Night Owl Cards

I don't know if it's true, probably not, but at least in my collecting experience it is. Finding hits -- autographs and relics -- among modern cards isn't as easy as it once was. I doubt that card companies are making hits in fewer quantities, especially Panini, which seems to issue relics as frequently as the 800 million different parallels it creates. But I think the combination of me not seeking out hits (you won't find any hits listed on my want lists) and a somewhat less interest in collecting hits among my blogging buddies is leading to fewer hits from more recent cards in my collection. Take, for example, Cody Bellinger. This Panini Bellinger relic is the first Bellinger "hit" in my collection. I didn't even know what his signature looked like until I looked for it when researching this post. It's not pretty. Bellinger has been appearing on cards regularly for four years but this is hit No. 1. I know he's a young star, the defending...

I've talked about paring down my collection of Dodger relics for years now. I've done some trimming, holding a couple of giveaways. But I'm almost to the point where I want to keep what I have, at least for now. Every once in awhile, though, a relic card emerges from the walk-in safe downtown where I keep my relics (What? You don't do the same?), and I think, "why the heck do I have this thing?" In fact, it happened several weeks ago with one of them. But it took me coming across another card first. It was this card: This is a gold-bordered parallel from 2001 Topps Archives, which is a retro-reprint set. The Archives card is paying tribute to Shawn Green's initial Topps appearance in a base set, which happened in 1992. The card is replicating this card: Green appeared in the Draft Picks subset in 1992 as the Blue Jays' No. 1 pick in 1991. So this is a Blue Jays card. But I don't own Green's '92 card (the above is filched...

I may not set concrete first-of-the-year goals, but there is something about the start of January that makes one take stock. Because of a little extra time this week, I've been able to devote more effort to the collection and the blog, and I've realized there are some things that I want to do in the future. Are those goals? I suppose, in a very vague way. You won't see me checking anything off a year from now, but there are things that I want to get done. So, yes, this is now a housekeeping post, but look at it on the good side: These posts help me keep my wits about me. You don't want night owl to go insane, do you? Sure, the posts will be entertaining for a little while, but I don't think they allow laptops in rubber rooms. So here we go. What I Wanna Do Card-Wise: 1. CONTINUE TO CATALOG CARDS Yesterday I finished cataloging my 2014 cards. This is always a rewarding moment, but it also underlines how far I have to go in the grand scheme of the co...