Night Owl Cards

  Right now, the Bills are playing a team I don't like, that I think is going to win and end the Bills season. I could be wrong but that's not calming my nerves any several hours before the game. What I need is something to do unrelated to NFL playoffs, so I'm doing this. Writing words has a way of distracting me and calming me down. Getting new cards can be a nice distraction, too. Hell, this whole hobby is a distraction. I just received last week a nice, big package from Base Set Calling . It contained plenty of variety, which as you know can also be distracting -- oooh, look at this, ooooh look at this! It was good for Brian to spread things around because there's bound to be dupes in any single category. For example: These were all duplicates. They are very nice duplicates, which means I am sure there are upgrades here. But I have been quite active in my 1979 Topps football chase the last few months. These, however, were needs and big names, too. They've waited...

When I first returned to the modern card world in 2006, I knew a "hit" as a card autographed by a player or a card containing some bit of baseball residue, usually a piece of a player's uniform. As the years moved along, that definition of "hit" expanded to items that didn't seem all that special to me, such as "manufactured" relics, which came from the same source of all of other cards, the card manufacturer. Then I started watching people go ape over buybacks, like pulling a 1977 Topps card with a stamp on it was a reason to buy a hobby box. "Hit" means a wide variety of things now. And you can be congratulated for pulling something that you didn't even know was worth congratulations. The above card contains one of those very congratulation messages on the back. It comes from last year's Topps Big League set. This is considered a "reproduction" because there are 1/1 versions of each of these, which I assu...

I received this card from Brian of Base Set Calling a few days ago. It's one of the National Anthem insert cards from Opening Day. These are tough pulls. One per 210 packs, I believe. This was a generous send and I appreciate it even more now because as I'm writing this I have no idea what Clayton Kershaw's status is for the rest of this season. I need some good Kershaw news. Hopefully, a month absence is all he needs to be back to dominating the rest of major league baseball. This sudden bad news is one of those twists and turns that happens every season. A week ago, the Dodgers appeared invincible, as invincible as I've ever seen them. And then their ace goes down with the potential lto expose the rest of the starting staff in all of its weaknesses. But enough of my rooting angst. You all have your own favorite team problems. Let's see a few more Kershaw cards from Brian! More Opening Day. This is from two years ago. It features the celebration afte...

Down in the dumps. That's late August for me. The dumps. Everywhere I turn is a reminder that good times are ending. The state fair began today. The last fair of the summer. There's a big concert (well, big for this area) on Saturday. The last big concert of the summer. The U.S. Open begins next week. The last big sports event of the summer. Then there are those reminders of what's coming. Preseason football talk won't let you forget. Neither will preparations for high school sports. Nor will -- wait a minute -- are those ... are THOSE colored leaves on my LAWN???? Summer's ending. Fall's beginning. And winter, which just ended in late April around these parts, is planning an early start, according to those freakin' farmers and their damn precious almanac. The dumps. Baseball helps a little, but not much because at this time of year either your team is out of it or you're so stressed out over your team's offense/bullpen/injury-prone rot...

I was a little bit relieved that the Dodgers reached an agreement with Brian Wilson yesterday. It's not because I particularly care whether he's on the team or not. It's because I wanted there to be at least someone listed with the Dodgers in the Topps Update set who was STILL WITH THE DODGERS by the time I completed the team set. Topps Update is a tricky thing and it's another one of the reasons why I look at the set with a sideways glance. It comes out at a time of year when teams are wheeling and dealing. So here you are, supposedly getting the latest and greatest players in their latest and greatest (*gasp*) new uniforms , and they aren't in those uniforms anymore. What the hell? But I was able to thwart all of these conspirators recently by completing the entire Dodgers base set in Update before every player had left. These are the last three players I needed: Shockingly, they are all still with the Dodgers. Each of these cards -- including em...

I have received two of those card patch things in separate packages recently. This one arrived from Base Set Calling : This one arrived from The Card Chop : You can apparently find these in blasters of this year's Topps Update. I wouldn't know first-hand because I refuse to buy a blaster of Topps Update. I don't consider these a prize for forking over $19.99 for a bunch of guys who aren't even in those jerseys anymore (enjoy the Minnesota Aprils, Ricky Nolasco). Give me a three-card pack of parallels or an extra pack (besides the seven packs plus 1 bonus pack, I mean). That might get me to buy a blaster (no it won't). These patch things are better than what Topps once placed in blasters as a bonus, those manupatch stitchings of World Series logos. They are replicating actual cards, after all. It's more interesting. But don't congratulate me. I don't put this on the same level as an autograph or even the now-tarnished relic card. ...