Night Owl Cards

Although attending The National is not an annual tradition in this collector's journey, receiving cards from The National often is. I've been fortunate in that way, that's what blogging does, it connects you to collectors everywhere and some of them are lucky enough that The National sets up a short drive from where they live. I was the recipient of what I believe are two different sets of packages that came from the recent National in Chicago. I've separated them into two different blog posts, just because each are so wonderful. The first one that I know for a fact is from The National (because he mentioned it in a note in the package) is from Nick of Dime Boxes . He's sent me National cards in the past, a few times, because they keep staging that thing in his backyard. Nick and I have been around long enough to know what each other likes. We are somewhat the same kind of collector, although I'm a lot more preoccupied with sets than ...

    The June-July issue of Beckett Vintage Collector arrived at my doorstep Saturday and inside is my 16th article for Beckett, mostly with the Vintage magazine. That's still pretty cool, and there's newness for me with this issue as well. I'm actually interviewed for another article in the edition. The article in which I'm interviewed, by Kevin Glew, is on 1983 Topps, a set I absolutely love. It's the first long article in the magazine (if you know the Vintage mag set-up, there are a bunch of short news items or photographs to kick off things before the long-form stories). The article that I wrote is on the history of All-Star cards in Topps. It's the last article in the magazine. I never know how to react to my story's placement in the magazine. Should being last be considered the "last to make the cut" or should it be considered the "grand finale," like Sports Illustrated did back in the day? Whatever. I'm published in a slick, glo...

(Here we are at another blog milestone at Night Owl Cards. This is the 300th Cardboard Appreciation post! I've been running this series since the first one dropped on Oct. 13, 2008 . They arrive much less frequently these days -- and they're a lot longer. But it's still going! I also think we're not too far off from voting for a new member of the Cardboard Appreciation Hall of Fame, so stay tuned for that. But now, it's time for Cardboard Appreciation!): I can't believe how long it took me to obtain this card. It's really my fault. I should have focused on finishing the 1982 Fleer set a long time ago. But I have known about the back story on the '82 Fleer Rod Carew card since the cards came out that year. It's a commonly told story now -- and has been referenced on the blogs many times -- but back then only the magazine rack would tell you. In the spring 1982 edition of Baseball Cards magazine, a segment near the beginning of the edition reviewed the...

The latest of the many goodbyes I have made since the loss of my parents doesn't include loved ones or even people I know. Instead, it has to do the with the familiar places in my old hometown. My parents were the last human connections to where I grew up. Most of the people I know from that time scattered to various places long ago. There is no one to visit anymore when I return to the Southern Tier. It's not like I'm going to hang out with my folks' friends. This is a bit sad because I spent the first 20 years of my life in the area. There are many places and spots that mean a lot to me. For example, I walked through the local mall one morning a couple of weeks ago for the first time in a long time just to retrace the steps during one of the greatest three years of my life (1983-85) when I worked at a store in the mall. That store no longer exists. It's now a Burlington Coat Factory. But I entered the store and then found close to the exact spot where I onc...