Night Owl Cards

  I've been watching snippets of spring training the last couple of days. It's a busy time of the year for me, so I can manage only a couple of innings at a sitting usually. But that's enough to get that spring high that I'm so desperate for here in the later stages of winter.   I watch the the spring games and marvel what I see, like it's life on another planet. Spectators in the stands are actually fanning themselves! I take a quick look at the temperature bud on my laptop screen. 18 degrees. Nope, no urge to fan.   I can only imagine what it's like to live near spring. Going to ballgames sure is great. But I'd appreciate the simple, carefree feeling of hopping in the car (without clearing it off or stumbling on ice) and traveling a smooth street to the nearest big box or card shop. Sure, every life has problems, but in some places there is no snow on top of that.   One person who lives near spring is Jeremy of Topps Cards That Never Were . He was able to ...

  Well, the timing for the start of this post ain't great after my Bills didn't show up last night. Thanks to the NFL's wild, any-and-all-days-and-times scheduling, that was the first time I've gotten to see them play on TV live this season (meanwhile I've seen the Ravens three times already). But I turned off last night's game pretty early. So in a slightly less triumphant mood, I just received a selection of Bills cards from Johnny's Trading Spot ! I'll get right to the weirdness. These are all from the same set, though it doesn't look it at all. Topps created something in 2023 called "Topps Composite". If you still have PTSD over Topps' Fusion baseball set from 2001, then look away. This is just like that -- except with football players. I suppose Topps had to do something -- it doesn't have a license to put out sets with current players, so I guess this was its idea to stay in the game? Aside from the wide variety of baseball-ce...

  I'm no skirt chaser. I'm no storm chaser. I don't chase ambulances or dogs either. I'm a set chaser. A proud one, too. I pursue lots of different cards in this hobby but above all is the quest for completing sets. I have a list of all the ones that I've finished (that needs updating). And here's a list of ones I'm currently chasing: 1970 Topps baseball (update on that soon) 1970 and 1971 Fleer World Series 1969 Topps baseball 1967 Topps baseball 1979 Topps football 1983 Kellogg's (update on that soon, too) 1985 Donruss 1987 Fleer 1988-90 Pacific 1989-91 Swell 1975, 1977-79 Hostess 1981 Fleer Stickers (update on that one coming, as well) 2024 Topps Heritage 1980s Traded Sets   There are probably others that I can't think of right now. But, trust me, they are TOP PRIORITY.   And that doesn't mean there aren't other down-low sets that I like to pursue, you know, casual-like, when I don't want to spend a lot of money or chart my progress. ...

  Look at that card. Isn't that fantastic? That's what a football card should look like. Why shouldn't I have that card? No one can tell me I can't have that card. So I have it. Because I'm weak.   I've told myself over and over not to think about tackling another vintage football set, not until I finish the 1979 Topps set. Certainly I shouldn't try the '76 Topps set with a known expensive card that will surely be at the end of my completion rainbow.   But '70s cards are a weakness. They speak to me like no other cards. This is why I will never get to collecting old tobacco card Dodgers or Goudey Dodgers or whatever 100-year-old card because they do not have the magic that '70s cards do. Also, I'm weak.    More football sets I shouldn't be chasing. 1983? I shouldn't be even thinking about this until '70s stuff is out of the way. THERE MUST BE ORDER. But I can't resist. All of these were available at the baseballcardstore.ca an...