Night Owl Cards

This is my seventh straight day of work. The dog's sick, too. So I'm pretty exhausted. But I have just enough energy to name some set designs. I haven't done much of this lately, other than name 2015 Topps the sonar set, and I feel like being pretty random. So let's start randomly with 2002. 2002 Topps could be all about the ribbons, but it's not because of the remarkably off-putting gold color on every card. The border color is the overwhelming "star" of this set. I could be mean and call it the "vomit set," since it's probably what an entire binder of this set looks like -- like someone puked all over the binder. But let's have a bit of decorum. To me, this set reminds me of one thing: Brown mustard. I love mustard. And now I like 2002 Topps a little bit better. I'm calling 2002 Topps the "brown mustard set." If Gulden's or French's or Gray Poupon want to sponsor Define the Design then I...

I love color. Have I established this? I have. How much do I love color? I love color so much that I'm envious of women in the summertime and black NFL players at the ESPYs. I'd like to wear something as showstopping as all that. I love color so much that I want to be one of those artists who throws different shades of paint against a wall and people rave about it. I love color so much that I never want to be color-blind, a dog or live in the '50s. I always want to see color and all of it. This is why my favorite baseball card sets are the same ones that some consider garish, ugly or the worst ever. They want to live in a dignified, well-balanced, limited hue world. How dull of them. I'll be over here trying to win the lights and display contest . Yep, I've gone commercial. And tonight, I'm going to roll around in that beautiful palette and reveal a post I've been sitting on for a long time. I'm going to count down the Top 10 most colorf...

Here is the third in the three-part series on the GCPE, sent to me by Joe L. I'll keep this brief, because time is short less than 48 hours before the big day. These are cards of Dodgers that I received with last names M to Z. I'm not showing all of the players. Apologies to Roger McDowell, Bob Ojeda , Chan Ho Park, Brad Penny, Eric Young, etc. But attention spans are short. Onward: Greg Maddux (1 card): I always try to show a card with Maddux in a Dodger uniform. He played for the team twice, which means he thought they were worth another try. Of course, he did that with the Cubs, too. Russell Martin (4 cards): I'm going with the 2008 Finest card as my favorite. Don't know why. Not exactly the finest year for Finest. Pedro Martinez (1 card): This is a neat little insert from 2005 Playoff Prestige. I like the later-day Pedro-in-a-Dodger-uniform cards. Ramon Martinez (4 cards): This is from 1998 SP Authentic. I had no idea SP-A had been around for so long. I ...

One thing I'm always interested in with trading through the mail is how people package their cards. There are some standard ways to send them that work pretty well. I try to stick to those. But others have some innovative tactics that really draw my interest when I'm running low on supplies. Such was the case before the card show. I was nearly on empty as far as penny sleeves and those clear plastic packages that hold about 40 cards (I don't know the name of those things). I was beginning a search of the house for cardboard. Then I received a package from Kerry of Cards on Cards. In it were cards wrapped in -- ingenious! -- sandwich bags. Of course! I have a kid who eats lunch! There are sandwich bags all over the house! Why didn't I think of that? I know that a few of you are thinking, "What the hell? I'm reading about sandwich bags here?" Yeah, you are. Because that's how my mind works. Trust me, it was quite the revelation as I ate my lunch a...