Night Owl Cards

With all of the Topps tributes to itself over the last 15 years, I have no idea which original Topps design has reappeared the most. But if this were the 1980s, my guess would be the 1975 design. During the early '80s, as a budding collector becoming more and more aware of what was available in the hobby, I would see various '75 Topps style mockups in advertisements when companies were illustrating that they had cards for sale. And there were also actual sets that mimicked what Topps did in 1975. Plus, I distinctly remember one of those tiny ads that used to appear in Baseball Digest, saying "Your FACE on a baseball card!" and showing some unknown boy on the 1975 Topps design. In short,  the '75 Topps design was instantly memorable and iconic the moment it hit packs. And folks recognized it by paying homage. That has continued to this day, helped along by Topps' undying love for itself. But I won't complain, because the 1975 Topps set is my all-ti...

One of the more amusing ebay slams is the frequently derided "ebay 1/1." This never gets old for me, probably because I have a natural aversion to marketing/advertising and am always on the lookout for the insincere (sorry, it's the journalist in me). The various dances that ebay sellers go through to promote whatever they are selling is alternately annoying and entertaining. And the fact that some have succeeded in getting collectors to buy the old "1/1" line is really, frankly, horrifying. But I still laugh at it because it's so ridiculous. For those who don't know, an "ebay 1/1" is when someone claims a serial-numbered card is a "1/1" even though it is not marked/stamped as "1/1" by the manufacturer. They claim that it is a "1/1" because the card is  the only one of its kind -- serial numbered 1 out of 100 or some other "desirable" number, a player's uniform number or some other nonsense. ...

I have this sudden, overwhelming desire to categorize, compartmentalize and marginalize a whole mess of baseball card sets. So I pulled a small stack of cards from various years, and I'm going to try to give them a name on the spot. I can tell you already that I'm going to be successful with some and a failure with others. So I'll need your assistance as always. If you think you have a good name for these sets, yell out your answers. Even if I've come up with a name, there's always the chance that there's something better. However, the 2012 Topps set has been named already and there's no going back. By consensus, it's The Surfboard Set. I'm not taking credit for that name. I believe steelehere was the first to come up with it as far as I know. So I'm giving him his due. Address your complaints appropriately. But really, it's a perfect name. So, let's move on to some sets that are more difficult to name: 1959 Topps deserves ...