Night Owl Cards

  This very fine card, acquired last week, met a pair of 1969 Topps "goals" for me, not that I officially established them as such.   First, Jack Aker was the last card numbered in the 600s that I needed (#612), so I now have every card from 600-664, which, as you know, are located in the high-number seventh series. This is great progress for a set that as recently as probably five years ago I had no plans to complete.   Second, Aker finishes off the Pilots team set. And since I wrapped up the 1970 Topps set last year, I now own all the Pilots cards that Topps created as far as flagship copies. I'm happy I have a blog to announce things like this!   I was quite proud of finishing the 1970 Pilots, and featured them back on JOTS, Chapter 23 . The '70 Pilots set is a little more appealing to the eye as most of the Pilots shown are actually wearing Pilots uniforms. That's not the case in '69 as the team hadn't made its debut until the 1969 set had been release...

  Last month when I received a very kind delivery of free cards from the baseballcardstore.ca , I resolved to get on the site quickly and pay for some cards to show my appreciation. I sort of succeeded ... until Steven from the baseballcardstore jumped in and thought he could help me with my effort by finding more stuff for me, even better than I could, that would fit perfectly into my collection.   Let me tell you how that happened.   I started on the site like I always did, by searching for various sets. That's hit-and-miss for me because most of the sets available on there aren't what I'm looking for, as you can imagine as a vintage guy. I also look for Dodgers I need, which is even more difficult, because I have a lot of Dodgers.   So the set search began, and without coming up with any 1985 Donruss baseball, I decided -- heck, might as well pursue some cards from the set I've been avoiding all my life.   Yeah, this thing -- the thing I've been making fun o...

  That figures, just when I was beginning to question whether there was anything left in the "Joy of a Team Set" series, a natural topic falls in my lap a day or two later.   I picked up a few cards for my 1970 Topps set quest over the last few weeks, most of them within the past week. Here's a pic:   All of these are noteworthy, although I suppose I don't have to say that when set-building. That's the beauty of set-collecting! Want to make every card feel special? Build a set.   But to spell it out a little more, the Jerry Koosman Sporting News All-Star is the second-to-last of that subset I need. Just Denny McLain left. The Hal Lanier, Jim Merritt and Jim French cards are all higher numbers, which is where most of my wants reside. I receive all three from a collector on Twitter, Mike, and they're from his childhood collection. Awesome!   The Abernathy is cool because the stats on the back begin at 1955 and Topps includes all the minor league stops, too. But ...

  Man, it got busy again. So there was an extra day to vote on the Cardboard Appreciation Hall of Fame poll for the second straight week.   The poll pulled in the best turnout in weeks and in the end the 1970 Topps Seattle Pilots card was the runaway winner. The tally after 49 votes: 1970 Topps Seattle Pilots team card: 31 votes 1992 Pinnacle Jackie Gleason/David Cone Idols subset: 18 votes So, the only Pilots team card from a major-release set takes its place in the Cardboard Appreciation Hall of Fame. As a refresher, here are the others already enshrined:     The Pilots card may not measure up to the previous four in the eyes of some, but I welcome a little bit of variety in the C.A. Hall of Fame. Cards are notable for many reasons, and plays at the plate and stadium scenes and smiling faces are just three of many, many attributes that make up a Hall of Fame card. Team cards get a bad wrap. I really like them and I've grown to like them more as I've gotten older. A...