Night Owl Cards

  Today is the absolute nadir of the sports calendar for me. There are two major U.S. professional sports events happening today and I have always had zero interest in both of them. I often say today is the black hole on the sports calendar. I usually don't bother turning on the TV on this day, maybe I'll look around for a hockey game or find an old baseball game on youtube to watch. But mostly what I'll do is look forward to baseball and miss football. With the weather outside (lake effect!) and no live sports of interest, it's a perfect time for blogging. I'm doing posts for both my blogs today, which is a rarity these days. Neither take a lot of effort though. Here I'm going through the latest gets from Diamond Jesters' Time Travel Trade series. This time I added six cards, none are major chases for me, just some fun cards. So let's see why I picked up what I did.   2001 Topps Archives, Warren Spahn Here is where that Archives set makes perfect sense...

I have been running this blog for long enough that I have received cards from all kinds of places -- even overseas locations where I didn't even know they knew about baseball -- and all kinds of people from all walks of life. The blog has also led me to interactions with former pro baseball players, as well as members of their families. But I'm not sure if I've ever traded with an ex-ball player. No, I didn't get cards from Tracy Woodson. Don't be so literal. But I did receive cards from someone Woodson managed! A guy named Michael contacted me recently about some cards he had for me. Michael pitched in the New York-Penn League during the late 1990s and mentioned that while he was playing for the team, he passed through Watertown, N.Y., and appeared in both ends of a doubleheader. I looked through the archives of my newspaper and found a report on the games he mentioned and emailed him a copy of the story (unfortunately, his name wasn't in the story...

My card collecting friend R.C. sent me a few cards recently. He said he didn't have a need for them and hoped I might find them useful. These weren't your average cards so I can find a variety of uses for them. In fact, I can break the uses down into: 1. Keepers (Cards I can use in my collection) 2. Traders (Cards I'd be willing to use in a trade for the right deal) 3. Giveaways (Cards that I can use in a giveaway next month) Let's see the breakdown with pretty pictures. 1. KEEPERS This was not the only legends short-print in the package but it is the only one I will definitely keep. The 2009 set was the first one to add short-printed legends cards, I believe, and I remember the carefree days when this was a new-and-interesting concept. Plus, the 2009 Topps set is the first one I completed after coming to blogging. And you can't beat seeing Ryne Sandberg in a Phillies uniform. These are each upgrades. As a proud 1970s card collector, I...

A little while ago, I sent this 1955 Topps Warren Spahn card to Wes at Jaybarkfan's Junk. It received the expected number of oohs and aahs, and I'm glad I was able provide something memorable to the man who has sent a whole ton of notable cardboard to me. But I hope nobody got the impression that I have cards like a 1955 Warren Spahn just sitting around. Spahnie hasn't been residing in my collection for the last dozen years, waiting for just the right occasion for me to spring it on someone. Spahnie card 10 years ago: Is it time? Me: no Spahnie card 7 years ago: Is it time? Me: nope Spahnie card 3 years ago: Is it time? Me: no sir. Spahn card: 1 year ago: Is it time? Me: Yeaaaa ... no. Spahnie card 3 weeks ago: Is it time? Me: (cackles with glee): Yes! Yes, the perfect time! I think most of you know night owl and his collection by now. I'm a collector of modest means. But I do luck out once in awhile, and I know what to do when I do. The Spa...

There is so much wrong with that post title. Why would a Braves fan be willing to get rid of Braves cards? And why would he be sending them to me -- someone who is not a Braves fan at all, in fact, often times, is a Braves-hater? Well, I'll try to make some sense out of it. The Braves fan is Steve of The Card Chop. He mentioned around the end of 2015 that he was refocusing his collecting goals. He was going to concentrate on completing some Topps sets, which is what helped him get into the hobby in the first place, and focus less on random Braves hoarding. Good for him. I can't get myself that disciplined. Apparently, that means ridding himself of a few Braves cards, what he called "non-essential Braves cards" in a note that came with the PWE (see, this is where my lack of discipline comes in: there is no non-essential Dodgers card). In fact, in full, the note said: "I am bequeathing to you a couple of non-essential Braves cards as I am altering my c...