Night Owl Cards

(Today is National Compliment Day. Unfortunately it lands on January 24, a day without any baseball, and I can't compliment a day like that. It's time for Cardboard Appreciation. This is the 236th in a series): Have you ever realized that you sized up a person wrong? You discovered that what you thought about him or her, whatever negative tendencies they had, whatever grated on you about that person, were gone? That either they had changed or you had changed, but, hey, that guy/gal isn't really all that bad after all? Well, that can happen with cards, too. Welcome to my relationship with Upper Deck X. Upper Deck X -- for you card blog-reading newbies -- was a short-lived product of a completely random nature issued in just 2008 and 2009. Focused around the letter "X," for nobody knows what reason, it was one the many forgettable sets unleashed in the card deluge of that time. I was so puzzled by the set when it came out that you can find many off-hand...

I was in a Target on Saturday. That's a big deal, because I haven't been inside that store in more than a month. Some of that has to do with having no money, and some of that has to do with possessing no cash. To illustrate how long it's been since I've been in Target, here are some of the card products that were there Saturday that were not there just over 30 days ago: 1. Topps Lineage 2. Bowman Platinum 3. Topps stickers 4. Obak (baseball and football) 5. Topps Chrome Plus a number of assorted non-baseball products that do not hold my interest. This is why it annoys me when people complain that there's nothing new to open. More than five products came out in the last month. That doesn't fit my definition of "nothing new." Since it was my first time standing in that aisle in too long, I decided to go the variety route. I grabbed two discounted packs of 2008 Upper Deck X, a discounted pack of  Documentary (yeah, I know), three packs of A...

So ... The Dodgers lost to Oliver Perez . Andruw Jones hit three home runs against the Angels. People are busting boxes and packs of Allen & Ginter already (No, I will not link that. Why? Because I'm spiteful and bitter and my box isn't arriving until Friday. Find it yourself, Mr. I Have a Hobby Shop on Every Block). Sheesh , with all of that bothersome business, I need something to distract myself. Fortunately, I can find a game to play in the latest card package I received from madding of Cards on Cards . I've always been the curious sort. It's probably why I'm in the journalism field (although I found out soon enough that I wasn't nearly as curious as some of those people). And it's easy for me to find questions to ask about the most innocuous-looking baseball card. So I'm going to throw a few of the cards I received up here and see if they can spark my inquisitive side. I have a feeling they will ... 1995 Upper Deck Orel Hershiser ...

First, I'd like to direct your attention to the card that matches my blog layout the best (EDIT: that is before I changed my blog layout). I need to feature this card permanently on the blog somewhere. It's perfect. It's even better than the 1984 Topps Dodgers, which also had the yellow/blue theme going. This is one of the cards that came from Patricia and Lucy at Dinged Corners . They sent a great collection of Dodgers all the way from the land of Isotopes. I'm a bit jealous that folks like Patricia and Lucy, as well as Kris of Cards in the Attic, can see the Dodgers' Triple A farm team on a regular basis this season. I know if I lived there, I'd be in the stands all the time. The team's nickname needs some work, though. I much prefer the old Albuquerque Dukes. I know why they picked "Isotopes," but when I looked up the definition of the word, it just gave me a dull pain above my left eye. "Isotopes are any of the different types of atom...

I've had my fair share of jobs over the years. Maybe not as many as a lot of people, but I have been a dishwasher, a department store worker, a drug store clerk, a newspaper carrier, a stockboy, a bus boy, a burger flipper, a truck unloader (or whatever you call that job), and probably a couple others that I've forgotten about. But last week was my first job as a personal shopper. And it's also the first time I have ever gotten paid in baseball cards. I was out shopping for two bloggers who were interested in some of the cards that I found at a dollar store in town and reported about on this post . Both Dubbs of the appetizingly titled Cheese and Beer and zman of Autographed Cards sent some cash for me to purchase the cards, and last weekend I practically cleaned out the card selection at the store. There are only a few forlorn bags left. At a buck a bag and betwen 40-50 cards a bag, I'll be shipping off around 450 cards of the mid-80s Fleer variety to both guys....