Night Owl Cards

 I've participated in various Secret Santa exchanges over the years on the blogs. For the most part, I can't complain. I've received plenty of great goodies from some of the most generous people in the hobby. I haven't participated the last two or three years, though, partly because it's gotten way too hectic at this time of the year to add one more thing, but mostly because I'm just much too blessed by the cards coming my way already. It makes me a little uncomfortable to add another reason to get cards. It's a few days before Christmas and already I know I won't have enough time to show off the cards people have sent me recently that have come with Seasons Greetings or just the intention to send out something during the gift-giving season. So far, I've received five different packages in the last few days, a few unannounced beforehand, and I have a suspicion this won't be the end of it. I'm going to show three here, ...

If you can create an established blog with a little bit of readership, certain perks come along with that. One is a few trade partners that are somewhat exclusive to your own well-read blog. I have a handful of them that trade with just my blog, basically, and I am quite grateful for that. I consider it a reward for trying to get some content out there. I've noticed that I'm not the only card blog with that perk. There are a few others who enjoy exclusive relationships with traders. I've seen on Dime Boxes that there's this guy named Bob who sends Nick cards from time-to-time. My question when I read these posts is usually, "Hey I like cards and have a blog, too. Where are my cards?" Well, Bob must have heard my thoughts because a week or so ago I received an email from him offering to send me some cards. Bob's also started a card blog, called the best bubble . You can't beat that! Cards from a new trader and a new blog to read! My goodnes...

The posts aren't coming easily lately. With the time constraints that often arrive at this time of year, plus a few new editions to the list of time-suckers (my blog reading is way down), I basically have one shot on an idea for a post. If that idea falls through, then there's no time for a backup post. This means I should have some posts ready-made in advance, but I don't like doing that. I want to be present in the hobby, here and now, as often as possible. Today's challenge was figuring out what my favorite card of 2018 was, per P-Town Tom's contest . I searched through my pretty mediocre 2018 acquisitions and came up with zip. I kept finding cool cards and then I saw each time that the card was created in 2017. This happens because I'm usually behind when acquiring cards from a given year. Many of my best 2018 cards will be acquired in 2019. This is how I keep costs down and keep my sanity from running out by avoiding the feeding frenzy. So, anywa...