Night Owl Cards

Greetings, Halloweenies. Thanks for taking a moment away from whatever your celebration may be to review this holiday post. This is a continuation of a post that I published on Halloween two years ago. It was about cards that have dared to wear the No. 666. Shockingly, they have all lived to tell about it. In that post, I listed all of the cards that I could find from major sets that featured a 666 card. And I left a warning at the end that the post could return, just like any cliched horror movie does just before the credits (or after the credits if you're gullible enough to sit in the dark through all of those names and titles). That's right: I'M NOT DONE!! THE POST IS NOT DEAD! IT'S ALIVE! IT'S ALIVE!!!!! There are more 666 cards to uncover, unearth, dig out of their grave, so the undead may walk the earth! I'll start with the very latest, Fernando Rodney from this year's Heritage High Numbers set. Rodney appears to have signed the name of ...

(NOTE: Since this was posted, my flagship and Update wants have been virtually erased, and Archives wants dented, please consult the main want list if you're feeling generous). One of the more aggravating parts of collecting annually is the end of the year. Every November or December, I look back on my want lists and notice all of the set and team needs still sitting there from the past 10-12 months. Sometimes, when I want to really irritate myself, I look back on the previous years -- wants from 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 -- and shake my head at all of the items sitting untouched, for years now. I have told myself repeatedly that with the next online order, I am going to tackle that particular year's wants so I don't have to look at them taunting me anymore. And then I don't do it. There's always something more enjoyable out there than a recent Topps Opening Day Dodger need. So 2016 is no different than the previous years that are already part of the g...

I've been enjoying the leisurely pace of my vacation immensely. Since the other people in the house are still on their usual busy schedules, there was no opportunity to go anywhere special. And you know what that means. That means I get to stay home and play with my cards! Yay! Stay-cation! More like CARD-cation, am I riiiighhhtt??? The first few days have involved some cards, but they've mostly been occupied by the World Series and various errands and around-the-house tasks. However, the wife is headed out of town for a couple of days, meaning -- oh, glorious day -- cards take over the house. I plan on planting a giant box of cards in the center of the dining room table and going straight into a sorting binge. I'll also have the chance to search for cards for various people without being under the gun from this task or that one, or have that enormous work cloud tailing me throughout the live long day. And, of course, I can blissfully show off cards I've receiv...

Topps' flagship set this year was my biggest card disappointment. I won't say that it was a major disappointment because I really didn't want to try to complete another flagship set after putting my all into 2015. But 2016 Topps was not even close to my style and the disappointing part is that this set probably indicates the direction in which Topps is headed. So I bought very little Series 1 from this year's set and even less Series 2. I thought about ignoring Update altogether because: 1) I don't want to keep seeing those smokey photos. 2) I know half of the cards will show players in the pukey retro Padres All-Star uniforms. But, in the end, I had to get at least one hanger box to see if I could find some Dodgers and a couple other items that I could salvage from the burning wreckage of the 2016 Topps collecting season. I'm showing these cards approximately two weeks after Update arrived. Today was the first day I even looked for it. It appeared t...