Night Owl Cards

  I am in that wonderful between period in which I've opened Christmas gifts but there are more to come. So I hesitated writing this post as there could be more cards to come. But I can just write another brag post later! All the cards I received so far came from my sister-in-law. You've read about her before. She's the one with the magic touch when it comes to selecting items in the card aisle. Two years ago she sent an Archives blaster that yielded a George Foster autograph , which I still have. There were many instances before that, too. This year I received two hanger packs of 2024 Update from her. These are the first packs of Update I've opened as I've purposely avoided them, simply hand-picking the Dodgers.     Upon opening the first pack I felt like I made the right call, probably right around pulling that Padres' duo rookie card. "Why am I opening a pack with Padres rookies?" was about the exact thought I had. These cards seemed meaningless.   ...

  As far as card-opening experiences go, my Christmas this year wasn't as great as last year . Last year was tough to beat for sure. This year, my sister-in-law did not come through with the complete set of 2023 flagship after doing so the previous two years. She's amazingly consistent with her gift-giving so I'm assuming she couldn't find it at her nearby big box.  Instead, along with the binder and pages she always gets me, she got a hanger of 2023 Heritage. That's right up my alley, but I'm down to the final three cards I need, so all that produced was a Daylight Savings Time insert. That brings me to the dueling Allen & Ginter blasters, one from my daughter and one from her boyfriend. I put A&G on my Christmas list. Unfortunately, it was the only brand of cards I put on my list. I am required to get my list out in October due to a certain early shopper and at the time A&G was the desired product. But in the weeks that followed, I lost my interest...

  I feel sorry for early readers of Night Owl Cards. Back then, I'd get to Christmas and all I had to show for it as far as gifts was socks. And then they'd have to read me whine about socks . How about that for content? No wonder the views were so low. Over the years, the holiday gifts have gradually become more card-like. And the last couple of years the card-gifting has gone into hyperdrive. Last year I received an entire complete set from the year, a common Christmas gift for young collectors going back to leafing through the Sears Wish Book. But 2021 was the first time I ever experienced that. Now we're at 2022. Jackpot.   Between my wife and her sister, I landed three different blasters of current cards and what, I guess, is now a Christmas tradition of a complete set for the year! Note to self: do not open too many 2023 packs.   The key part of this is 2022 Topps is actually a set I like, unlike last year's.   Also, I specified what kind of 2022 cards I might ...

  For Christmas I received a blaster of Allen & Ginter from my daughter. This may not be the only card present, there is a second Christmas happening this coming week (love those). But the blaster was a pretty big occasion because it's the first time I have opened any A&G all year. Think about how much A&G's stock has fallen with me: Once I participated in Gint-a-Cuffs, in which I bought a whole box of Allen & Ginter, plus a few extra blasters. Every year between 2008-15, you could see me at a Target on an almost a weekly basis looking for, or buying, Ginter. And between 2016-18, I'd make sure to get at least a few blasters and packs. I completed every set between '08 and '14. Now, this product is for special occasions only, right up there on the once-a-year list with snowman cookies and tired leg lamp Facebook posts. Thanks to the unavailability of card product on retail shelves, A&G pivoting toward social media figures and my fading interest in...

I think I've established fairly well in a few different posts that my family isn't the card-buying type when it comes to Christmas gifts.   I never know what to expect as far as cards at the holidays. And asking for specific wants can be tricky.   I marvel each year at this time when someone on social media says something like, "look at these 1964 Topps cards that completed my set, I have the greatest wife in the world!!!" This would never happen to me. First, such a gift would require an unnatural interest in my hobby, which nobody in the house -- other than me -- has. Second, any request for something that specific -- "I need cards #431, #435, #502, #520 and #558 from 1964 Topps" -- would scare off my loved ones.   They do have their moments . But in general, card requests must remain as generic as possible and then I hope I get lucky and something fits into my collection.   Which explains why I ended with this yesterday: Don't get me wrong. I liked it...