Night Owl Cards

  I don't like saying cards are "a waste of money" because collectors get so much of that nonsense from noncollectors during their lifetime.   Generally card collecting is not a waste of money for a myriad of reasons, from being educational to improving mental health. But as the hobby continues to sink under Fanatics' heavy-handed rule, there are times when, yes, even I have to admit that cards can be money down the drain.   Here is what made me think this way:   I received not one, but two Target gift cards for my birthday. I was determined to use them on cards (I may become very boring and rethink that strategy thanks to this). Instead of purchasing another Series 2 box, which was quite productive for me, I selected the latest Topps Chrome Platinum offering. Not a smooth move.   I knew I was doing something dumb yet I am very confident in justifying my card purchases. "It'll all work out" I rationalized -- because quite often it does. But the following...

  February is filled with somewhat sketchy holidays.   I'll start with Groundhog Day, which is about good for rewatching a movie. Valentine's Day is often derided as a "Hallmark Holiday." The weeklong "Winter Break" mostly recognized by schools, morphed from single days recognizing presidents into a 5-day celebration of ... um ... winter, I guess? Then there's the Super Bowl, which is fine for the food. The teams are usually gross.   The best holiday in February, by far, is when Topps Series One is discovered on store shelves, a.k.a. "the first cards of the season."    On that day I see something I don't see the rest of the year: card shelves fully stocked with current baseball product at the local big-box. I'm referring to Target because Walmart is in a current state of baseball card indifference (I did find a 2025 Topps Holiday tin hiding in the back of a shelf at Walmart a couple weeks ago).    So it was yesterday when I was out cele...

When I opened a box of 1989 Fleer last fall, people assumed I would pull duplicates from the box, discussing the different variations of the Billy Ripken card that might come out, etc. But I knew I wouldn't pull any duplicates because boxes of cards didn't operate like that in the '80s. A few days ago I found myself watching a box break of 1992 Bowman, just because I still need some of the Dodgers from that set, and the duplicates that came out made me think of how much the '90s ruined collectors' ideas about collation. Not even four years after '89 Fleer produced no duplicates in 36 packs, box breaks were a disaster of pulling four Jeff Juden cards in a matter of minutes. I don't really do box breaks anymore, mostly because of the price but also because there's no chance of getting close to a complete set. Even 7 or 8 years ago when I was opening boxes of Allen & Ginter, which actually didn't yield any duplicates, I'd still finish and...