Night Owl Cards

OK, the box is ordered, the Gint -a-Cuffs entry form is filled out and mailed, the binder is prepared. All that's left is the agonizing wait. It's Allen & Ginter month. This is the second year that I will be collecting the Allen & Ginter set, but all of the excitement of last year remains. I cannot wait to get my hands on some 2009 cards. And because of that, I ordered up a hobby box for the first time since returning to card collecting. This is the best set of the year. Easily. It's well-thought-out. It has character. It's quirky. It's amusing. It's artistic. It's well-made. It's difficult to complete, but not exceptionally so. If I were to set out to make a baseball card set, I would like to think that this is something that I would produce. It's something I'd aim for anyway. I hear people say it's getting stale, that it needs to be altered or even scrapped. I don't know where that comes from. There are plenty of col...

My card brand of choice in 2007 was Topps Heritage. Even though some of the photographs, based on the 1958 Topps design, alarmed me with their super-close shots ("That's not a good look," my wife said after seeing the Johnny Estrada card), I could really get behind some of them (Aaron Rowand has an awesome card). So when 2008 Heritage came out, I was ready. I really liked the 1959 Topps design and couldn't wait to see modern players featured with that layout. When they hit the streets, I went on a Heritage buying spree. I was devoted. I was faithful. Until ... A new girl moved into the neighborhood. She was very pretty, with a classic beauty. She was athletic and alluring. She looked fabulous. I asked her name. I'm pretty sure she said, "Allen Ginter," which seemed a bit odd. I dismissed it as having heard wrong. Must've meant "Allie Ginter," I thought. Allie was fantastic because not only did she look great, but she was devastatingly smar...