Night Owl Cards

Yes, I'm still stuck on 1982 Fleer. Deal with it. You see something better in the card aisle now? As you well know, probably from the yammering on my blog, 1982 Fleer has issues. Most of them have to do with errors on the back and blurry photos on the front. My particular issue with '82 Fleer has always been with the tremendous amount of off-center photos. There are many, like this Tom Griffin card. It is glaring because most of the time the subject on a card photo is centered. It's just the way we collectors like them. The '82 Fleer set looked plain dopey. But then, out of the blue, almost 30 years after this card set was issued, I thought of something. Do you know about "the rule of thirds"? If you have any photography experience you do. It's a pretty basic concept . The rule of thirds states that with any photo, you should imagine it divided into nine equal squares by two equally spaced horizontal lines and two equally spaced vertical lines...

So, Blog Bat Around readers , you wanna know why I collect what I collect, eh? Well, I can sum it up for you in two words: Lou Thornton. He's the reason I'm a set collector. Who the hell is Lou Thornton? Funny, I asked myself that same question when he arrived amid two stacks of 1986 Topps cards from dayf this week. But you know what? Instead of tossing him aside because I don't know him or because he isn't a star, or because he doesn't have a piece of fabric attached to his card, I did a little jig (well, in my head, of course). I couldn't believe my luck: today, I get to find out who Lou Thornton is!! This is the beauty of set-building, and living the so-called first-world life. Set-builders get to find out who each individual ball player is. Every player has a story, whether they are a revered star or an ignored utility pinch-runner. And some of the stories I've found through set-building are amazing. I am also a team collector. That's quite obvious w...