Night Owl Cards

  I've been writing this blog for a decade-and-a-half (another anniversary coming up soon), and I have received my share of RAKs and plain monster boxes that blow RAKs out of the stratosphere. It's the nature of the generosity of the blogs over the years (sorry, former Twitter, you can't compete with what came before you) and, in general, the generosity of collectors.   But I admit I've been treated extra-special. I'm probably spoiled. When I'm looking for cards, people reach out. Recently it's been 2023 Heritage and several have responded. I've been corresponding with one Heritage trader online and I told him I'd have to wait a couple days and sort out what people are offering and he made a comment about how "Everybody loves (night owl)". Well, not everybody , but I do have connections after all this time.   I won't apologize for it. I'm not writing to get cards, but if people want to send me cards for writing words, hell, I will t...

My readers are far too kind. I've written Night Owl Cards for 12 years and I've received so many incredible gifts over the years, some of the greatest cards ever made and various other crazy memorabilia. All of these have come to me simply because I write words that some people enjoy. There are no expectations on the other end, other than that I keep writing. They are simple thank yous, attached to significant cardboard. I consider it a great honor. I never expected any of this. We are operating in weird times. People have become too defensive, less trusting, more apt to look out for No. 1. It's taken a pandemic to take the edge off of some folks' hardened exteriors and place the focus on the importance of caring for others. I've been the recent beneficiary of that pandemic mind-set a few times just on this blog and I have two specific examples based on envelopes I received on the same day. The first is from Rod of Padrographs . You know him as delive...

I wasn't going to post again today. It's way too busy, and I figured that after four years, the blog could use a rest. It really works its little bytes to the bone. But I must acknowledge random acts of awesomeness as soon as they happen. I received an envelope in the mail today. A simple, little PWE from a reader who sent me some cards not so long ago . When he sent those first cards, he said he didn't want anything in return. The cards weren't much, he said, and he just enjoyed reading the blog. So I thanked him, wrote him down as a "good guy" in my book of decent people that I keep on my nightstand, and continued to spout off about cards. Yesterday -- or earlier this morning -- I spouted off about how it was the fourth anniversary of this blog, and I featured a 1957 Topps card of Duke Snider. Snider wore the No. 4, it's retired by the Dodgers, and I figured he was a good mascot for that particular post. Then I went to sleep, got up, did fun gr...