Night Owl Cards

The Orioles do not appear on my radar that often. They are my youngest brother's favorite team, so I suppose they're not as ignored as the Rays or Twins. But since they are an American League team with no real ability to offend me, I pay little attention to them. I definitely do not build my collection around them. However, I have waited for the above card for a long, long time. As a set collector at heart, I am fascinated by the notable players who were not included in Topps sets because the two sides didn't have a deal. I've mentioned many of them before -- Maury Wills, Jason Varitek, Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez, Rusty Staub, Ichiro. And there are a bunch of others: Kevin McReynolds, Chris Short, Joe Adcock, Tony Horton and many more. Each of their stories interests me, because since I was a child I have been under the impression that Topps chronicles every player from every year. There are all kinds of flaws with my impression, but it's difficult to sh...

I don't miss Upper Deck. There, I said it. I just don't. Maybe it's because I grew up on Topps, long before Upper Deck came to be. Maybe it's because I'm not all that interested in modern cards anymore (I passed up the card aisle again today) and "competition" isn't as urgent a need to me as it once was. Whatever the reason, I don't miss them. But that doesn't mean I don't suffer, along with every other card collector, because Upper Deck isn't making MLB-approved cards anymore. Upper Deck's innovation and especially its photography is missing from today's cards. And then there are other things that went by the wayside when Upper Deck's agreement with MLB died in 2010. One of the most notable was the fact that Orioles catcher Matt Wieters didn't appear on baseball cards anymore. As you know, the currently disabled Wieters signed an exclusive deal with Razor back in 2008. I wrote about that once before . Upp...

I'm about the last card collector you should talk to for the latest info on rookie prospects -- how many cards they have, what they're worth and who has them. Don't know. Don't care. But even someone as clueless as me can't help but notice how unusual this year's rookie card season is. Unlike some previous years, the hottest rookies this season -- Yasiel Puig and Evan Gattis -- have a pittance of cards. Puig has only two licensed cards that I know about (I only care about the licensed cards), and I have one of them. Gattis has only this thing . I know people are passing it off as a card, but I'm not sure it's really a card. And if I have to ponder whether it's a card, then it ain't a card. Fortunately, I'm not a Braves fans, so I don't have to concern myself with a lack of Gattiseseseseses. But I feel for those who do. Cardboard Junkie fears there may be some licensing pankyhanky going on and that Gattis may never appear in anyth...