I don't believe in coincidence.

I never have. Chance favours the prepared mind and all that. But sometimes... sometimes odd little things happen that appear to be a coincidence.

 

I'm not sure what to call these oddities... so maybe I'll just show you an example.

 

As most of you know, I build the OPC set every year. This year I was actually serious about it, unlike last year.

This year, I went all in, actively trading and seeking out others to trade with rather than waiting passively.

Card shops, card shows, online, whatever... I wanted to finish this set, short prints and all.

 

And I did. Quite quickly and cost efficiently I might add. Not only did I finish the base set with SP's (1-600) I finished the sticker insert set (1-100) and.... AND... the retro parallel set with SP's (1-600).

 

I actually finished all of this quite awhile ago. But a little thing called laziness stopped me from bragging posting about it until now.

 

What does all this have to do with coincidence?

 

Well here is the card, the last card, I needed to complete the regular OPC base set, including the high number SP's.

 

Card #498.  A base checklist. Not even a short print. You'd think I would at least need a short print.

and here is the card I needed, the last card I needed, to finish off the retro parallel set with short prints.

Card #498  A base checklist. Not even a short print. And yes, the same damn checklist I needed for the regular set.

After getting 599 of the 600 cards for BOTH sets, I'd say it took me around two months to finally track down and acquire these last two pieces of the puzzle.

But I guess hard work pays off in the end.

Chance favours the prepared mind and all that.