Night Owl Cards

(I am greeting you approximately six hours away from my first spring break since I was in college. Yep, it's been a long time. So long that I've traded beer and babes for soul-destroying family visits. ... Ha! I'm kidding! It's time for Cardboard Appreciation. This is the 203rd in a series):   I often have blinders on in this hobby. It's out of self-preservation, really. How can I possibly focus on everything collectible in the cardboard world? If I were to truly pay attention to everything -- given how varied my card interests are -- I'd want to have it all. And I can't have it all. So I'd suffer from cardboard heartbreak and you'd see me on the street collecting gum wrappers because gum wrappers won't rip out your heart. But because I don't devote my energies to everything , I miss some great stuff. For example, the 1964 Topps Giants. Sure, I had heard of them. They were one of those oddball releases from the 1960s. L...

One thing that boggles my mind repeatedly in my various blog readings across our hobby is how readily available cards are in other parts of the country. I often lament my lack of a decent card shop and the relative lateness at which new product arrives in my area. There are many sets that I never see in person because of where I live. But I thought I was doing pretty good as far as card shows. No, there isn't one a week or one a month like there is in several places, but the few that I do get to go to are good-sized shows with a large variety of cards. You'd have to be awfully picky not to find something you like at shows like that. Still, even with all that bounty before me, there is one thing I've never seen at those shows in more than five years of going. '75 minis. Once in awhile I'll discover one in a discount box. But I can count those times on the paw of a three-toed sloth. And I have never, ever, ever seen a box or a binder full or even half ful...

I was feeling a little down after a post I read here . I haven't really noticed a decline in posting across the blogobingo. In fact, I still can't keep up with all the new card blogs. But the post did remind me that I have noticed a general decline in readers. Most concerning, for me, is the lack of /major decline in activity on some of the blogs that were most prominent during that fall of 2008 when I first discovered the wonderful concoction of blogs and cards. I miss those guys. I wish they would come back. The realistic side of me knows that life intrudes or interests change, and that there are plenty of other blogs out there that have filled in the gaps. But the nostalgic part of me, which is growing larger by the day, wants it to be 24 months ago when everything was new and exciting and damn interesting. So, I was wallowing in that pathetic, sickening puddle of self-pity this afternoon when I noticed a package jutting from the mailbox. After tending to my usual mun...