Night Owl Cards

I often find myself in the middle of never-ending debates concerning vintage vs. modern, or retail vs. online. Periodically, when I feature a modern set that may not be up to my standards, commenters will jump on my negative vibe and say something like, "thanks for reminding me why I don't waste my money on the garbage they're putting out today." Ooooo-kay! I wasn't really saying "this set has flaws, therefore burn all of your post-1994 cards." I was just saying "this set has flaws." Or I'll feature a beloved vintage card of some sort and the response will be *crickets.* Not enough modern innovation for the mojo crowd, I guess. The same goes for retail vs. online. Although I haven't really come across a ton of collectors advocating for retail, I do come across plenty advocating the online route. Their main clinching argument is: "and that's what I picked up for the price of a blaster." It's a pretty good arg...

I've mentioned a few times that I have cut back on buying blasters quite a bit. Prior to last weekend, I had purchased only four since January. That's not too bad for me. Three years ago, I could have accumulated four in a single week. The decrease has come partly because I've found other retail means more to my liking, specifically rack packs and the relatively new value boxes. But mostly it's come because I'm not in denial anymore. Blasters are simply a waste of money. I'm not going to calculate the per-card cost or anything like that. I'm not one of those "find the bargain" blogs. I'll just say, simply, that the only time blasters are not a waste of cash is when you're buying cards from a set for the first time. Or maybe the second time.  I can even see buying them more often for a large set -- if anyone put out a large set anymore. But for sets of only 300 cards with loads of short-prints and inserts? Stay far away. I still had...