Night Owl Cards

   I've made many references about my sister-in-law's ability to select exactly the right box or packs of cards when she's picking out a gift.   It's happened over and over. The cards I get from her, I never pull myself.   But this time it was even more impressive. She didn't even have to pick out the box herself.   She sent a Target gift card for Father's Day. It took me awhile to decide what kind of cards I wanted. I ended up settling on a Topps Series 2 box, it was the only thing in my wheelhouse and I almost always purchase some Series 2, particularly if it's a set I like, and that's the case for 2026.   The box arrived a few days ago and right from the first pack I knew it contained my sister-in-law's magic touch. Yet she didn't touch the box!   I don't think most people are interested in seeing every card -- it's Series 2 -- so I'll offer a highlight from each pack. That'll be enough to show that this wasn't the ordinary...

  So I grabbed a blaster of 2025 Heritage when I was at Dave and Adam's last week. I know they're not called "blasters" anymore but it's still the word I use when I want people to know what I am talking about.   Buying Heritage is instinct at this point. We're at the designs during my first years of collecting. While I could pick-and-choose whether I was going to collect Heritage 10-15 years ago (1966 design? Pass), these designs mean so much to me that every year I think seriously "am I trying to complete the set this year?"   This thought would seem ridiculous a few years ago -- it took me more than a decade to finish 2008 Heritage. But in the last two years, I have completed 2023 Heritage (1974 design) and 2024 Heritage (1975 design) within the year. It can be done. Should I go for the trifecta?   It's tricky. Because Heritage is tricky. Here are the pros and cons to attempting a third straight completion:   PROS   1. I love the 1976 design. A...