GQ'06 is well underway. That's GedmanQuest2006: My attempt to score every baseball card Rich Gedman ever appeared on in a Red Sox uniform.

I've bought (or already had) the majority of the "normal" Gedman cards. I have all the regular Topps ('82-'90), all the Donruss ('82-'90) except for '88 and '89 (but the '82 is autographed), and all the Fleer ('82-'90) except for '88.

I also have all the Score ('88-'90), along with an '84 Nestle, an '85 O-Pee-Chee (with info on Rich in French on the back!), an '88 Topps BIG baseball card (remember that idea? It's the same thing, only, like, 10 per cent bigger) with autograph, the '86 Fleer card featuring Rich with fellow All-Star catcher Carlton Fisk, an '86 Donruss Action All-Star, an '89 Bowman, and an '89 Bowman Tiffany. The Tiffany sets were the same as the regular Topps/Bowman sets, only they were printed on glossy cardboard. Come on.

Besides those, there are a bunch of other oddball sets Rich appeared in, as well as the '89 Upper Deck set, that I probably have in a box somewhere.

So the initial frenzy of Jeek is over, actually, now that eBay has been completely scoured. I guess my move is to wait a month and then check again, since checking in every day would be pointless. It's just all the same shit right now.

Oh, and I also bought a 1986 uncut sheet of O-Pee-Chee, featuring the Gedman card along with 7 others. Those always intrigued me. I'd probably take an uncut sheet of anything if you wanted to give it to me.

And when I say "cards Gedman appeared on," I obviously didn't mean, like, in the background of another guy's picture. But now that I think about it... Well, a near-impossible task for another lifetime, maybe.

EBay is addictive like this. You decide you want something, you go on eBay, and you realize that not only can you get that specific thing, but you can also get every single thing that looks, smells, sounds, feels, or tastes like that thing, and anything else remotely related to it. Plus the Canadian versions of all of those. Then you snatch it all up, and you find yourself with a whole lot of junk, and then there's nothing left to buy, and you move on. It's happened to me one other time: When I was in The Pac-Men, I realized just how much Pac-related junk was made that I didn't have. I had the board games, the toys, and a lot of other stuff, but I hadn't known about TV trays, placemats, and plush Pac-dolls, several of which I bought on eBay, and would put on our amps during shows. Like with GedmanQuest, I got everything I needed very quickly, as it was all there waiting for me, but then the mania wore off.

(While writing that last paragraph, UPS came to the door. I thought it would be some Gedman cards, but it was a Christmas present I got for someone. I should have just said it was a Gedman card to make the story better. Oh well. However, the UPS person was cheery and nice for a change. She even said "sorry to be a bother," to which I quickly replied, "Hey, I ordered it," before realizing that was about the lamest thing you could possibly say. So I said "I bet you've heard that one before." "Exactly," she said, before wishing me a happy holiday season.)

[Update, 12/20/05: Chan just got the same UPS lady. He was so happy about how nice she was. He didn't know I'd put her on my blog. He couldn't believe I knew who he was talking about. Great job, that UPS lady. Also, two more Gedmans arrived today. I have nine different Gedmans from '86 alone now.]