Night Owl Cards

My Allen & Ginter mini frankenset features 27 empty slots. You'd think that even in a 350-card frankenset with 323 slots filled that it would not be extremely difficult to fill up the remaining spaces. You'd think that even if a mini wasn't going to fill an empty slot, it could still crack the frankenset. Look at the above page. It's filled with players like Ryan McMahon and Yunel Escobar, guys dying to be knocked out of the club. Just about every other page is like that, too. But I find that time and again, minis are trying and failing to make the binder. Some of this, I believe, is because Topps earmarks certain numbers for certain "types" in its A&G set. And if I like that "type" -- perhaps it's a baseball legend or a notable off-beat nonsports card -- then a card at that number may be continuously denied. You could be a card of Ryne Sandberg but there is only one Rod Carew, son. But still, I get hopeful when I come into a c...

When I first started collecting, there was one set to collect each year and that was it. When I first returned to collecting, there was one set to collect and that was it, too, because that's what I knew. I returned to the hobby by attempting to complete the first card set of my youth, the 1975 Topps set. I had no interest in any other cards (nor really the knowledge of what was out there). I was focused. Slowly, that focus faded and I collected more and varied cards. Then I started a blog, and that blew the doors down. I tried to remain steadfast to a few key missions: whatever '70s or '80s set I was trying to complete and Dodgers. But as the years passed, more and more interesting cards arrived. The collection expanded. Let's face it: I've been doing this a long time, and knowledge can be a dangerous thing when it comes to wanting cards. So it is that we come to my latest COMC order. It's the annual order I place before the Christmas season hits, befo...