Night Owl Cards

I watched the Cubs host the Yankees in Wrigley Field on TV on Saturday. As you know, these two franchises are the North Pole and the South Pole of major league baseball. The Yankees have won more championships than anybody in history. Fans expect titles every year and get obnoxious if they aren't produced. The Yankees' perennial success has spawned generation upon generation of entitled brats. Someone who agrees with me: "Over the years, many of their followers have come to watch them with the smugness and arrogance of holders of large blocks of blue-chip stocks. These fans expect no less than perfection. They coolly accept the late-inning rally, the winning homer, as only their due. They are apt to take defeat with ill grace, and they treat their stars as though they were executives hired to protect their interests. During a slump or a losing streak, these capitalists are quick and shrill with their complaints: "They ought to dam well do better than THIS, co...

I haven't been to my hobby shop in a number of months. The experience there has been somewhat of a turn-off , which may be just as much my problem as this particular hobby shop. It's the only LCS within a hour's drive from me, so when I hear about other collectors who have 5 or 6 shops within driving distance, or read about what they grabbed at the LCS, I still have this idyllic concept in my head about what a "good" hobby shop is like, and what other people get to sample that I don't. I envision a magic card castle where you can track down vintage singles, where you can grab random packs of 15-year-old cards, where every pack or box you buy is guaranteed a terrific hit. Most of all, I envision it as a place where you can obtain cards that you can't get anywhere else. Those cards are called "hobby exclusives," and I still operate under the assumption that they're the greatest-looking cards that you will find. I still assume that, even ...

Last month, when half the card blogging world was making a pilgrimage to the National sports card show in Baltimore, I not-so-silently stewed in my inability to attend. I even kind of yelled about it a little . But it was all in good fun. Even if I didn't have to work while the National was going on, I probably wouldn't have made it anyway because August is a super-broke month for me. They really need to move the National to a different month. So, making the National was pure fantasy for me. Fortunately, getting cards from the National is not. I recently received several selections from Baltimore-based bloggers (say that sentence 10 times fast). Some of those cards were from the National. At least one card was picked up specifically for me. That, my friends, is the action of a gentleman and a scholar. That is the card from Kevin of Orioles Card "O" the Day . It's a 2004 Fleer Showcase jersey scrap from Eric Gagne, back when he was king. I realize...

Today was a great day as far as card collecting goes. I finished off my Christmas shopping and grabbed a few random card packs with my leftover scraps of cash. I ended up with a relic card and an auto card. The relic card will be going to a certain blogger, and I have a feeling the auto card will be sent to someone eventually, too. Then, when I arrived home, there were four card packages stuffed into my mailbox. (One I'm not 100 percent sure of the source. I think I know, but if you're from sunny Hermosa Beach, please stand up). It then occurred to me, that it doesn't matter whether I receive any cards on Christmas morning. Sure, it'd be great, but if I don't, I won't bitch, like last year. Because the number of cards I have received from across the country in the last few weeks is astounding. A number of them have come with Christmas greetings (I hope I can show some of those before the Christmas tree is out on the curb). And that means a lot. So, in th...

If you saw the Dodgers' clinching of the NLDS against the Cardinals, you saw a nice, subdued celebration on the field and then champagne wackiness in the locker room. I liked the on-field version. It was classy and fitting with what the Dodgers achieved. The champagne spray-off needs to be reserved for at least the NLCS . Seriously, what's so special about being named "Division Series" champions? Besides the fact that I won my wager with Cards on Cards, that is. When the Dodgers, clinched, I wrote a three-line post. The shortest one I've ever written. That's only because I was at work at the time, very busy, and couldn't elaborate. But considering it was only the NLDS , that seemed about right. So, I guess you can consider this my "cover the lockers with plastic, boys, because everyone's getting a soaking tonight!" celebratory post. I've got a bunch of Dodgers to display! This is my tribute to the Dodgers, in the form of a trade post. ...