What is this place??! This looks to have been a blog about baseball cards...but the person running it has been missing for almost six years. His last post was in 2019.
But what does that mean for the rest of the Hobby Blogging Community??! Is there still one??!
It appears that the Community still is strong, but the number of voices have decreased over time. I see Night Owl is still going strong. I see San Jose Fuji is still out there, same for Dayf. Others, like Stale Gum, Gellman, Marie & Sooz, et. al, are still writing, still collecting, still there, but writing for other platforms, or making their marks in other groundbreaking ways in the Hobby.
So what happened to bdj610? Did I just stop collecting? Did life just get in the way? Did I survive COVID?
Do people still care?
Well...
Life happened.
Since 2019, I've become a Certified Pharmacy Technician (so I can now add CPhT to my signature...only in professional settings though). I also still work for the food broker, now into my 8th full year. So my professional life has been hectic. Working a combined 70 hours-a-week between two high-stress jobs really hasn't allowed time to focus on writing for the blog.
Personally, both my children are now fully grown adults. My daughter, who graduated from college in 2022, has been a kindergarten teacher for the past four years. She's also married. My son, who graduated from high school in 2020 (what a time...that COVID pandemic), and earned his Associates in 2025, is an advocate for those with Chromosome 18 conditions.
My wife and I, now married for 27 years, are not exactly empty nesters. We have been adjusting to life as parents of adults. They will always be kids in our eyes, but this was the goal. Raise them until they become productive members of society, and still be there to support them as they spread their wings and go off on their own adventures.
But I guess the most important questions.
Do I still collect Topps Baseball Cards?
I never stopped. My collection has continued to grow through the years. For those who (still) remember, I have every Topps Baseball Card Set from 1976 (my birth year) to current. When I last wrote on the blog, I had every complete master set (that's base and basic inserts) through 2018 and I had just started on 2019. Since my hiatus, I've collected every Topps eponymous set from 2019 through 2025, and as of today (01/01/2026), I am just 56 cards away from completing the master set of 2025 Topps Update series.
I still buy on eBay, but use the platform for older sets that I may have missed, and current sets (base and inserts) that there would be no way on Earth I'd be able to build on my own.
I've also been a more active member of The Trading Card Database. Not only have I reached enough levels there to be able to add images, checklists, etc, but I also have been more focused on trading cards on the platform. I've completed over 500 trades on the site, mostly for basic insert cards to build sets. I was actually (insane) able to build the last two Topps Gypsy Queen sets (shame that the brand has stopped) through trades.
I (finally) was able to add almost all of the cards in my collection to the TCDB. As of today, I have 104,174 cards in my collection, and still need to add the 2024 Topps Team Sets (still need four of them) and 2025 Topps Team Sets (have them all..thankfully...story for another day).
Over the past few years, I added pictures of 6-inch binders holding completed Topps sets, which would include all base and insert sets from that year. Well, I posted this picture last year, and it went viral (about as viral as it can get on Card Hobby Twitter)
I was contacted by a writer on Topps' blog (the new and improved Ripped) and they asked about my Hobby story and my collection. In March, the article went on their blog. It's an honor that my story is on Topps' site. It's nice to see other collector's stories on there as well. Sooz, Gellman, and Ryan Cracknell (from Trader Cracks) have articles about their collections on the site as well.
So...what does that mean for me and the hopeful future of this blog?
I truly don't know.
What I do know is that I will try to spend more time writing. I have a lot more to say now, six years of Hobby history that I never addressed. Six years of cards and sets that I never discussed on this humble little blog.
Will certain blog features come back?
Maybe. There are a lot of cards that have had me shaking my head, wondering what Topps (and I guess now, Fanatics) was thinking when certain cards or products came out. The insert sets that have been added to the main product have been unique and deserve more time for analysis (if they haven't been already).
What happened to the Topps Card Randomizer?
With 6 more years of product, plus team sets, and a better way of calculating how many cards I have for each player, I would like to bring this back. But the spreadsheet was lost and to create a new one will take some work. But it can be done. So it will come back, not now, but in time.
For those of you who saw on your notifications that a long irrelevant blogger and his blog had an article posted, welcome back. To those seeing this post for the first time, welcome to my blog. The main goal of this blog was to talk about the Hobby, and more importantly, share my collection. If people read what I have to say, thank you. If nobody comes, I'm doing this more for me than anything else.
I hope 2026 is a better year for everyone. Here's to 2026 becoming a good year for the Hobby. May your collections grow to new heights. I look forward to what Topps brings in 2026. Can't wait for that eponymous design. This will be set number 51 for me. Let the fun begin.
Sincerely,
JayBee Anama
