Night Owl Cards

  Yesterday I attended the big show at the state fairgrounds that goes off twice a year. The last time I was there was in September and I obtained the majority of cards from three dealers who are almost always there and almost always get the majority of my business.   I was so confident that they would be there this time that I didn't bother to update my blog want lists or to finally figure out how to access my TCDB want lists on my phone. I just took my hand-penned want list for 1969 Topps and 1979 Topps football and stuffed them in my pocket. If two of those dealers were there, then that would be sufficient.   Well, neither of the two were there. This was a crisis because they are there so often I automatically thought something was wrong. Then I realized just about all my vintage options were gone. The crumpled list in my pocket was useless.   It was time to regroup, though after I did, I walked the show with a lot more uneasiness than I usually do. Not only were...

  I have probably mentioned a couple times that I feel like my era of collecting is underrepresented on social media. That's likely because folks who collected as kids in the '70s are less likely to be appearing on Twitter/X or Instagram. And I don't do cards on Facebook, which probably has a better chance of showing card stuff from my era. But it's difficult for me to match the glee for late '80s and '90s cards that I see constantly on those other social media sites. Like I've said before, it seems like every collector online began collecting in 1987. There's probably a book in there somewhere because it's definitely a thing. But I don't want to collect stuff from that time. I see pack-openings of 1990 Donruss a lot. I already know what's in those packs, they do, too. I don't have any desire to be trapped in a 1990 time loop. Also, and this is the key thing, I like cards issued earlier a whole lot more. Folks who collected those cards fr...

 (I often wish I could write two posts a day again. It's not that I think I was efficient throwing out multiple posts for already-busy people to read, but I just like the idea of having the time to do it. Apparently I used to. Time for a quick post, which means Cardboard Appreciation. This is the 323rd in a series): This card has popped up a couple of times lately on that social media site that has progressively grown ickier. It's a known favorite and a favorite of mine, one of the best manager cards in my collection, probably in the top five with the 1965 Topps Casey Stengel and the 1988 Topps Tom Lasorda and a couple of others. I like 1951 Bowman, probably even a little more than the '52 Bowmans. The two sets look alike except that the '51s have a name identifier, which I appreciate. I've gotten used to cards with zero words on the front -- stuff like '53 Bowman and '76 SSPC -- but I had a bias against wordless cards quite awhile ago and I don't think ...

  A week ago at this time, Twitter was abuzz with the release of Topps Series 2. It was comical really. I know Twitter is very ADD by nature and everyone loves a new release, but Series 2 is not something to get that excited about and it's getting more and more terrible. I've had a conflicted relationship with Series 2 for quite awhile and I've mentioned it on the blog before. It's very anticlimactic if you don't like the set that year (see: 2016, 2017) and this year especially it's almost pointless. A lot of this is probably not Topps' fault. Supply issues, manpower issues, etc., have likely led to what I've seen in Series 2, which is a complete lack of attention to detail. This is not on the level of 2020 Topps Update but seeing Kenley Jansen and A.J. Pollock still in Dodgers uniforms in Series 2 is not making me want to collect it. On top of that, I've seen the photos for a lot of the other Series 2 Dodgers, Trea Turner, Max Muncy, etc., because t...

  I've been thinking a lot about how much waiting we're all doing these days, and, in particular, what that's doing to my patience. I've always considered myself a patient person and others do, too. But with how much waiting I've been doing for the last year, I'm wondering if my patience is gradually wearing thin. Obviously, there is a lot of waiting for the big things, waiting for a vaccine, waiting to eat in a restaurant, waiting to go out in public without a mask, waiting to shop, attend events, celebrate achievements and milestones as we once did.   Then there is the sheer amount of waiting FOR EVERYTHING that I never expected before the pandemic hit. Inordinate wait times for things like the mail, an update from a lawyer, a medical appointment, etc. I'm noticing that I'm getting more impatient. Common occurrences like computer delays at work make me more anxious than usual, and I think it's because there is waiting all the time .   It reminds me...