Night Owl Cards

Among the various baseball card items that Jim of gcrl sent me in a rather eclectic package that I showed last week were a few cards from my 1996 Fleer Team Wax Dodgers want list. Here they are: Now, they're all fine cards. But 1996 Fleer Team Wax is a pretty good example of why I believe I would be a lot less sane than I am now if I had collected in the mid-to-late 1990s. In 1996, Fleer put out its usual set, except instead of making it glossy, as every card company in the world was doing at the time, it produced the cards with a matte finish. OK. Then, as if acknowledging that some collectors might not be crazy about the way their matte cards feel -- considering that collectors had been freaking out about glossy finished cards for years -- Fleer produced a tiffany version of its flagship set. The tiffany version featured all of the cards -- same pictures, design, etc. -- that you saw in the flagship set, except that these cards were tiffany -- or, in other words, ...

I had decided that I would no longer feature my Listia acquisitions on the blog. It's not that I suddenly have a problem with the site. It's just that I wonder how many people are interested in seeing 1990s cards of Dodgers. "Look what I got" works if the card or the situation is something exceptional. And it's worth it, too, if it's a trade post. (Because no matter how many people turn callously away, I know that at least one person is interested). But picking up some '90s card online? From someone no blog reader knows? It's really not necessary anymore. Anyone who is intrigued by Listia is already on there. But then I looked at the cards that I got off the site recently and decided ... I GOT TO TELL SOMEBODY!!!! You lucky, lucky people. I will start with shiny and then gradually morph into moldy. It'll be like seeing cards devolve right before your very eyes. Consider it a science experiment. I'll even sign a note for your teacher...

Greetings! I have returned. Perhaps you were tipped off -- by the suspiciously themed, non-relevant content -- that I was on vacation last week. Indeed, I was. I had a lovely time, thanks for asking. Maybe the best part of the time off was that I wasn't around a computer for virtually the entire week. I know this may be difficult for some of you to believe, but a vacation can be enjoyed without access to the internet. Sometimes I wonder about this, because even though July is a common time for vacations (I happen to have another one coming up before the month is out), bloggers everywhere were holding contests last week. Now how am I going to enter a contest if I'm on vacation? Lord knows, my phone isn't going to allow me to enter a contest (I enter a very dark place every time I try to tackle commenting on a blog on my phone). Why one contest basically penalized me for celebrating the birth of our country. There I was, gathering together with friends and family i...