Night Owl Cards

This week we are seeing build-up like no other week of the year. Topps and its fan boys are hyping the arrival of the 2013 set like it's not going to be marked down in six months. The NFL is hyping the Super Bowl like it's not simply an ode to consumerism disguised as a football game. This football game, as usual, will take multiple breaks for multiple commercials that people stare at like their television just invented fire. I've never been one to get giddy over Super Bowl commercials. I just can't get past the whole "they're trying to get you to buy something" thing. This is my view the other 364 days out of the year, too. Whenever a commercial goes on, I instantly leave the room, take on a task, read a book or a newspaper, stare at my card collection, talk to somebody, anything to avoid staring at the commercial. I've got this down to such a science that it doesn't matter how often a commercial is repeated -- and we all know how much th...

I have finally whittled down my list of cards for "The Best Dodger Card Ever Made" Countdown to an even 100 cards. That means I can begin the countdown. But not now. I'm sleepy and cranky. And before I get dopey, I need my rest. So I'll just show you the final three cards to miss the cut. And you can leave your outraged comments about how you can't BELIEVE that card won't be in the top 100 and how you're never reading this blog again!!! But I won't care as I'll be in a peaceful dream haze. So, quickly, because I feel myself nodding off, here are the cards that got the final boot: 2006 Upper Deck Greg Maddux Back when Maddux joined the Dodgers -- the first time -- I couldn't wait to get a card of him in a Dodger uniform. But Topps kept foiling me by producing cards of Maddux photoshopped into a Dodger uniform. And photoshopped poorly, I might add. I don't consider that a true Maddux Dodger card. Upper Deck featured the fi...

The news today is that the Dodgers have signed general manager Ned Colletti to a contract extension. I'm not a fan of Colletti, but I'm not shattered by the news. Baseball is a pretty staid operation. Organizations stay with what works, even if the results aren't the best, even if they're basing the signing on seasons from three, four years ago. That's why George Steinbrenner stood out, because if something didn't work instantly, he fired it. That really doesn't happen very often, and why Colletti's return is no surprise. Colletti rose to L.A. GM stardom by acquiring Manny Ramirez in '08. But since that time Colletti is basically known for acquiring duds (Andruw Jones, Juan Pierre) and trading away prospects (Carlos Santana, James McDonald). His legacy, and future with the Dodgers, will hinge on the outcome of the Adrian Gonzalez trade with the Red Sox. Did the Dodgers give up too much, or, more importantly, will the new acquisitions lead to...

All right, I'm already regretting the title to this post, and I'm still not happy that I'm going through with writing this at all. But my job on this blog is to document my collecting journey, and this is a part of that. Just know that this is a small, small, small inconvenience in what is a wonderful asset to the hobby. Teamsets4u.com  made my want lists what they are today. I haven't even accessed the site fully -- I know there are many other sets listed there that I need to add to my want lists. But if you scroll through the entire page of my want lists, it will take you a little while anyway. I owe that to teamsets4u. It is an invaluable resource for team collectors. Every set painstakingly separated by team. It's an amazing undertaking. All that patience, all that time. I find periodic errors, which are perfectly understandable given the massive number of sets issued through the years, especially since the early 1990s. There is no way you couldn...

The Northeast isn't the most culturally diverse place in the country if you don't live in one of the big cities. I've been surrounded by dorky white people all my life. I'm not complaining. After all, I'm one of the DWP myself (what tipped you off? The love of baseball, trading cards or newspapers?). It's just that different cultures take a long time to reach my area, even in the online age. For example, the operator of The Chronicles of Fuji takes time out on his blog to appropriately thank people who have sent him cards. It's an enormous gesture that doesn't get enough credit. Included in the titles of those posts is a familiar, very common, Japanese phrase, "domo arigato," which means "thank you very much" in Japanese. But that is not what I think of when I hear that phrase. If you're a DWP like me, then you already know what I'm going to write. This is what it reminds me of: The most over-the-top arena roc...

A little piece of advice: If you have a card blog, and you are interested in trading, and you want to add specific cards to your collection, then you must, immediately, as in this instant , get a "most wanted" list on your blog. You can put it on your sidebar, or do one of those fancy tab things at the top of the blog (please, someone tell me how to do that, I haven't figured it out yet). You can even put the "most wanted" list up in your header if you want to be all ugly about it. Just get it done. Because it's quite effective. I first saw this on Saints of the Cheap Seats . Then I saw it on garveyceyrusselllopes . I thought it was a great idea. Little did I know how great. People are always checking out my "most wanted" list, which I call "the Nebulous 9." It's an easy tool for potential traders. If they don't feel like wading through a giant want list, they can just check out the abbreviated list. As a result, I...

I have a boss of the very exacting sort. He's not an easy guy to please. You can work your ass off, produce high-quality work on a regular basis, and if there is one, tiny slip-up on one particular day, he will point out that slip-up and not mention any of the fantastic things you or your staff have done over the preceding months. He's also one of those guys who makes excessive and inexplicable demands. And they're coming fast and furious these days. Needless to say, he is not my favorite person. He's no one that I know's favorite person. But I am going to play the part of my boss right now and not even mention that the Upper Deck photographer snapped a great shot of Nate McLouth leaping in mid-air, or that it shows perhaps the best close-up shot of a scoreboard that I have ever seen. What I will mention is that: 1. The ball is not in the photo. 2. The scoreboard is not lighted. So I can only give this card two out of a four possible disembodied hand...