Night Owl Cards

  I have the three cards that I claimed in the latest Diamond Jesters Time Travel Trade series to show off today.   They all have something in common, which I didn't realize when I was requesting them.     Each of the cards are from 1986. This is interesting to me. Out of all the years in the 1980s -- and  I have a lot of cards from that decade -- 1986 is the year that contains the most holes.   I look at cards from 1986 with some unfamiliarity. This goes back to where I was at in life at the time. As I've mentioned very often, '86 was the year I broke free from my card collecting ritual. For 10 years I made sure to purchase Topps cards (and then Donruss and Fleer) in some sort of fashion each year. But in 1986 I was away at college and didn't bother with cards, not even a little.   This is why I've long considered 1986 Topps as a "mysterious" set. When I was finally collecting it during the first year of this blog, I discussed how fascinated I was wi...

(Greetings. I have no special opening this time, I just got up from a nap. A thing old people do. Time for Cardboard Appreciation. This is the 329th in a series): My latest sportlots order is working its way to my house. It's down to the final few cards. I don't plan to show much of it on the blog, it's mostly upgrades, a few Dodgers needs and a set filler here and there. If I get desperate maybe I'll show something, but that's what this post is for! One of the cards I got was this 1986 Topps Bob Rodgers. I completed the 1986 set long ago, one of the first that I finished with help from bloggers. But it turns out I never actually finished it. It's been laughing at me -- in a binder -- for 14 years. The 1986 set is the first set in my collecting time that I didn't have memorized ... well, same goes for 1984 and 1985 Topps, but I bought those in their entirety, there was no room for slip-ups. But in '86, I ignored everything cards. And so, I picked up the...

  You ever have one of those blogging days where you have a post picked out and you're going through the process of scanning/picture-taking, uploading and figuring out a title, and then something else pops up that you should really write about and then something ELSE pops up that you should really write about? Yeah, this post is going to be a bit of a mess.   So, several days ago I pulled out of a box the first beer stein I've ever received as a blogging present. It arrived from reader Bob, who goes by GOGOSOX60 in the comments.   That stein arrived with some random packs of 1986 Topps. But I'll talk about that later. And, yes, I know the binder shelf in the background is sagging. I'll talk about that later.         The stein commemorates the 1974 World Series between the Dodgers and the Oakland A's. Even without knowing who Danny Goodman is, you can tell it was created by the Dodgers. Goodman was the Dodgers' marketing/souvenir guru for 25 years and h...

Topps Heritage is scheduled for release on St. Patrick's Day. Although I enjoy the 1972 design a lot -- have I mentioned I've completed that set? --  I won't be buying much of this year's Heritage, probably no more than a sampling. I'm still too involved with 2020 Heritage, because that's how long it takes for a rational collector to complete a Heritage set. Actually it takes longer than that: I'm still trying to finish 2008 Heritage. But I've gotten a lot farther on 2020 Heritage than I ever imaged at this time last year. Recently I received six needed cards from the set from reader Ben. He sent a very nice "thanks for blogging" package and you'll see the rest of the goodies another day. This card put me four cards away from completing the non-short-printed portion of the set. That's pretty damn good for someone who hasn't seen much of this set for sale since a year ago at this time.   The rest of the Heritage cards in the package ...

I have long admired this card.   It's an Awesome Night Card from way back and it was one of the only 1986 Topps cards that I owned in 1986. I don't remember at all buying packs of cards in '86 and I had so few that year, but I must have bought some because I've known about that Bo Diaz card for 35 years.   I've known about it for so long that it seemed a given for the upcoming Greatest 100 Cards of the '80s countdown. A tag at the plate was relatively rare on cards in the '80s and to get the entire scene in the frame, and also knowing who is being tagged out , was an achievement. It is an achievement. (Also, they're somehow playing while it's snowing). But after reviewing eligible candidates for the countdown, I began to have my doubts. Oh, that's not taking anything away from the Diaz card. It's still great. But have you noticed how terrific the catcher cards are in 1986 Topps? We'll start from the beginning. At card No. 88 is Tom Niet...