Night Owl Cards

(I apparently made the faux pas of reminding an ebay buyer that payment was due soon. I don't sell all that much but isn't it reasonable to expect someone to pay within a few days? Anyway, payment's been made. So there. But the bitter taste in my mouth for selling grows stronger. Time for Cardboard Appreciation. This is the 319th in a series): My attempt to upgrade cards in my collection is always a challenge. For the most part, I've successfully upgraded cards from my childhood. Those would be cards from the 1975-79 Topps sets. The '75 set is close to completely upgraded, but that's the one set where I'm always looking for nicer copies. The '76 and '77 sets are close to done. The '78 set has a handful of notable cards with rounded corners that I've been too cheap to improve. The '79 set, I think, is as good as it's going to get. That means I'm on the second round of upgrades, which focuses on the cards I was buying to complete ch...

When I first started my quest to complete the 1976 Kellogg's 3D set, I also kicked off an attempt to complete the 1976 Hostess set. Both food-issue sets, issued during the Bicentennial, are among the most patriotic-looking collections ever made. Each card is like a mini flag. The Kellogg's set is particularly ingenious because it features both stripes -- the border traveling around the card -- and stars. The word "stars" is at the top of every card and each of the player's shown is a star! God bless America. I've chased after each set with enthusiasm, because I was 10 years old during the Bicentennial and stuff issued that year couldn't possibly be cooler. However, I've done much better with the Kellogg's set than the Hostess set. The Hostess set is larger and more prone to stains (one of my least favorite condition issues). Hostess also contains well-known short-prints. I thought Kellogg's had no short-prints. But I only recently di...

I have been offering this particular item up for whatever late 1950s Dodger card I can find on the Million Card Giveaway site. I'm hoping it will land me something from 1959, a great year in Dodger history. At the very least, I'm hoping that the people I've made offers to don't out-and-out ignore me. That is very annoying. How can you have redeemed a late '50s Dodger card and not pay attention to the MCG site at least periodically? Or is it really that difficult to hit the "decline" button? Anyway, I've got to at least try with this card as it's the oldest one I've redeemed. This will be one of my final acts on the MCG site. I have left a few older cards, like Georgey boy, in my portfolio in hopes that they will entice someone to trade me something that I like more. Then my very last act will be to order shipment of those final cards before the March deadline. I'll probably do that in January, before the 2011 cards hit shelves. Me...