Night Owl Cards

Today, Russell Martin is handing over the crown. He has reigned for a full year as "The Best Card of 2008." But now it's time for a new card to take on all the responsibilities that are necessary with such a lofty title. Like I promised before , I am going to count down the best cards of 2009. At one point I had thought of posting a poll so folks could vote on their favorites. But I do enough damn polls. I'm sick of them. So, I'm going communist on this blog. You're going to accept whatever card I determine as the best and you'll LIKE IT. The ruler has spoken. This list is restricted to cards that I pulled during the past year. And I'm not including "hit" cards -- relics or autos. They're too unique -- well, relatively speaking. It's hard to compare them to regular cards. The list didn't change a lot from the first one I did back in August. That's because I did the bulk of my 2009 card shopping in the first eight months...

I've finally gotten my act together enough that I can figure out what my favorite cards of the year are -- so far. At the end of the year, I'd like to present them all and maybe have people vote on what their favorites are, or provide suggestions on what should be considered the best of 2009. But for now, I'm going to show the best of what I have. My favorites. I have completed only one '09 set so far this year -- Topps base. So I am lacking quite a few cards from the year. However, based on the limited cards I've seen, I think I can safely say that nothing from Upper Deck's trashy trio, Piece of History, Spectrum or X, is going to make the list. I feel just as safe about Bowman and Topps Attax. There are other sets I feel less comfortable about -- Upper Deck base and O-Pee- Chee , but I've got a relatively good idea about UD base already, and I still plan to buy more OPC . You will notice one dominant set in the upcoming Top 20 -- Topps base. That's ...