Night Owl Cards

As a writer, I have a relationship with the stories and posts that I write. You've probably heard writers describe their stories as their "children" and I can relate. While some can pound out a post, hit "publish" and then forget about it once the sun goes down, it doesn't work that way for me. I write some posts that I want to forget, but can't. And I write other posts that I like ... a lot. I have favorites when it comes to posts. Yesterday's post was a favorite. I couldn't wait to get the idea up on the blog. It didn't get the biggest response, but that's OK. The cool people know why I liked the post so much. I was writing to them. But since I like to offer variety on my blog and because I knew I had probably bored the "what's new" crowd with last night's post, I thought I'd find something for them. I was getting a few birthday goodies for my daughter today when I ambled over to the card aisle and grabbed...

I've got a few more thoughts about 2015 Topps and I won't apologize for showing these cards again. This moment comes around only once a year. I have 11-plus months to show random cards from the past. I already mentioned all of the things I like about this year's cards, the changing border colors, the interesting design, the clear and thoughtful backs. It's really a terrific- looking set. But it's not all good. There is a lot of repetition in this set carried over from the previous year and the years before that. The League Leaders cards, the super-close up shots on faces, the sometimes-horizontal cards (all packaged together in your hanger box), the collation issues, the overemphasis on players who didn't play in the majors last year, the excessive number of boring inserts. And here's something that bothers me and possibly anyone else who collects who deals with publication layout of any kind: The write-ups are giving me the shakes. It doesn...

I think I need someone at Topps to call me up and ask me what day I would like the first cards of the year to be delivered to a store near me, because clearly this isn't working out. I tried searching for 2015 Topps earlier in the week a couple of times and came up with nothing. Then, on Wednesday it snowed like a bastard and I couldn't go out. Yesterday, I had one of those ever-living work days lined up: 150 miles of driving and 12 hours of laboring. How in the hell was I going to be able stop at a store to find some cards? Well, I'm a resourceful addict. I carved out some time before entering job hell and hit the drag strip to Target. And there they were. I had intended to pick up a hanger box like I've done most recent years. But I think seeing Puig on the front got to me. I first decided to claim the loose pack that was the first one on the left of a freshly opened box. This would be a fortunate decision. Then I saw the blaster with Over $10 in Coupons In...