Night Owl Cards

  I returned to where I grew up yesterday, mostly to say hi to my folks in their final resting place, as well as reconnect with old people and places.   I don't get back there much anymore, not for the last five years, which is weird to me as it's where I spent 15 formative years of my life. And it's probably just as well because whenever I go back, I definitely get that "you can't go home again" feeling.   For example, this:   That yellow house is where I spent ages 6 through 13. I couldn't get any better photo than that because the whole damn neighborhood is getting roads redone and it's hell trying to drive there -- in fact there are those signs all over stating "local traffic only." Dammit, I used to be "local traffic" ... well, if riding my bike everywhere was "local traffic." I hope whoever lives there now is enjoying the second-floor extension built on the back (I can sort of see it in the picture). That was built...

Oh, Fairfield, you got me again. I knew you would get me. I knew it before I even bought the box. I knew it as soon as I saw a series of "Hot Corner Boxes" hanging neatly from a peg from the card supply in the back of Target. These were new. And so tidy. The boxes are simple, small and to the point. One hobby pack. Two hits. Four total packs. What's not to like? OK, so there was no sign of a price anywhere. That's not to like. Nothing on the box. No tags on the hooks like with the other display items. "Take a gamble," the box was saying. All of the other packs on the wall were saying the same thing, but this one was screaming to me. "I'm new! I'm simple! I'm Fairfield!" So I took one. Knowing Fairfield had gotten me. I walked to the checkout and scanned my items. I scanned the Hot Corner Box. It rang up $14.95. Yikes. I should take this back right now. But I didn't. Two hits, you know. And a hobby pack. I arrived ...

Several of the Rite Aid chain drug stores in the area are closing, including the two right in town. Walgreens bought Rite Aid a few months ago and it was only a matter of time before the local Rite Aids would be shutting down. This is not good news. I grew up buying baseball cards at the drug store. Some of the major card-buying moments and acquisitions from the first 20 years of my collecting career came from drug stores. I can see the insides of those various stores right now, where the card boxes were positioned, everything. When it comes to traditional card purchasing, you will never be able to convince me that big-box stores are the better way to go. So, Rite Aid has carried that nostalgia for me, even though they haven't been an impressive source for cards over the years. A number of years ago, I snagged from Rite Aid some Chrome cards . That may have been the highlight. Much more recently, Rite Aid's been OK for repacks. Upon hearing the news of Rite Aid's c...

I was supposed to take at least two days off from this blog so I could travel in order to enjoy some more holiday merriment. However, I live in lake-effect snow country, which, every year means: "here comes a storm that we didn't know about even 12 hours ago and it's going to dump 3 inches to 3 feet on you depending on your 'locale' and, oh, by the way, if you're driving, you're F'd!" This is the message that travels across the bottom of your TV screen in lake-effect land, except they don't use "F'd," they use the actual word. ... or maybe that's just the vibe I get. So, we had to cut our merriment in half and I have returned safely to the home nest, and, lucky you, you get an extra blog post out of this affair -- I'm going to tell you how I got scammed over my Christmas vacation. Well, actually, my sister-in-law got scammed, but there's no way I'm telling her that. My sister-in-law bought a bunch of cards...