Night Owl Cards

If 2022 Topps really wanted to draw my interest, it would recognize a significant anniversary in its history this year. It's been 50 years since Topps installed an "In Action" subset into its flagship set for the first time, in 1972. And it's been 40 years since Topps repeated that tactic in its 1982 set. I was quite disappointed when I opened packs in 1992 and found no "In Action" subset. Since that time, the only "In Action" references from Topps that I can think of are online one-off deals. Maybe it was an insert set recently? I don't know. If it isn't part of the base set, I lose track.   Perhaps it isn't necessary to have such a subset now since just about every base card is an action card. But I think there are creative ways to make an "In Action" set today by finding special action shots or using different cropping to make the cards distinctive. But again, stuff like this is usually reserved for SPs and such. I'm wi...

I just posted the 250th card in the 1971 Topps set over on my '71 blog. The set is so huge that I'm not even close to being halfway finished (don't think I haven't thought about that a couple times). But I am nearing one milestone that I bet only the most dedicated '71 collectors know. In a few cards, I will have reached the third series in the set. As you may know, the set is divided into six series. But it is in the third and fourth series where the real action lies. Literally. At the risk of undermining the surprise of what card is coming next on the '71 blog, here is the first card of the third series: It is an action card, as you I'm sure you've gathered. And it is the kind of wonderful action that only exists in early '70s cards. From that first card in the third series, there are 41 more action cards in series 3 and 4, excluding the World Series subset. That is more than any other two series in the set. The first two series in ...