Night Owl Cards

Way back in the winter of 2008 when Stale Gum and Wax Heaven were first revealing this gimmick card to the collecting public, I simply stared in wonder at what our collecting hobby had become. I was still getting back into collecting. I didn't have a blog in the winter of 2008. In fact, I wasn't even looking at card blogs then. But when I started reading, in June of 2008, I went back through several bloggers' files (none more so than the defunct Baseball Card Blog) and read some interesting stories, including the Uzuki story. Now, Ben's Baseball Card Blog is retired, as is Dave's Fielder's Choice. Chris still posts on Stale Gum but not like he once did. And Mario has announced the end of Wax Heaven. I admit, I received all my card news from Wax Heaven, and maybe a random post at Cardboard Junkie, Sports Cards Uncensored, Trader Crack's, or one of the other news-based card blogs. I receive none of it from Beckett's. I just can't deal with the site...

This, in a roundabout way, is my response to the results from the "Where has Topps Gone Wrong" poll I posted. It's obvious, according to those who voted (and I know for a fact Chris Harris did not vote 36 times), that Topps' gimmickry is mostly to blame for the feelings of ill will that collectors have for "The Real One." Actually, the poll categories were fairly even until news of the Sarah Palin beauty queen card broke, and then that second column pulled a Carl Lewis. The poll's not up anymore, but here are the results written out: Too may gimmicks: 52 percent Too many sets: 25 percent Too expensive: 22 percent Poor card design: 19 percent Topps rules, the rest drool: 16 percent Too many relics/autographs: 11 percent Too little customer service: 8 percent I, personally, have the most problem with the first and second categories. I'm surprised that the relics/autos category didn't draw more votes, though. I know some bloggers have n...