Night Owl Cards

I've collected cards for a long time now. But because I go at my own pace and don't attempt to grab everything from the latest and greatest, I've missed out on some things that are almost regular occurrences for other collectors. For example: This is my first rip card. I didn't pull it -- I don't really buy boxes anymore. It was sent to me by Jeroen, The Dutch Card Guy . Since it's my first rip card, you must now be submitted to my very outdated and antiquated views on rip cards. And those are: I can appreciate the intrigue created by a card like this, but I have a fundamental problem with voluntarily ripping up a baseball card. Just putting aside the philosophical argument of turning a card into a wrapper, I don't know if I like the idea of ripping up my own baseball cards ... in my own home ... where there are people who don't understand the whole accumulation of baseball cards thing ... and giving them IDEAS . One simple tear in front of th...

I received a few more 1975 Topps minis from Mark H. the other day. Mr. Sutherland is one of them. The cards would be appropriate for this post, but I don't have the time to scan them all in, so I'll have to find something pseudo creative for those cards in another post. Those minis get me down to needing about 70 more to complete the set (I counted the other day and can't remember the exact number now because I'm old -- duh, I'm collecting '75 minis). This is great, of course, but it also means that time is ticking on finally getting pages to fit all those '75 minis. But apparently, UltraPro is clued into my '75 Topps mini completion timeline because this it what it released today: When I saw it, I kind of sat and stared at it in stupor. I had just woken up after another long Olympic work session and my mind plays tricks on me in the late morning. So, I just sent a little message to UltraPro to make sure it wasn't all a dream. To ...

As you know, there are quite a few Dodger collectors on the blogs (when I started there were two). They show all their Dodger card acquisitions, and I'm fine with that, except for the part of me that cries in the night, "those should be MIIIIIINNNNNE! " Also from time to time, I see someone boasting about something that they acquired that is right smack in the middle of my collecting interests. A Kellogg's 3-D card, or a '75 mini, or a shiny Kershaw insert. Those collectors have the right to those cards. But we all know where they really belong. Unfortunately, this is life and things never work out as they should. Not even in card collecting. There is no world peace. Coffee smells great and tastes like tires. Pee Wee's Playhouse hasn't been on my TV for years. But every once in awhile, the stars align, people of all races and creeds put aside their petty differences, and cards that have night owl written all over them do meet their destiny. Su...

As you know, I love mini cards. I love them so much I don't want anything to hurt them. They are the best cards and need to be treated with the care and adoration they deserve. In some ways, this is why I place limits on the kinds of minis I collect. I'll take all the Allen & Ginter minis I can get, but I have no interest in the mid-'80s Topps and Fleer minis. I'll babble about 2011 Lineage '75 minis until you wish you never came across this blog, but I'll sell you the entire '92 Topps micro set for a buck. I have standards. And, of course, there are what I consider "The Original Minis," even though they're not original at all, the 1975 Topps minis. One of the first parallel mini sets ever, I am trying to collect the whole '75 mini set, and I received four more for the cause just recently (mini placed next to regular-size card for comparison). Two MVPs on the same card from Scott Crawford on Cards! A Tig...

I just dropped the scanner lid on my fingernail. The lid is thicker and heavier than it has any need to be, and one the many visible signs that my scanner was created by baboons. At any rate, my finger hurts and I'm trying to type without it, but it's not going very well. So let's see how long this lasts ... I'm very excited about my next post -- that's right, the post after this one. Sorry you're not reading my best effort this time around. But just to lead into that exciting post, I'm showing you some minis I've received lately. The most recent card packages I've received have been mini-heavy and they're about to consume the card desk, so I've got to get them out of the way. Here are some sent to me from a mini-exclusive package by Brian at Play At The Plate : The most excellent Clayton Kershaw and Andre Ethier and the departed James Loney. The Kershaw will be going toward the new frankenset quest because I received a pair of K...

I received 15 more Topps Lineage 1975 minis from reader Chris for my quest to collect all 200 cards in the set. I'm now down to needing 39 more to complete the set. In a couple of weeks, I'm going to see how much I can knock off. I'd really like to get this done before the arrival of what could be my next collecting goal -- 2012 Allen & Ginter. I hadn't planned to collect A&G this year, but then Topps had to throw in cards of Erin Andrews and Kate Upton. It found my weakness. The problem with being down to the final 39 is I'm running out of things to say about these wonderful tributes to the 1975 minis. So, I thought I'd play a game with them. And that game is: If These Were Not Ballplayers But Just Regular Guys And They Were Walking Down The Street Toward You Which One Would Make You Cross To The Other Side? Come on, don't look at me like that. We've all played ITWNBBJRGATWWDTSTYWOWMYCTTOS before! It's sweeping the nation! OK, th...

One of my purchased rack packs yesterday contained a Lineage '75 mini that I needed. Former Dodger farmhand and general annoyance Shane Victorino. But before I could mentally express my thanks to the cardboard god for blessing me with a Lineage mini that I needed, I noticed an imperfection on the Flyin' Hawaiian's card. You may not be able to see it that well, but that's only because I've already tried to alleviate the damage. When I pulled the card out of the pack, a portion of the top edge, just above the "E" in Phillies, was folded over. I don't know what the baseball card term is for that kind of imperfection -- chipped, I guess -- but good gosh, it's awfully irksome to pull a card with that kind of damage out of a pack. The worst part is that it seems to be happening more often with retail packs, or at least I've come across it more often this year. And even worse than that, is it seems to be happening MOST often with mini cards, ...