Night Owl Cards

(Happy National Pet Day. There was a point a couple years ago when I thought there'd never be another pet in the house. I even wrote about it. Today, there's a cat who is about to turn one all up in my business. Knocked over a bunch of cards today. She's officially part of my hobby. Time for Cardboard Appreciation, this is the 351st in a series):   I reached a collecting milestone yesterday when this 1941 Play Ball card of former Brooklyn Dodgers MVP first baseman Dolph Camilli arrived.   Although I have a modest number of pre-1950s baseball cards, this was the first time I ever purchased one. Everything else pre-1950 has arrived as a gift or in a trade.   I've written many times that I collect cards for which I feel a connection. Those are mostly cards related to my childhood, my adolescence, my first disposable income days and all the way to the present time. If I know the players -- especially if I have seen them play and read about them when they were playing -- the...

  I hadn't done much with the momentum that came with acquiring the 1954 Topps Tom Lasorda card months ago . With Lasorda's arrival, I was down to two cards to finish the '54 Dodgers team set, but the Rube Walker card sat in my online cart for ages, just daring someone to snatch it. Fortunately, not many collectors appreciate an off-condition card of a backup Brooklyn catcher. Their loss. I finally added it. That allowed me to slip Walker into the 15th spot and that was so satisfying ... Just wonderful. I've never been a big fan of the 1954 set but as often happens when you line them up all together in a display, you discover a set's appeal (once again, binders over boxes, folks).   There is the back for Albert Bluford Walker Jr. Interesting that the cartoon strip clearly references Roy Campanella but doesn't mention him by name. Campanella was under contract with rival Bowman in 1954. So Walker is finally secured ... and, yes, I've been hearing the "ye...

If I had held off just a couple more days, I could have done what I wanted to do, which was package both of my Project 2020 acquisitions in one post. Little did I know that as I was writing about how I was still waiting for the one Project 2020 card that I had purchased (the other was a gift), that it was already on its way to me, likely being shipped out that very day. Let's take a good look at the Project 2020 card that I wanted so much that I threw the required $19.99 at it: My goodness, that's a beauty. I'm not sure if one of the primary reasons I enjoy the card stands out against a black background, so here's another view: Maybe that stands out a little better? I don't know. The best view would be if I pulled it out of its magnet holder and scanned it in all its naked glory. But I've already decided that I will keep both the Koufax and the Robinson in their holders. I plan to display the two cards -- and this is a first for me, becaus...

I mentioned at the end of this post that I recently grabbed another reprint set of an early 20th century Dodgers team, based on a similar reprint purchase by Wrigley Wax. Unlike the previous Sporting News reprint set, this is a set I've known well and I'm somewhat familiar with the reprints, too. When WW mentioned reprints of the 1922 E120 American Caramel set, I exclaimed to myself, "Of course! I love that set!" Why knock myself out about the can-be-costly originals when I can get reprints of those beauties? That 1922 American Caramel set is my favorite 1920s set. That's not saying much since it's well-known as the most popular candy card set from that decade. Heck, there doesn't seem like that many 1920s card sets anyway, at least that are known to me. This one stands out among rather weak competition. The actual 1922 American Caramels aren't as dynamic as the reprints, but first a little background. The E120 American Caramel set is 240...

I've mentioned a number of times that with the number of different sets and parallels and variations out there today that card collecting these days could become a full-time job, if you let it. There is so much to keep track of, just from the Heritage standpoint alone -- error variations, uniform photo variations, action photo variations, team name color variations (oh, brother), gum-stain-back variations (even dumber), red-back parallels (huh?), mini parallels (of course), chrome parallels, black refractors, gold refractors, hot box refractors, and, oh did we mention the last 75 cards are short-printed? -- that even if you attempt a fraction of the list above, I don't know what you leave out of your life to get it done, but you're leaving out something. I'm thinking that the only way you could accomplish even half of what Topps is putting out there -- for just one set, mind you -- is if you were single, did not own a home, worked only part-time, and had no other...