Night Owl Cards

  Diversity is a huge deal in the business world and I've been hearing about it virtually my entire career, probably even during college when I was preparing for my career. Diversity, in a different way, is a big factor in the hobby, as it relates to variety, different brands, different styles of cards, etc. When collectors complain about Topps' exclusive license, they're complaining about a lack of diversity. But as far as individual collectors, there are those who have diverse collections and those who keep the parameters limited. I admire those collectors with limits and am also baffled by them. Every time I hear someone say they collect only Topps cards, I feel a swell of admiration for that collector and at the same time I yell, "HOW? You're missing so much!" I can't do that. My collection is diverse. Sure, people could put me in a specific category -- set collector, team collector -- but I like too many card things to stay in the same lane all the ti...

   I wrote last month about how I am collecting three sets that are known for being difficult on collectors -- 1967, 1969 and 1970 Topps. I'm not afraid of difficult sets. I completed '71 and '72 Topps. But the hobby has changed since I finished those sets and just the repeated effort tends to wear on you a little bit as you progress in the hobby. That's why I add little "enjoyment sets" to my completion quests. Stuff like this: All of this 1985 Donruss came in a TCDB transaction with GoldenEagles555. I now have more than 100 cards from the set, which may not seem like much but I have gone more than three decades with having no more than 20 cards from the set, and my brain just started thinking that's the size of the set. No rush on completing this one because it's needed to help balance the madness of '67, '69 and '70. I am "close" on all three of those sets in terms of cards that I've accumulated already -- but we all know ...

  I fall into this trap of unspoken moping about the length of time that it takes me to complete sets. Sometimes I whine publicly: Ebay shoppers are snapping up all my cards. The prices online are increasingly ridiculous. Waah! Waah!   But objectively, when emotion is taken out of the conversation, we've got it pretty good in a lot of ways. Do you ever think about how it used to be? Before the internet? If you wanted to collect a set 30 years ago, you relied on card shows, mail-order catalogs and magazines or trades with friends, relatives or acquaintances. You also bought lots and lots and lots of packs in hopes that 1 of the 12 cards inside would be one you needed. Twenty years ago, I was not online. I had just gotten back into the hobby a little. I discovered there was a person downstairs in my work office that collected 1970s cards like I did. And I knew another person in my office who had cards, but he was more interested in selling what he had. That was it. But I wasn't ...

  I've made do in this hobby despite working a job that is known for not paying well. I made the decision a long time ago to go into a profession because I enjoyed it, not because it made a lot of money. I've gotten used to scraping by -- have done it for decades -- and have enjoyed stability in a notoriously unstable line of work. There's not a lot of cash for cards. I've written about that many times on this blog. It goes in stages, sometimes I have extra for cards, many times I don't. My card interests are relatively affordable but in the last five years where almost any card worth having is too much money, it's difficult to get what I want. It takes longer. I need to be patient, which for someone who is not 25 anymore, is not the virtue it once was.   I am currently chasing two vintage sets, 1969 and 1970 Topps (well, three if you throw in the 1967 Topps insanity). I am 90 cards away from finishing 1969 and 53 from completing 1970. It feels like it's tak...