Night Owl Cards

The Awesome Night Card series has slipped from a once-a-week staple to once-a-month to "has it really been five months since I've done one of these?" The future doesn't look good for the ANC series. It will always be a part of the rotation, because I'm still collecting night cards and you never know when one will suddenly strike my fancy so forcefully that I will be required to post it. But the days of seeing an ANC post even once a month are gone. And, you know, I think that's OK. I just don't have a lot to say anymore on today's ballplayers -- the primary topic of most night cards -- and could use a break in stressing my mind trying to "stay relevant" in the baseball world. I'll bet Josh Hamilton could say the same thing. He hasn't played since 2015. I just read a story in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that said Hamilton was supposed to show up for some Hall of Fame festivities down in Arlington this weekend, but he called ...

I never announced it on the blog, but I told myself this year that I wouldn't buy any brand of cards that didn't interest me. In the past, I thought I owed it to myself -- and somewhat to my readers -- to open whatever baseball card product I could easily get my hands on in order to get the general flavor of the collecting season. But I'm kind of beyond that now. My interest level in today's cards is still a lot higher than it was from 1996-2005, when I barely wasted a thought on cards, but I'd also say it's as low as it's been since the calendar changed from 2005 to 2006. I told myself that this year, I would buy some flagship, some Heritage, some Allen & Ginter, maybe a little Update and that would be it. Because those are the only sets, really, that interest me. What's the point of buying Gypsy Queen when all I'm going to do is trash it and wish the cards were out of my house immediately? Well, I've kind of failed on that promis...

My hair is longer than it's ever been in my life. It's not roadie length yet, but I've always worn my hair relatively short. It only ventured past my ears during my high school years, but that was kind of the thing to do in the early '80s. I'll probably get it cut eventually, but with this mid-life-crisis frame of mind that I'm in, I kind of like it. It reminds me of my favorite ballplayers and rock n' roll musicians from the 1970s. Really, if there was any place that I could be, I'd like to plant myself in the free-wheelin, easy-feeling '70s, fully equipped with shoulder length hair and a stache. One of my favorite parts of the '70s was the easy going music of that time. Yeah, I know it gets bagged on a lot because of sappy awful "Seasons in the Sun" stuff. But I dug and still dig Jim Croce, America, Olivia Newton-John, the Carpenters, James Taylor, all of it. It takes me back to a time when there wasn't a lot of angst. In m...

There are literally double-digit reasons for me not to buy Topps Heritage this year. Let's see if I can spell them out: 1. I'm not crazy about the 1964 design. It's better than '61, '66 and '68, but that's not saying much. I'm not a fan of many '60s card designs and color choices. 2. There are four Dodgers in the 426-500 SP set. Four. Of star players, too. The SP set is one of the most annoying things about Heritage even when I have to chase only one or two SPs of my favorite team. But four? So uncool. 3. The minis. The mini-lover is mini'd out. Heritage and minis do not go together at all. I don't want to see them coming out of my Heritage packs. 4. Last year's fiasco. The online-only High Number set in particular. That soured me on Heritage and modern cards in general. 5. My commitment to vintage. How can I stay focused on vintage if I keep buying new cards? 6. Rumors of inferior card stock. After last year's Heri...