Night Owl Cards

   Ever since I was a kid I've been about the "more" of cards. I have always liked "more cards" over "less cards."   This probably has to do with not having a lot when I was a kid. I had old-school parents who thought kids should earn things through something called an allowance. I didn't have much money, and there was nobody around to just give me stuff unless my grandma made a visit or it was my birthday. Even then nobody was gifting me a complete set.   So when I finally started working and receiving a paycheck, well, adding as many cards as I could seemed like a great idea.   Add the fact that I come from the set-building generation -- what's the point of getting cards if they're not going toward a set? -- and more is the way to go. Those sets are at least 660 cards strong and filled with commons.   So through decades of following the "more mantra," I have added binders upon binders of cards and boxes upon boxes. You've se...

   I will start this by saying that I realize that I have cycled out of both of the major marketing demographics desired by companies that sell products. I am no longer 18-34, nor even 35-50.   I am also aware that there is probably no one my age working at Topps, unless it's at the highest-level office. I come from a different era -- a Gen-Xer who is satisfied fairly easily.   The most interesting changes in cards for me as a youngster and even through my teenage years was that the design changed each year. I also liked seeing players with their new teams. That's all it took to make me happy ... and I was happy with just that for many years.   I didn't need constant change, which seems to be a staple requirement for many in younger generations. But that's my personality, too. I have never been "on to the next." I'd rather collect cards like I did in the '70s.   This is why I don't understand Topps' constant tinkering.   The latest puzzling dev...

    We're in February now and you know what that means -- the first new cards of the season.   I think Topps is still issuing 2025 sets but the first for real-for real 2026 set is scheduled for release a week from Wednesday -- Series 1 of flagship drops on Feb. 11.   Every year since connecting with the collecting community on social media I've had to fight the urge to find the first cards of the season as early as possible. When blogs were THE THING it was a race to find those cards and I'd lament never getting the jump on spotting them first. When Twitter was THE THING I'd marvel at how collectors would display the first cards of the season even before the release date. HOW? And I'd try desperately to get to Target or Walmart to find my own. Sometimes it would take 5 or 6 tries to spot the new cards.   In more recent years I've paced myself, ignored the "fomo" feeling and calmly collecting the current sets at my own rate. Each year for the last three...

  I've done a fairly good job of avoiding the blaster purchase over the last four or five years.   Once a standard pick-up, I gradually pulled away due to  blaster-exclusive "manufactured relics," then general unavailability during the pandemic, then a hike in price and the repeated frustration of pulling Marlins and Diamondbacks.   There are really only 3 times out of the year that I respond to the blaster siren call: When the new Topps flagship comes out, when new Heritage comes out, and when I get a gift card for Christmas. (Keep in mind I was regularly buying multiple blasters a week a dozen years ago).   The Target Christmas gift card arrives when I'm at my weakest. Typically at the holiday I haven't received any separate cards as gifts and I've also avoided buying cards during the holiday season so I can purchase gifts for others. The gift card gives me permission because I haven't opened packs in soooooooo long.   So that lengthy intro was intended ...

  My favorite decade that I have lived in, as a whole, is the 1980s, easily. I've written about this several times. Here is one that sums it up best.   Still, it can't top the '70s when it comes to cards. The '70s will always be my favorite decade for cards. This is the reason why I think I should be done with '80s cards by now. It's been nearly 40 years since that decade ended. You're not the '70s! Why am I still collecting your cards?   Well, that's because there are so many of them. Even though the '80s produced the first set that didn't impress me (1982 Donruss), the first set I didn't like (1986 Donruss) and the first set I didn't really get (1987 Topps), there was still so much to like. That's why I'm still trying to put the bow on 1983 Donruss, 1985 Donruss and 1987 Fleer right now.   And it's also why I just accepted a whole shoebox full of 1989 Score from Bru of Remember The Astrodome .       Lordy, what have I d...

  I realized only a couple of days ago that Topps had released its Archives brand.   I don't know how anybody keeps track. Archives' arrival has come a week, maybe two, after Allen & Ginter arrived. And that came shortly after Topps Holiday debuted, which seemed to be released practically on top of Topps Update.   All of this showed up after months of virtually no new releases at all -- or none that your average plebe collector (that's me!) would notice.   This does not seem very consumer-friendly. I can't focus on four new products bunched up near the holidays when my money is tied up in finding gifts for others. But I'm sure Topps/Fanatics doesn't care. This release schedule is probably the best way to "maximize profits," which seems to be the only objective in business these days.   So, no, I haven't had any time to buy any Archives. Nor any Allen & Ginter. I decided to pass on Holiday and I took care of Update with one purchase of the D...