Night Owl Cards

When I was a rug rat, I was obsessed with this card. I loved it. I didn't care that it was a Giant. All I knew about Giants is that they lived at the top of beanstalks. When I traded a bunch of regular-sized 1975 Topps cards to my friend for a handful of mini cards, this card stayed behind (that's the actual card I pulled in the scan). I liked it too much to even surrender it for a mini. The best part of the card, of course, is the action. It's not an ordinary action photo, as Chris Speier appears to have popped up, perhaps out of play. But the positioning of the bat on the backswing isn't something you see everyday, and the intense expression on Speier's face is classic. As I began to collect older cards, I came across earlier Speier cards. The thing that struck me is how equally great they were. 1972: The photo isn't terribly special, although batting cage shots ruled during the 1970s. That kind of card was always worth keeping. The best part, though...

One thing that I have found discovered during my foray into TTM autograph requests is that I find the disappointing part of the TTM business really disappointing . I have received seven requests back since I started this less than a year ago. Five were a success. Two were not. I was alerted to my second unsuccessful attempt Monday afternoon. The cards that I sent to former major league shortstop Chris Speier were returned to me with both a handwritten and a stamped "return to sender/recipient not at this address" notation on the envelope. I sent out this request more than three months ago. I don't know where it was during all this time, and why they were just discovering that Mr. Speier was not at that address. I do know that Speier worked as a coach with the Reds this season, and that some people have had success getting Speier autographs by sending their requests to the Reds. Of course, the Reds are done for the season now. So that's out. If you haven't b...

The 1972 Topps Set blog is back in business!!! After a month of quiet, our friend MMayes is back to featuring the grooviest set around. And he returns with a bang by featuring the one and only F-Rob, as the kids would say today. He's better known, of course, as Hall of Famer Frank Robinson (how ghastly would it be if we actually referred to stars of the past as "B-Rob" for Brooks Robinson, "J-Rob" for Jackie Robinson or "T.W." for Ted Williams?) To celebrate the return of the '72 Topps blog, I've decided to feature this monstrosity/rare masterpiece from the 1972 set: Wow. This is card No. 166, Chris Speier In Action. And someone obviously took the "In Action" statement a bit too literally. This card has seen more action than Kim Kardashian on a "Tilt-a-Whirl" (I don't even know what that means). I received this card in a trade, believe it or not. I actually requested it, knowing fully its history and condition. Ye...