Night Owl Cards

No, I'm not referring to Tim Wallach. Don't be so literal. Out of all the card collectors in the hobby, what percentage do you think are women? Five percent? Ten percent? I'd like to go higher than that, but I can't based on my experience. There's no doubt there are hard-core female collectors. Any woman who has run a card blog is definitely hard-core and I've come across maybe 20-25 blogs operated by women since I began my own. But that's probably not even five percent of all the card blogs that I have known. On Twitter, I see maybe a slightly higher percentage. But it still can't be more than 10 percent. "Out in the field," it's even less. Out of all the card shows I've been to in the last 10 years I might be able to count the number of women I saw collecting on both hands. (Meanwhile, there are far more women behind the tables). To me this is just an accepted part of the hobby. Most women don't care. I get it. My exten...

  (Special note to View From The Skybox : Never fear. I'm OK now. My soul was possessed by college basketball for a few too many stressful hours, but I conducted an exorcism and I'm back! Here is the post that was meant to appear on Sunday night):   I go on quite a bit about the modern hobby's neglect of the base card. It's pretty infuriating for someone who knew almost nothing except base cards for the first decade of his collecting life. But there is one time -- and it's repeated over and over -- when I dismiss the base card, too. It happens when I open trade packages. Often, but not all the time mind you because there is that period in time when a set first hits the shelves, the base cards that fall out are mere dupes. Just something to shuffle through before you get to the good stuff. It's at that time that I feel like a case breaker. And, if I think about it too much, I almost feel guilt and that I am a hypocrite. For example, there is...

I was fortunate enough to win Play at the Plate's fourth anniversary contest spectacular last week. The prize was one of these 2013 Topps Chrome value packs. I hadn't been in a card aisle since Chrome hit store shelves and I had no idea these value packs existed. This is why collectors like me need charity contests like this. I'm not one of those guys who has completed the Chrome set already. I need a handout. I was especially excited that the pack came from Brian. That's because out of all the card bloggers I've known over the years, I don't think anyone has had the kind of pack buying luck that he has. At Play at the Plate there is never blaster remorse. Just blaster bonanzas. Brian also actually pulls cards of his favorite team. And we all know that's impossible. So I decided to do a little experiment. I went to Walmart the other day, loaded up on cold supplies -- yes, I have one of those -- and bought my own Chrome value pack. How would my Ch...