Night Owl Cards

  It hit 90 degrees today. I'm not someone who is bothered by the heat, but once it's 90 I take notice. It's not super rare around here -- I'd say we're in the 90s about 5 times a year -- but I was still tempted to stay inside.   Fortunately I didn't.   I was in a yank to get to the monthly card show. I've been frustrated lately by the lagging arrival of my online card purchases the last couple of weeks. I don't know if this is a traditional July thing (sellers and postal workers on vacation), but shipments are not appearing on the days I was told. Also, I have received back-to-back postage-due slips on orders, which seems a little outrageous.   So it was one of those times where I thought "I can't get anyone to send me my cards, I'm going to go get them myself ." Crank the AC, I'm coming for you, show!   I had no expectations for this show. With just five 1969 Topps cards needed, and none of them available the last time I visited, ...

  I had viewed enough 2024 Archives pack openings to know I needed to open some myself. Not that I liked the cards -- Archives and I have never seen eye-to-eye -- but I wanted to see the content for myself so I could comment on it on my own blog instead leaving irked comments all over everyone else's pack breaks. Also, there was one aspect of 2024 Archives that folks kept bringing up, but actually there is nothing wrong with that aspect ... well, in the general Archives realm anyway. But I'll get to that. First let's open those three packs. (By the way, these came from Walmart on Thursday -- a place that has barely offered cards for the last couple of years, but in a constant give-and-take with the Target across the street, Target is now devoid of cards. It's odd how neither can be decently stocked at the same time).   PACK 1   I have been opening Archives since its current version began in 2012, I know what to expect -- three past designs, totally unrelated. This year...

  I'm already pleased with the brand-new collecting atmosphere on Bluesky as compared with Twitter. One excellent sign is I can find blog topics from the upstart site, which was a big Twitter benefit before it went south. The other day, the discussion turned to Roberto Clemente cards, and I realized that just about every vintage Clemente card that I have acquired comes with a story. I suppose that's a given with how treasured and expensive his cards can be, but it's just weird how the stories jump out with him. I don't know if I can say that about any other vintage player.   To demonstrate, I will go through each of my vintage Clemente acquisitions and the story that is attached to each. I don't have a lot of vintage Clementes, so this won't be long. Also, longtime readers have likely read these all before because I've recounted each of them on my blog when they happened. But this blog is about 70 percent regurgitation at this point anyway.   July 2024 1969 ...