Night Owl Cards

  It's amazing to me how my card blogging past continues to pop up in the present, whenever it feels like, and surprise me in all kinds of wonderful ways.   If you haven't discovered this for yourself already, Robert has returned to blogging after suffering some serious health issues. I wholeheartedly wish him the best, and I was thrilled to read that he says connecting through blogging is part of his recovery!   This bit of news arrived at the end of the week that had already provided a blast from my card blogging past. On Monday or Tuesday, I received a large envelope in the mail from a reader, Nolan, who reminded me that we had communicated and traded in the past. I do remember that. I made a futile effort to find evidence on my blog or through email, but I know we connected.     I pulled the above publication out of the envelope and it drew me instantly into the 1970s. Everything about it is '70s through and through. And because of that, I was a kid ag...

  Probably the final card purchase of 2024 has arrived and it's a really, really good one, something I've wanted for a long time.   Ever since I was a youngster I have been fascinated by the SSPC sets from the 1970s, those cards that were nothing but photos during a time when that was unusual in the hobby. I first came to know them through the 1978 Yankees yearbook, something so pervasive in my neighborhood that I eventually bought my own copy from the local CVS because it seemed like everyone had one. I was a card-carrying Yankee hater even back then but I knew the yearbook contained the SSPC Yankees as a panel insert. I didn't know these cards as "SSPC" or that they were part of a larger set, as panels for other teams were also inserted into publications. I just knew them as cards I didn't have and therefore needed, even if they were Yankees. Since that time I became aware that it's a 270-card set and there are cards for other teams -- most notably the D...