So I gotta tell ya about this National Treasures Football Checklist thing. Looked it up ’cause frankly, my card collection was getting outta hand. Just stacks of paper everywhere, shoe boxes full – a real nightmare. Figured there had to be a smarter way, ya know?
My First Steps (More Like Stumbles)
Started off simple. Went online, typed in “national treasures football checklist 2023”. Got a bunch of hits, but most seemed way too fancy or complicated. I ain’t running a museum here, just need a list! Finally found one that looked okay, just a plain PDF someone shared. Downloaded it, printed it out.
Opened up the big cardboard box where I dump everything – packs I ripped open months ago, singles I traded for, stuff I forgot I even had. Grabbed my stack of printed pages and a blue ballpoint pen. Time to get organized.
Sitting on the living room floor, started flipping cards one by one. Tom Brady? Check. Rookie quarterback card? Flips paper, finds the “Hot Rookies” section Check. Weird insert card with shiny foil? Scans checklist Found it under “Spectra Shines” – Check.
Wasn’t always smooth sailing. Spilled my coffee, right on the checklist corner. Whelp. Had a few cards I couldn’t find anywhere on the list. Just shoved those in a “Mystery Pile” for later. My kid ran by, almost took out the whole stack. Gotta love Sundays.
How I Actually Use The Damn Thing
Okay, so it ain’t rocket science, but here’s exactly what I do now:
- Find a Current Checklist: Like I said, hunted down the 2023 version specifically for “National Treasures Football”. Printed it out ’cause I like paper for this stuff. Taping coffee stains is easier than fixing a crashed laptop file.
- Mark What You Got: Simple. Got the card? Grab that blue pen and put a thick X right in the box next to the card name/number. Don’t be shy, make it bold. Helps my old eyes see it later.
- Find What You Need: Look for the empty boxes! No X? Means that card is missing from your set. Makes it super obvious what you gotta hunt down next time you’re at the card shop or looking online.
- Ignore the Useless Stuff (At First): That checklist had columns for “Market Value” and “Print Run” and who knows what else. Ignored ’em. Just cared about “Do I have this?” or “Do I not?” Kept it manageable.
What It Actually Did For Me
Took a couple hours, beer included, but wow. That chaotic mess in the cardboard box? It actually makes sense now! Seeing those X’s pile up is weirdly satisfying, like crossing stuff off a real-world todo list.
Best part? I finally know what holes I need to fill. Instead of just grabbing random packs hoping, I can actually target specific cards. Feels less like gambling now. Also, the Mystery Pile shrunk – turns out I was looking in the wrong section for some cards. Rookie mistake!
Look, it ain’t nothing special, just a simple list. But seriously, if your cards are piling up like mine were, finding the right checklist and spending an afternoon marking it up? Makes a huge difference. My wife even stopped making fun of my “card mountain” for a whole day. That’s progress.
