Night Owl Cards

  For those of us who went to grade school in the 1970s, we grew up with a certain idea of the future. Yeah, flying cars and personal robots, sure, but we also knew when that would happen.   In the year 2000, we'd have all that stuff and walk around in space suits. The year 2000 seemed exceedingly far away, unimaginable really (I would be 35!). What would that be like? I used to try to wrap my head around it and then give up, happy that I didn't have to address what was to come for eons. As a 12 year old, 22 years into the future is eons.   Likewise, 1999 seemed just as futuristic. The very sound of the year seemed otherworldly. Prince put that feeling to music with the song "1999". He didn't come up with the idea of the world ending in 2000, we were all thinking it, for a long time. Or at least "our world" would be ending anyway.   Then 1999 arrived and what did I have? There were panicked Y2K people (thanks a lot media), but besides that, it was a craz...

This all-time set countdown is based primarily on design. I am somewhat of a designer at work. Although it does not come easily to me, I try to create a sports page that looks pleasing to the reader. Unfortunately, I cannot invite the readers in to evaluate whether the design looks good before the page goes to print ... on second thought, fortunately, very, very fortunately, I cannot invite the readers in to evaluate whether the design looks good before the page goes to print. So, I have to be my own critic. I decide, while in the act of creating the page, whether it's an appropriate and interesting design. So, while I have never designed a baseball card except for the ones I sketched on index cards 40 years ago when I was a kid, and I probably couldn't do anything innovative if you told me "here, design a baseball card from scratch", I know what I like. And I think my opinion is somewhat accurate. That doesn't mean this countdown doesn't play favo...

A year ago, I addressed one of the two years since I began my collection odyssey in which I did not collect cards. That year was 1996, and I ran down what I missed that year. Tonight, I'll present you with the other year that I did not collect a single card. That year is 1999. And I wasn't collecting not because I was too busy partying like Prince or hiding in a Y2K bunker. I was dealing with a year-old child. There wasn't an ounce of time for collecting ... unless you're talking dirty diapers. I could have won some very smelly contests there. Much of what I have seen from 1999 cards is just a continuation of other late '90s themes. Silver and gold. Shiny. A willingness to experiment. And some so-bad-they're-good items. So let's do a quick rundown of what collectors consumed while I was busy filling the diaper genie. Irksome parallels: I'm a sucker for some kinds of parallels, but these I don't understand. When I first came to rea...

I have mentioned before that I have bought a pack of baseball cards at least every year of my life since the age of 10, except for two years in the '90s. That's pretty good, I think. Even during the years when I barely had an interest in cards, I still found myself picking up a pack or two at some point during the season. But in 1996 I was buying my first house and in 1999 I was taking care of a 1-year-old, so my thoughts were elsewhere. Throw in the fact that the Yankees and Braves made it to the World Series each of those years and it's no wonder that I found other things to do. Since I've gotten back into collecting I've made it a mission to track down as many Dodger team sets as I can. I'm starting from scratch with a lot of them, but none more so than the 1996 and 1999 Topps sets. Bloggers helped me finish off the '96 Dodger team set a few months back. Now I have all of the Dodgers, displaying their weirdish Terminator-like heads, from '96. ...

I received my box o' surprise cards from Indians Baseball Cards. Always over the weekend, thanks to his wonderful Trick or Treat contest. As always, David went above and beyond with the goodies. Do you think when kids come to his house on Halloween he tells each kid, "Ah, take the whole bag." That's how generous he is! The catch to this contest is you might get some tricks with your treats, and David is an observant fellow. I was almost certain I'd get some San Francisco Giants mixed with my Dodgers or even some horsey cards. I even mentioned to my daughter that she might end up with a couple of my cards. Wasn't she disappointed when they all ended up being Dodgers! Like other card bloggers, I tried to guess which box was mine when I saw them all lined up on the Tribe Cards site. I guessed wrong. The circled box (circled in BLOOD RED, bwaaaaahahahahahahahaha!) is mine. Unfortunately, my box was delivered Saturday, which was an all-day soaker around here. So ...