Night Owl Cards

Even with all of the acquisitions that the Dodgers have made in the last six months, everyone knows -- or should know -- that the core of the team is Kemp and Kershaw. The last two years have established that the Dodgers don't do a damn thing if those two don't do a damn thing. This is the main reason that I collect cards of both players. The other reason is I think they're decent folks. I don't take player collecting as seriously as I do set collecting or team collecting. But I do pay attention to how many cards I have of both of these players. In particular, I am interested in the Kershaw total. It is my goal to have more Kershaw cards than I have cards for any other player. I'm well on my way to doing that. Just last week I passed 250 unique Kershaw cards, which I think is pretty good for a guy who lists "player collecting" as priority three. Kershaw has appeared regularly on cards only since 2008. Outside of Hideo Nomo, Orel Hershiser, Mike ...

I think it would make a nice test case study if you could put non-card collectors in front of a card display, featuring every kind of current card imaginable, and come to some conclusion based on what kind of packs they select instinctively. I kind of do a mini-version of that study -- all in my head, of course -- at Christmas time. I've now gotten to the point where I know I'm going to get something related to cards each year at this time. But since I refrain from asking for specific items -- I'm not going to make them track down a 1958 Duke Snider -- I'm basically sending them out into the woods and asking them to shoot at the first thing that looks good. And from the looks of what kind of cards they find for me, I can draw some horribly inaccurate and unfair conclusions. But it's fun, so what the hey. For example, my in-laws would be the shiny mojo type. I know this because almost every time they've purchased cards for me on the last 4 or 5 occasio...

Don't excited. I'm not about to praise Bowman Chrome. I'm just saying that buying a pack of this stuff is easier to justify to my wallet than buying a box of Heritage High Numbers, even though both break down to a dollar per card. So, yesterday, Mr. Big Spender bought a pack of Bowman Chrome -- just to show he can spend a dollar on a base card that isn't from 1975 or earlier. But, of course, that doesn't mean I have to like it. Each year I buy a single pack of Bowman Chrome and that's it. I will never understand Bowman Chrome's point. It costs too much. It's the same cards that are in the regular Bowman set. It's basically Topps Chrome, except more expensive and with a bunch of players nobody knows. But obviously someone out there gets it because Topps keeps issuing it. I think that's the reason why I pick up a pack each year. I think maybe one of these years, I'll understand it. So let's see what three cards came out of th...