Night Owl Cards

There was some sort of dust-up between Marcus Stroman and the Blue Jays and the Yankees this week. I didn't really pay attention. I try not to watch any games involving the Yankees if I can help it. And, I am so over the "did you hear what he/she just said" storylines that plague our society these days. From the sports world to the celebrity world to the political world, I no longer care what someone said or who was offended. Show me what people are doing (hopefully something positive), and then it is a newsworthy story to me. Other than that, it's just babble. (Except if a pitcher screams "don't look at me" for no reason. That's just funny). So apparently Stroman yelled stuff and someone took offense. I know very little about Stroman, but my guess is that he is an animated, vocal sort, and that it is probably because he is a 5-foot-8 pitcher who constantly has had to prove himself to doubters throughout his baseball career. In fact, it's...

Sometimes as a collector, no matter what you do, you cannot save your cards from yourself. For those of us who are condition-conscious, we have a seemingly endless supply of tools at our disposal to protect our cards from the elements ... and the human element. Binders, pages, boxes. Penny sleeves, top-loaders, screwdowns. Snap cases, display stands, even safe-desposit boxes. But no matter how careful, no matter how delicate ... you're going to screw things up. The example I most remember involves this 1956 Topps Enos Slaughter card. It probably doesn't look like it's in that terrible shape. But, take it from me, I was horrified by what I did to it. This is one of the cards I received from that big brown grocery shopping bag of '50s cards that my brothers and I received from my father's co-worker. I was a teenager and just becoming a "serious collector." In the early 1980s, that meant reading the annual Beckett price guide, caring for your car...

Exactly one year ago today, I began a series on the best card backs in collecting history. I told you that the series would be a nice little summer diversion. It might even last into autumn, but then we'd move on to more serious card matters. As usual, I was wrong. A countdown of the top 50 card backs is actually a fairly large undertaking, and like almost all of my "bright" ideas, the execution takes much, much, MUCH longer than anticipated. So we're now midway through 2011 and I'm just now ready to tell you what the No. 1 card back is. I'm sure the anticipation was at fever pitch maybe nine months ago. But now, you couldn't care less (or COULD care less, depending on your grammatical viewpoint). You're barely paying attention. But I'm pressing on, because that's what I do best. Here we go. The No. 1 card back in all of card history is ... ... ... ... 1992 Topps Kids!!!! Dayf was right! He did it again! He guessed it! ...