Night Owl Cards

This week has been unbelievably hectic in the most unexpected ways. From illness, to new computers at work, to a scheduling nightmare that I anticipate lasting at least six weeks, I have been able to dedicate zero time to collecting. All of the posts that have appeared here in the last week have been created under duress. I can't believe I never typed out "I have no time for this" in the middle of one of my sentences, because it has been all that I have been thinking as my fingers tap-tapped the keyboard. As I was rushing inside this afternoon from scrambling to pick up my daughter from school (realizing I was 20 minutes late in doing so), trying to fend off the starved-for-attention dog, and knowing I had to tend to three other things in 10 minutes before I split for work, I threw three card packages -- and another package that contained an actual POSTER -- onto the table for later viewing. But one caught my eye and I opened it to show here today. The others, sadl...

I began collecting as a kid in the mid-1970s. I knew '74, '75 and '76 Topps intimately. They were all around me. If I saw a picture of a baseball player, it was often framed in pennant flags, or brightly colored two-tone borders, or featured a tiny drawing of an anonymous player fielding his position. Early '70s cards were old and unattainable. Only grown-up collectors -- which to my 10-year-old eyes also included teenagers -- had cards like these. But one of my friends had this beat up Fred Norman card from the 1970 Topps set. He wasn't interested in baseball, so the card was mine. For three or four years, the Norman card was The Oldest Card I Own. This was an important aspect of my collection. I think it was for everyone at that time. It was a marker of exactly how serious you were as a collector. The older the card, the more serious the collection. That way of thinking doesn't fly quite as much today, with all the mojo box breakers out their salivati...

1967 Topps Joe Moeller. Yes, I still have the beat-up version. (Inspiration).