball Checklist the other day. Saw that “Tips & Tricks Guide” floating around and figured, hey, why not? My collection’s kinda messy, piles of cards everywhere. Time to get organized, right?
First thing I did? Sat down at my old kitchen table, laptop open. Pulled up that PDF checklist. Man, it was longer than I thought! Scrolled down, saw hundreds of names staring back at me. Felt a bit overwhelming for a second, gotta be honest. Where do you even start with that?
The Paper Chase & Pen Power
Okay, instinct kicked in. I needed paper. Found this half-used notebook buried under some old magazines. Grabbed my trusty blue pen – the one that doesn’t leak. Started writing down the big sections: Base Set, Parallels, Inserts. That guide kept saying chunking it out is the way to go. Seemed smart.
- Began with the Base Set: Just started at number one. Mike Trout. Obvious one. Checked my box – yep, got him. Put a little tick next to his name. Feels good.
- Hit the Rookies: The guide really pushed looking for the RC logo. Started hunting through my loose cards. Found that Jackson Holliday one near the top of a pile! Big win. Tick!
- Got Stuck Quick: Paralells! Rainbow foil? Gold? Anniversary? What the heck are the differences? This is where the guide actually helped. Explained the colors simply. Didn’t realize I had a few gold parallels tucked away thinking they were just shiny base cards! Whoops.
The “Why Didn’t I Do This Before?” Moment
Kept plowing through, ticking off names. Found a bunch of doubles I totally forgot about. One big tip from the guide? Make notes. So on my paper list, I started scribbling little notes: “Have two”, “Need this guy”, “Parallel? Check back”. Simple stuff, but man, cleared my head.
Started sorting physically as I checked. Base cards in this pile. Rookies here. Parallels? Separate stack. Things started to look less like a tornado hit.
The best tip? Grouping by teams. The guide said it could help spot trends or needs faster. I’m an Angels fan, so I circled back, checked all my Angels players quick. Boom – realized I was missing that new reliever they got. Added him to my “look for” list at the bottom of my paper. Easy.
Finished up feeling… surprised, honestly. Didn’t take that long once I got rolling. Using the checklist with the guide’s dumb little tricks – chunking it, noting doubles, grouping by teams – saved me tons of confused staring. My desk still isn’t perfect, but man, I know exactly what I’ve got now and what holes I gotta fill. Solid Sunday afternoon well spent. No fancy apps needed, just some old-school pen and paper hustle.