Night Owl Cards

That is a statement that you would have never heard me say 10 years ago or even five years ago. I mean, come on! Yesterday's designs are fantastic! They're waaaaaaaaay better than today's designs! But that's how much of a hot mess Topps Archives is. It's changed my entire card view. I was at the local Target yesterday, scrambling for a Father's Day gift (I hope others in my family are doing the same), and I turned up both Archives and Topps Series 2 rack packs on the shelves (there were loosies of Series 2, too). This was an excellent opportunity to see which package I would enjoy more, given that I had seen neither except on the blogs. Of course, I knew full well which one I would like better. You don't pick up a thin pack of Archives -- 18 cards for $4.99 -- and a fat pack of Series 2 -- 36 cards for $5.99 -- and not feel the resentment growing already. Before opening the Archives pack, I checked out the odds: The "Base Card Short Pr...

Finished. Completed. Finalized. Ended. Culminated. Consummated . Over. Through. Tie a bow on that baby and drop-kick it into the river. It's party time. With this card of HGH dabbler Jordan Schafer , I have wrapped up the 2009 Topps Allen & Ginter set. I've also completed the only two sets I planned to complete this year: A&G and Topps base. I received the Schafer card from Brian at Play at the Plate . I believe dayf has threatened to send me this card, too. (The joy of a completed page is sweet, but the joy of a completed set is euphoric). It took almost a month longer to complete the set this year than it did last . That's irksome because I bought two hobby boxes of this stuff this time, along with several blasters and maybe a dozen loose packs. Last year, I relied solely on blasters and loose packs, and still finished earlier. But I think more bloggers may have collected the set last year, or it seemed like it anyway. Having bloggers to help out ...