Night Owl Cards

(Happy Halloween, kiddies. Welcome to the day that I call "just another work night." Instead of handing out candy to children both cute and rude or hitting the party circuit, I'll be toiling under artificial light at my usual post. Have a Reese's on me. This is Cardboard Appreciation, the 191st in a series): Don't you just hate those collectors who seem to have a card for every occasion? "Oh, it's 'Arbor Day,' here's my card of a ballplayer climbing a tree! Hey, it's April Fool's Day, here are all my Milton Bradley cards!" I admit, I try to be that collector, periodically. But it's only periodic because most of the time I can't find an appropriate card or cards. I just don't have that varied of a collection. I also didn't collect much in the 1990s, which is a definite drawback when trying to match a card with any occasion. Trust me. But every once in awhile, my love for Wacky Packages pays off. This one ...

Recently, I've received some collectible tins from a couple fellow bloggers. These come directly from the period when I wasn't collecting, and so, like anything from that period, I look at it quizzically as if I'm a dog and someone has just placed a piece of lettuce in front of me ("What is this? I can't eat this and I can't play with it!"). The first tin was a Sweet Spot version that came from Max at Starting Nine . I apologize for the horrible stolen images, but the World Series game is almost on, I've got a story to write for work and there is no time to fool around with a camera. Trust me, this is what the tin I received looks like. Without the muddled blurriness. This is from 2007 and I was collecting a little in '07, but mostly just base Topps and I had no clue that there was a thing called Sweet Spot. Now let's go to an era in which I had no knowledge of 99 percent of the cards that were produced then: More ganked...

This is the most sentimental day on the calendar for me. It doesn't have anything to do with baseball (although I did take a tour of old Busch Stadium in St. Louis on that same weekend in 1987). So I avoid slipping into mushy thoughts here by putting a baseball spin on the day. Last year I celebrated a milestone moment for this day by opening a rack pack of 1987 Topps. And in previous years, I've talked about my fondness for the city of St. Louis because of Oct. 29, 1987. But since that time, I've soured on the St. Louis Cardinals, the media there, and some of their fans. In 1987, I rooted for the Cardinals against the Twins in the World Series and turned off the TV in disappointment when Minnesota won. But if the same two teams were involved today, I'd be rooting for the Twins. I'm not sure why I rooted for the Cardinals that year anyway. It was two years removed from Jack Clark, Ozzie Smith, Whitey Herzog and GOD, I hated that team. So what possessed me...

It's funny how a World Series can affect you when you have no horse in the race. By "funny" I don't mean "oh, golly gee, this wacky timeless diversion that tugs on our heartstrings that we collectively adore through every delightful morsel, this base and ball of hills and valleys that we relish no matter who the participants. Jolly good show lads, jolly good show." No, by "funny," I mean IS THIS GAME EVER GOING TO ENNNNNNDDDDD SO I CAN GO HOOOOOOOOMME????!!!!!!!! I don't have an interest in the Red Sox or Cardinals. I'm rooting for the Red Sox by default, but by "root" I mean, "oh, so, the Cardinals won that game? What was the score? Has the boxscore come in yet? Where's my story? WHERE'S MY STORY????? ... Oh, damn, the Cardinals won." I have seen only snippets of this series, which is is sort of expected for the job that I hold but not to this extreme. Through a quirk of scheduling, every game that ...

One thing that this exercise has taught me is how differently people perceive the exact same thing. It's a simple piece of cardboard with various shapes, colors and lines. But depending on the collector viewing it, it is either the best piece of cardboard ever devised or a train wreck. For the first time in this "biggest improvement/biggest bust" series you will see a certain combination on each list TWICE. That's right, according to your comments , people think that 1982-83 Fleer and 1994-95 Fleer is both the biggest improvement and the biggest bust. I'm tempted to think this is just people trolling or being contrary, but I don't think it is. As my grandma used to say, "that's why there's vodka and beer" (OK, really she said, "that's why there's chocolate and vanilla."). People just like different stuff. So without further babbling, I will present to you the candidates for selection as Fleer's "Biggest Imp...