2004 Topps Retired auto goal update

These days, my active baseball card collecting is focused squarely on 2004 Topps Retired Signature Edition, a relatively obscure "old timers" set I didn't even know about till a few months ago. In past posts, I've opined what draws me to the set, and well as shared cautionary tales about spending a lot on premium packs.

For better or worse, I'm pretty much "the 2004 Topps Retired guy" at this point. In fact, I found out the other day that if you Google "2004 Topps Retired" right now, my young blog here shows up in the top 10 search results.

But yeah, I feel like I'm in too deep to pull out now. Since my last post on the subject, I've crossed the 50% threshold on my financially-irresponsible collecting goal of owning every certified autograph card from the set.

In the past month or so, I've ponied up for a (faded signature) Yaz and a (faded signature) refractor Yogi, in addition to a few other lower-tier guys I needed. And sure, I'd prefer vibrant blue signatures over faded black ones, but hey, if it knocks the price down a bit, I'm ok with it. I'm stoked to have the autograph of these 2 legends, even if not as visually impressive as they should rightfully be.

That gives me 43 down, with 33 still to go. (and no, I am not going after the ugly Willie Mays co-signers. Screw that! ..Though, if you've got one to part with, feel free to let me know. lol)

Here's where I'm at (as of 7/25/2013):

2004 Topps Retired Signature Edition

Red = Need it
Green = Got it
Orange = I got 2 of it (my orange for your red trade offers welcomed!)

Group A: Cal Ripken; Nolan Ryan; Carl Yastrzemski; Robin Yount;

Group B: Hank Aaron; Ernie Banks; Stan Musial; Duke Snider

Group C: Johnny Bench; Yogi Berra; Whitey Ford; Bob Gibson; Dwight Gooden; Tony Gwynn; Don Mattingly; Brooks Robinson; Mike Schmidt; Tom Seaver; Ozzie Smith

Group D: Wade Boggs; John Candelaria; Jose Canseco; Gary Carter; Carlton Fisk; Ralph Kiner; Paul Molitor; Paul O'Neill; Frank Robinson; Ryne Sandberg; Darryl Strawberry; Don Zimmer;

Group E: Buddy Bell; Rod Carew; Bucky Dent; Rob Dibble; Dennis Eckersley; Tony Fernandez; Rollie Fingers; George Foster; Ceasar Geronimo; Kirk Gibson; Goose Gossage; Orel Hershiser; Al Hrabosky; Greg Luzinski; Tony Oliva; Dave Parker; Jimmy Piersall; Alan Trammell;

Group F: Davey Lopes;

Group G: Tony Armas; Vida Blue; Tom Brunansky; Bill Buckner; Orlando Cepeda; Darren Daulton; Darrell Evans; Bobby Grich; Ferguson Jenkins; Wally Joyner; Jimmy Key; Ron Kittle; Bill Madlock; Jack McDowell; Dale Murphy; Graig Nettles; Al Oliver; Bobby Richardson; Ron Santo; Dave Stieb; Bruce Sutter; Ron Swoboda; Luis Tiant; Earl Weaver; Maury Wills;

Group H: Elroy Face

need it!

If you've got any I still need and would likely be down for a trade or sale, please let me know. I feel like I've spent way too much money on this set lately, so I'm gonna try to chill out and only go after "good deals" for a while. More patience and less "I must complete this set NOW!!"

I'm also (less-obsessively) trying to obtain the (non-auto) base set.
Here's what I still need: (again, trade help would be great)

1 Willie Mays 

2 Tony Gwynn

3 Dale Murphy

4 Lenny Dykstra 

5 Johnny Bench 

7 Ferguson Jenkins 

9 Ralph Kiner 

10 Ernie Banks 

12 Lou Brock 

13 Keith Hernandez 

14 Jose Canseco 

15 Whitey Ford 

16 Dave Kingman 

17 Tim Raines 

18 Paul O'Neill 

19 Lou Whitaker 

20 Mike Schmidt 

22 Kirk Gibson 

23 Ryne Sandberg 

24 Luis Tiant 

25 Al Kaline 

27 Don Zimmer 

29 Maury Wills 

31 Garry Maddox 

32 Tom Brunansky 

33 Don Mattingly 

34 Earl Weaver 

35 Bobby Grich 

36 Orlando Cepeda 

37 Alan Trammell 

39 Dave Lopes 

40 Rod Carew 

42 Dwight Gooden 

43 Andre Dawson 

44 Hank Aaron 

46 Reggie Jackson 

48 Carlton Fisk 

49 Dave Parker 

50 Cal Ripken 

51 Roy Face 

56 Tom Seaver 

57 Tony Armas 

58 Dave Stieb 

59 Will Clark 

60 Duke Snider 

61 Cesar Geronimo 

62 Ron Kittle 

63 Ron Santo 

64 Mickey Rivers 

65 Jim Piersall 

67 Kent Hrbek 

69 Greg Luzinski 

70 Harmon Killebrew 

71 Ron Guidry 

72 Steve Garvey 

73 Andy Van Slyke

74 Goose Gossage 

75 Ozzie Smith 

76 Richie Allen 

77 Vida Blue 

78 Tony Oliva 

79 Darryl Strawberry 

80 Frank Robinson 

81 Bruce Sutter 

82 Dave Concepcion 

83 Darrell Evans 

85 Bo Jackson 

87 Rob Dibble 

88 Wade Boggs 

92 Mike Scott 

93 Paul Molitor 

95 Bobby Richardson 

96 Rollie Fingers

97 Tim McCarver 

98 John Candelaria

99 Dave Winfield 

101 Bill Madlock 

102 Jack McDowell 

103 Luis Aparicio 

105 Dave Stewart 

106 Darren Daulton 

107 Gary Gaetti 

109 Buddy Bell

And I'm also much less obsessively collecting the 2003 Topps Retired set/autos as well (I've currently got 10 autos and 0 base cards).

I suppose this post is essentially my updated want list (see also the link on the right). As a new kid on the baseball card blog block, not to mention one with a narrow want list (I'm not really a team collector or a set collector), trading partners are hard to come by. I mean, I started this blog because I like writing/reading about baseball cards, not necessarily as a means to grow my collection, but it would be cool to swing some trades at some point, too.