Night Owl Cards

  This post is taking a page (and a title) from Billy's post on Cardboard History in which he ranked all of the basketball Finest sets. I don't collect cards of the NBA, nor watch it, so I can't copy him exactly. However, I can review all the baseball Finest sets, and I can say I'm going the extra mile because there are THIRTY of those sets as compared to the 14 Topps issued for the NBA. Baseball Finest is a weird beast and I know I'm weird for liking it. There are a number of strikes against it for traditional collectors like me. Let's review: 1. You can't find Finest in the retail store down the street. It's sold only in hobby shops in that way that snobby sets are sold. 2. The set sizes have fluctuated wildly. Some years there's been more than 400 cards, some years there's been 100. That's not a "real" set some would say. 3. Finest, in most cases, removes borders and backgrounds. That's been known to set collectors' teet...

I received a very prompt and plump package in the mail yesterday afternoon. It was from Mojo & Beardy's Fantastic Card Blog . Actually, I believe it was specifically from Beardy if you want to get all uptight about it. But that isn't the point. The point is they were GIVING AWAY CARDS. Shiny, colorful cards. They were giving away 2004 Finest. I love '04 Finest. It might be my favorite Finest ever. Yeah, I know. I have a lot of favorites. That's a common theme in a lot of areas in my life. And it can be a problem. But  THIS isn't a problem: Isn't that FANTASTIC???!!!!! That is so awesome. They really did Finest right that year. And, I received half of the freakin' set from M&B's card emporium!! HALF. OK, so the set's only 100 cards, but still half a set is half a set. It's a good deed. Flat out. A good deed. I have been the recipient of a lot of good deeds since I started this card blog. To briefly recap, someone found a w...

That's what I kept telling myself earlier today while holding the steering wheel in a death grip, head hunched over the dashboard, in a desperate bid to see through the patch of windshield that hadn't frozen over. I'm telling you, there is nothing that will make you feel more alive than driving through white-out conditions. If you ever get bored with your situation, I'm inviting you up here for an invigorating spin down the interstate. It's as close as you'll get to driving while blind. So, yeah, I didn't make it to the card show. I drove about five miles, tried to get off at the next exit, couldn't SEE the exit ramp, drove for another terrifying couple more miles, then turned around for home. That makes two years in a row I didn't attend the January card show. Like last year, I'll wait until April for another one to come around. But unlike last year, I didn't sulk much. There's a couple of reasons for that. One of them is I'v...