Night Owl Cards

  My first COMC order of the year came in today. I've settled into averaging out to two COMC orders a year. It used to be more than that, but there are more options now and also COMC prices have been unreasonable in many cases for several years, so I've been forced to comparison shop.   My first order of the year is usually smaller than the one that often shows up in the fall. But both orders usually show how scattered my interests are. I read stories about collectors working on some super-focused, often highly unattainable pursuit and only that pursuit . Every time, I am filled with feelings of admiration/envy (wish I could do that) mixed with feelings of relief (glad I chase more than one thing!).   This order is very much this-and-that. It took almost exactly a month to show up, which is fine, though I was expecting earlier based on the lightening speed from several months ago.     One of the first items I put in my cart were the last two Dodgers I needed fro...

  My Black Friday COMC order came in yesterday. I'm pleased to say that it showed up more than two weeks earlier than was originally forecast. This order was not as grand as I wanted it to be. When it got time to request shipment, money was a little tighter than I expected, I had to let some cards go. But I didn't let go of the oddball cards, which actually was a good portion of the order. I gravitate toward oddballs -- I think readers know this about me -- and since I've completed so many of the main sets from the '70s and '80s, oddballs are almost all that's left. That's fine with me, because the more I think of it, I like hanging out with the oddballs. When I think of what's the opposite of those kinds of cards, high-end grade specimens of superstars and hot rookies, I know that those cards can bring out my least favorite kind of behavior in collectors, just about the rudest people I've seen in the hobby. But I rarely see that among collectors who...

  I've been sitting on a COMC order for two weeks now. With the card show and the postseason and regular life stuff, just haven't been able to do my usual speedy posting. I ordered some cards off COMC on Sept. 14 and they showed up at my house on Sept. 30. Sixteen days! Then, I realized that I still had some cash left over on the COMC, so let's finish that out. I ordered on Sept. 21 and they appeared Oct. 1. Ten days! With that kind of return, if I had a little less self-control, I'd be ordering off there every week! Quite the turnaround from COMC's delivery habits three or four years ago. But I mentioned that in my first COMC order this year. Unlike the first order, this one was not all Dodgers and OPC. It is a little more varied, though you'll see both of those in this one, too. Also, I'll break it up nicely into little categories, for people with no reading patience (that's like everyone).   RANDOM DODGERS   A staple of every night owl order. No expl...

  I received my first COMC order of the year Monday. I requested shipment on July 12 and it was originally slated to arrive in late August. Instead it showed up in 17 days. That's record time. During a period when ebay service is all over the map (yet I am hounded by PROVIDE FEEDBACK emails the second I receive an order), it's nice to see someone picking up the slack, especially with all the past complaints about COMC delays.   This COMC order is a reflection of my tour through various web sites, card blogs, social media, whatever. Whenever I saw a card that I liked, into the COMC cart it went. That means sometimes when I pulled a card out of the shipment I was like "what'd I order this for?" The only explanation is "human see, human do." I wanted the card at that time.   So here's a look at me jumping off a bridge just because everyone else did it.   Much of these knee-jerk orders involved Dodger cards. I couldn't tell you where or when I saw ...