Night Owl Cards

Time is not my own today, so all I could do was grasp at some cards that had something in common and declare it a post. Viola! You're reading it! Mission accomplished. I've noticed a flurry of Matt Kemps entering my collection lately. This is very good, because when players start to reach star status, people begin to hold onto their cards for reasons I don't entirely understand. I'm certainly not clinging to Robinson Cano or Albert Pujols cards. Give me all your Kemps! But, fortunately, some have escaped into my clutches. I grabbed the latest Kemps that I've acquired to show here. Two apiece come from various pleasant collectors. The last card comes from ... me. I'm so generous. First, we have the 2012 Topps Heritage NL(TM) Home Run Leaders card. Go out and purchase your official National League memorabilia NOW! Aside from that big of ugliness, you'll notice that Kemp is not in the center of the card even though he led the league in home runs an...

I found this card today stuck in the back of my roll-top desk where the back of the unit meets the desk shelf. The card didn't suffer any harm, because it was encased in a penny sleeve, but it was really wedged in there good. So when I went through that trade post a few days ago and declared myself all caught up, sparkly Raffy was calling in the distance "Hey! What about me? Can't you see me? I'm sparkly!" But it was Christmas and just about everything on the planet sparkles at that time of year, and Furcal was ignored like players who lucked into a World Series title should be. Apologies to Justin G. of The Hopeful Chase who sent me this card. He'll be happy to know that it is now safely in my "to be recorded" stack. Another diamond Dodger down and seven to go. While taking care of the Furcal card, I decided to scan the two packages that I received in the mail on Tuesday and post them quickly so I could be caught up AGAIN. Caught up twic...

Yesterday, Dinged Corners (so glad they're back) asked what we all would recommend to someone who hadn't been collecting in months. What was out on the shelves, virtual or otherwise, that would catch one's fancy? I ran through my mind all of the various choices released this year, discarded some automatically, and rambled off some incoherent answer. At the end, I realized there really wasn't anything great from 2011, and that the item that I recommended -- Topps Heritage -- won my vote solely because I like how it looks stacked up in a pile. To me, it looks like a cord of wood -- if wood was sliced very, very thinly. Don't look at me that way. I find firewood comforting. It's a cold weather thing. But I also realized that this was a sign of someone with a short attention span. Only a 2-year-old would recommend a card set based on what it looks like stacked up, as if they were building blocks. But that's how I've gone through card sets this year....

I know there are a lot of collectors who save baseball card wrappers. For a long time, I couldn't figure out why they did it. It was garbage, wasn't it? I'm not nearly that militant in my thinking now. In fact, ever since this blog began, I have saved a wrapper from every single card product that I have purchased. One for each unique set. I stuff each one in a box as I get them. They help chart my journey through the hobby. Maybe one day I'll show them all here, and show off all the fool card sets that I've chased through the years. I know that Ted of Crinkly Wrappers must have a wrapper collection, or why would he name his blog that? Or more probably, it's named after the piles of wrappers on the ground after opening a case of something. At least they tell me that's what it looks like after someone opens a case. I wouldn't know. Anyway, Ted recently sent me cards from a variety of sets, including one much-appreciated set of the retro variety th...

It's Saturday and I'm busy. Busy with non-work things for once. So, I'm just going to show some shiny cards that I obtained from Offy at Sports Syzygy . He busted a case of Topps Chrome, and like the little bottom-feeder that I am, I nabbed a few Chrome Dodgers for my collection. I sure do love shiny -- I don't think I'll ever stop saying that. And here is the shiny shimmery I wanted most of all: Those are the Chrome Heritage cards of possibly the best two-man team in recent baseball history. Is it possible to win ballgames with just two players? Kershaw and Kemp may have come the closest to doing that. I am still puzzled by the Heritage cards that appear in Chrome and the Chrome cards that appear in Heritage. I'm assuming they all belong to the same set. If I had the time to do some research, I'd probably know for sure. But if they're from the same set, why do the Heritage Chrome cards that come in Heritage packs feature chrome with a pebbly...

I often find myself in the middle of never-ending debates concerning vintage vs. modern, or retail vs. online. Periodically, when I feature a modern set that may not be up to my standards, commenters will jump on my negative vibe and say something like, "thanks for reminding me why I don't waste my money on the garbage they're putting out today." Ooooo-kay! I wasn't really saying "this set has flaws, therefore burn all of your post-1994 cards." I was just saying "this set has flaws." Or I'll feature a beloved vintage card of some sort and the response will be *crickets.* Not enough modern innovation for the mojo crowd, I guess. The same goes for retail vs. online. Although I haven't really come across a ton of collectors advocating for retail, I do come across plenty advocating the online route. Their main clinching argument is: "and that's what I picked up for the price of a blaster." It's a pretty good arg...