Night Owl Cards

   One thing that has become very clear to me over the last year is that my way of collecting cards -- the way that was the established primary way of collecting for as long as I've been alive -- is being phased out.   There are a variety of reasons -- and forces at work -- for this. I am reminded of one of them every time I attend the monthly card show.   In the past year, the show has moved from primarily sports cards to primarily RPG/TCG cards. I have less than zero interest in these. When I paid my entrance fee at the table, the guy there asked if I wanted to enter the raffle and gestured toward a gift basket filled with TCG stuff -- don't ask me what it was, I couldn't tell you. I gave the guy a flat "no" that sounded like "of course not."   But I'd say more than half of the tables was Pokemon, Magic and whatever else there is in that fantasy realm. Just about the rest was graded football and basketball of mostly modern cards. But I've writt...

(Welcome back to the blog. It's National Peanut Butter Fudge Day today. Have you done your part? My dad used to make the best fudge. It was the only food-making thing he did. I miss it. Time for Cardboard Appreciation. This is the 296th in a series):   The December/January issue of Beckett Vintage Magazine started reaching subscribers' mailboxes last week. I am a subscriber myself but I have yet to get my magazine. I think there was a mix-up with my renewal date and whoever keeps tabs on that stuff. I may have to make a follow-up call next week. But in the mean time, my sister-in-law -- yes, she has a subscription -- was nice enough to mail off her copy so I could do a proper promotion job on the blog! She's the best sister-in-law ever. Talk about a friend of the blog! That is the latest issue with Mike Singletary on the front. But take a gander at the bottom left corner! Yes, those are my cards! Yes, that is my article! Yes, I made the cover! Sort of. The article addresses...

Although I believe the perfect period for All-Star cards was from 1975-81, that doesn't mean it was without its flaws. The most egregious, of course, was Topps' failure to reward All-Star notice to a player who was voted a starter in the previous year's All-Star Game. Richie Zisk is one such example. He was voted a starting outfielder for the American League in 1977 and went 2-for-3 with two RBIs in that game. Then kids pulled his card the following year and got the above airbrushed monstrosity with no All-Star badge. The double indignity. It would be easy enough to MS Paint the badge onto this card and attempt to virtually right a wrong, but I know someone else on another blog has done it already. Plus, I don't have the time, patience, ability -- you know, the usual excuses. So, instead, let me cite a couple of other examples of Topps All-Star snubs during this period. Reggie Jackson was an All-Star in the 1974 game, but when the 1975 set came out, he di...

Here is the remainder of my COMC loot. I'm starting with Le Grand Orange because this 1971 Topps card of him is the last time Rusty Staub would appear in a Topps set until 1974 (with one exception, as you'll see in a moment). This has always intrigued me because there aren't a lot of cases in which a high profile player was cut out of a Topps set. In the few that there are, the reasons are well-known. Barry Bonds wouldn't sign the MLB licensing agreement. Jason Varitek didn't like the photo that Topps took of him. Maury Wills resented Topps for not signing him to a contract and became Fleer's No. 1 guy. And then there were the Topps-Bowman card brawls of the 1950s. But I haven't come across a specific explanation for why Staub wasn't included in Topps' 1972 and 1973 sets. All I've heard was that Staub and Topps "had a falling out" or "couldn't come to an agreement." Why? There had to be a reason. This was before f...

I posted this card basically to keep the vintage train going. With this card, I am up to six straight posts of nothing but vintage material. I would like to continue that trend for a long, long time. But I can see it coming to an end very soon. I've been blessed with several very fine card packages in the last few days, and after feeling very caught up, I am now desperately behind again. Trade posts are on the horizon, and several of them will feature very snazzy, decidedly un -vintage cards. So, let's wallow in the wonderfulness of this vintage card for as long as we can. This is one of the cards from the World Series subset in the 1974 Topps set. I have always believed that a card company's main base set for the year should include a card apiece for each World Series game. Topps was faithful to this practice through the 1960s and into the mid-1970s. Then, for some inexplicable reason, it scaled back to only a card or two for the Series. In the 1979 set, they didn't...

We here at Topps/Fleer/Donruss/Upper Deck/Score/etc./etc. have the best interests of you, the player, at heart. (Rusty Staub, swinging and looking absolutely goofy). Our mission is to serve you, the athlete. (Jerry Grote desperately attempting to run out a grounder). With our fine fleet of photographers, we will cast you only in the best light (Jim Fregosi watching as his foul pop up is about to be caught). You are the star of our show. We want to make you look as good as we possibly can. (Jim Wynn hitting one straight up in the air at Candlestick). The kids look at you as heroes, so what purpose would it serve to make you look bad? (Bobby Murcer fouling one off or possibly swinging and missing). You are the most talented players in the game. We want to showcase that talent (Len Randle yelling after taking a bad swing or maybe fouling one off his foot). Rest assured, you are in capable hands (Lou Piniella nearly spinning completely around and saying something like ...