Night Owl Cards

  I deactivated my Twitter account today. Just like that, 12 years, more than 4,000 followers, and who knows how many tweets, gone. Of course it's technically not called "Twitter" anymore and that's pretty much the reason I've left. It actually took almost a year-and-a-half to cut the cord. But when the new owner took over in July of last year and the changes to the site immediately took a turn for the worse, I knew I'd eventually leave. I've been on the relatively new social media app Bluesky for the last 10 months. In the past week, it's seen an influx of collectors from the old site and, for now, Bluesky really seems like Twitter back in 2013, although without much of the crankiness that seemed to come with Twitter even in the good old days.   I know a lot of my regular readers aren't on other social media sites like Twitter or Instagram, etc. So maybe not many here can relate. I admire you folks, really. It sounds nice.   But my involvement in

  As a lifelong introvert, I remember being very concerned as a teenager when I found out that "it's not what you know, it's who you know" was a significant part of landing a career. At least that's what I was told. I was horrified. I still have a problem speaking to people when there's an ulterior motive behind my words. "Working your connections" makes me shudder. What connections? Oh, I was in trouble.   In the years that have followed, I'm happy to say that most of the connections I've made in my career have been based on my talent, not empty words. It's been true in this hobby, too, thanks to this blog. But I do know how to work the connections out in the real world -- if I really try -- and that's because of the hobby, as well. It happened just this past weekend. I went to the monthly card show Saturday. I had an actual plan this time. It was "find the guy with the 1969 commons." This was because when I went to the mal

    Just a short post, really just noting a milestone that I can't believe I missed.   The Dodgers won the World Series last week and I was really excited. I have been a fan for a long time and I have experienced all the heartaches and disappointments. I can recite the years: 1977, 1978, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1985, 1992, 1995, 2006, 2008, 2017, 2018, 2021, 2022, there are probably others.   I also know the really fun ones: 1981, 1988, 2020, 2024.   I know all these, some intimately, because as of this very year, I have been a fan for 50 years. How I didn't realize that on January 1, I don't have a clue. This also means that I have been a fan of the Dodgers for 50 years. And on the 50th year -- to commemorate my achievement as a fan -- the Dodgers won me a World Series title.   Cool.   There are not a lot of things that I have been devoted to for 50 years. I can't even say I have been collecting baseball cards for 50 years, because although I acquired my first cards in 1974,

  I don't think I need to explain where I am at with Allen & Ginter for regular readers. But I've got some new followers on BlueSky today (my Twitter account is not long for this world) so a brief recap: Started a blog in 2008 and one of my early posts was about my complete-and-total adoration of Allen & Ginter, particularly that year's edition. The years go on and I plunge into Gint-a-Cuffs, an annual blog-wide salute to the A&G product, and make it my mission to complete the set each year. I do so until 2015 when I don't like the set look and am growing skeptical of Topps' checklist selections. I stop trying to complete the set as the checklist turns to reality stars and other blatant pandering, but still try to buy a blaster or two for tradition's sake. You're caught up. And this is where we are now: Four packs. You see them right up there. That's probably all I'm getting, outside of gathering the Dodgers. This an astounding decision

  Whenever I finish off an old vintage set, it takes a little while to get serious about another one. I have to work up the energy to go through what it takes to tackle another one. It's a time-and-money investment. It's a project, really, not a work project, but a fun one. But, as always, projects take dedication, drive and stamina. It's not for the weak. Take that however you want.   Often it isn't until I purchase a certain card do I feel like I'm really in the right mind-set and I'm on my way to pursuing another set.   The 1969 Topps set, coming after I finished the 1970 Topps set, has been a goal for the last four or five years but casual-like as I focused on more pressing card needs. It's always been in the background even as I added '69 Topps cards to my collection.   But with 1970 and other stuff out of the way, it's not in the background. In fact it's staring me in the face, waiting for me to commit.   You may think that with 624 of the

    This is it. The final episode of the 1975 Topps worst-to-best countdown. This series lasted a little longer than I had intended. Those who wanted me to finish it within a week back when I started in April of last year probably gave up a long time ago. I had planned to wrap it up by September or early October of this year all along. Per usual, life had to butt in. But we're here. Let's just say this is my gift to you before everyone turns off the internet for a day (I know I will).   These are the 20 best cards in the '75 Topps set in my lowly opinion. Actually these are the 21 best cards. I must have skipped a number somewhere, possibly repeated a card. I just know I haven't had time to comb through all that to uncover the error. So there will be two No. 20's to start the finale. I don't think anyone will mind. If you do, you need more help than the guy counting down a 49-year-old set.   Let's get into it:  20. Boog Powell (card 625) A classic straight f

  Apparently "silly season" has a lot of definitions. I know it primarily from golf. The "silly season" for the PGA and LPGA is around now/the end of the year, when random tournaments, like the Shark Shootout, are played in the offseason. In baseball-card collecting, I consider the silly season as whenever Topps Update is released. It used to be a little more clearly defined. Update was released in October or November and not many other baseball card sets were released around it. This year Update was released in mid-October. Then, two weeks later, Allen & Ginter, which used to come out in July, was released. Stadium Club is about to drop and then Chrome Update shortly after that and Holiday shortly after that. So silly season was pretty quick (although I'm sure some would lump Chrome Update and Holiday into silly season, too). But the beauty of silly season in cards is it returns every time you open a pack of Topps Update! The set is stuffed with filler and