Night Owl Cards

  I have been on a buying binge lately for one of my favorite "oddballs," the 1976 Hostess set. This set is often ignored by collectors who didn't grow up in the '70s. Its charms are lost on those who are accustomed to their cardboard being sharp, shiny, perfectly centered and without blemish. The '76 Hostess set is none of the above. It is ragged, wrinkled, soft-cornered with wayward lines and absolutely none of the cards are the same size. In other words, the '76 Hostess set is "human." If you were to look at your sets as human entities, you would realize that what we want from cards is an insult. We objectify cards, we want them to be perfect specimens, some of us even seal them so they can't get out, can't age or depreciate, "experience life," or mingle with their card friends. We categorize cards, those that aren't the greatest and latest, that haven't been issued by a popular company are shunned as uncollectible. What ...