Night Owl Cards

Those of you who have been hard-core team collectors for a decade or so, on average how many cards do you figure you need when you land a random lot of your team's cards? I've never really kept track. But it's something I'd like to figure out. So I'm using a bunch of Dodgers that I received from Johnny's Trading Spot as kind of the guinea pig test case. John and I are trying to work out a deal for that John Smoltz autograph card I pulled, but in the meantime he landed about 300 random Dodgers on me. Out of those 300 cards, I counted 40 that I needed. That comes to 13 percent. You may have winced at that number. But I can tell you're not a veteran team collector. I am actually thrilled that I need that many. You may think that there are very few Dodger cards that I need. I don't see it that way at all. I see Dodger cards that I need every day. And they're not super fancy or old Dodger cards. They're random base cards from like 2 years ag...

Not every 2016 Topps card is brutal -- I just discovered a couple of night shots in the Perspectives insert set that I simply must have -- but I'm pretty much done sampling it. Just the Dodgers for me, thanks. Plus, when the current set comes out and you don't like it, it's a blessing. Because you can focus on cards that you really like. I've already been doing that -- you'll see some of what I picked up soon -- but I also need to show off Night Owl-collection-centric cards sent to me by fellow collectors. Today, you will see a bunch of goodies from Tim B., of I Love the Smell of Cardboard in the Morning. Coincidentally, his blog is where I saw the Perspectives night cards. So I must repay him with a post. Speaking of smelling cardboard, Tim really sniffed out my want list for these cards.  Let's see what he found extra stinky: Zack Greinke, doing a little traitor-foreshadowing by appearing framed in Diamondback red. This brings my 2013 Dodger T...

As you know, I live in a city that is considered by many of its inhabitants as an outpost bereft of the diversions that many city dwellers take for granted. It's kind of ironic because the county in which I live is the fastest growing county in the state and has been for several years. While every other county in New York state is dying, mine just keeps on expanding. Yet, everyone complains that you can't find anything here. Although I'm quite satisfied with where I live, I do agree with my neighbors in one area and that is when it comes to buying cards. I've said it over and over, but there is no acceptable card shop, new product is often delayed at least a week in comparison to other areas, and card shows require clearing of the calendar and a full tank of gas. I definitely do not live in a mystical magical card land. But from my point of view, mystical magical card lands DO exist. I can pinpoint four areas in particular: 1. The Southeast, North Carolin...

The title for this post is a little flip, considering that some people haven't had much luck with the Diamond Giveaway at all. But I think I'm running out of interest in the site. That's probably because I've landed the other Diamond Diecut card that I really wanted. The Clayton Kershaw diecut was traded to me by reader Martin. I was so impressed by his transaction that I bumped his trade way up in the rotation. (As mentioned before, these cards are really much more sparkly and shiny than is capable of being shown on scans -- also my scanner bed apparently is plagued by dog hair. But don't let the dull scan ruin your appreciation of shiny, shiny goodness). This leaves only one other Dodger Diamond Cut to get -- Andre Ethier. I'm sure if I offered my Reggie Jackson Diamond Cut for Ethier, I'd land it right away. But I don't want to do that. Instead, I'm very close to requesting shipment of both my Jackson and Tommy Hanson Diamond Diecuts and se...