Night Owl Cards

    This 1975 Hostess card of Brewers pitcher Billy Champion cost me 8 bucks -- a little more than 10 with shipping included.   The card contains a small crease in the corner and the pitcher, although featuring one of the all-time names in the sport, was an average performer in the '70s, otherwise known as "a common." But it's a short-print.   The Champion arrived not too long after the card of his former teammate, Robin Yount. The Yount is a short-print and its his rookie card, too, but it cost only a few bucks more than the Champion, likely because it's got a few issues (though nothing that bothers me in the slightest when it comes to Hostess cards).   I've returned to attempting to finish this set after getting frustrated with it last year. I didn't encounter the kind of price bumps I'm seeing with '75 Hostess when I was completing the 1976 and 1977 Hostess sets (1976 completed at the end of 2021 and 1977 in mid-2024). But I've got around 17...

Some of you need some cheering up . I think I have the perfect thing. I rarely wish that I was capable of video on this blog. But this is the one time that I do. I received a gift in the mail a couple of weeks ago from Andy of the Baseball-Reference.com blog . It was a thank you for my blog work and contributions to the B-R blog. The gift was one of the coolest items that I have received since blogging, and probably years before that. You're looking at the gift right now. The scan that you see is a scan of an unopened wax package of 1975 Topps MINIS . A 36-year-old wax pack dating back to the very first year that I opened packs of cards. And we're going to open it. I expect it to be something like this: Except, you know, more manly, with beer and babes and bazookas. But first we're going to take a look at the back of the wrapper, all nerdy-like. What a wonderful sight. Sealed just for me, and packaged with just the right amount of dextrose and B...

One of my favorite television shows of all-time growing up was "The Incredible Hulk." I couldn't wait for the weekend to roll around so I could watch Bill Bixby, Lou Ferrigno and Jack Colvin do their thing. I was never much of a comic book kid, so I didn't get into the Marvel series, and I've never seen any of the Hulk movies. But I am a fan of campy TV action shows. And "The Hulk" on CBS from 1978-82 was right up my alley. One of my favorite things to do when watching the show was to try to anticipate when Dr. Bruce Banner would turn into the Incredible Hulk. Sometimes it was easy, like when a baddie would punch Banner in the face and he would fly halfway across the room. Other times, it was more difficult, like when Banner would drop a dime in a phone booth and flip out. The times when Banner would "hulk" over seemingly inconsquential issues were the favorite moments for my brothers and I. We'd go into hysterics watching Banner freak ove...