Night Owl Cards

  Several years ago I announced on this blog that I wanted to complete all of Fleer's 1980s baseball sets.   After Topps, Fleer featured my favorite '80s cards and since all players shown on those cards are players from my youth, I wanted all of them.   Building on the ones I'd already completed, like 1984 and 1981 Fleer, I tackled the rest. I now have 8 of the 9 1980s Fleer flagship sets finished. 1987 Fleer is the last remaining one incomplete.   I don't have anything against 1987 Fleer, it just happened that way. In fact I like '87 more than some other '80s Fleer sets, like '86 and '89. But here we are. I need 70 cards to finish the set.   I mentioned not too long ago that I'm having trouble paying attention to this set build. The cards I do have sit in a box on the floor, they're not even set up in a binder waiting for empty pockets to be filled. There are so many other card completion interests that come before this one.   I find I don't...

  Merry Dr. Christmas Jones, everyone!   I am writing this post in advance, mostly because I'm not sure if there is going to be any power on Christmas Eve, which is when I traditionally write this. Also, the Bills are on tomorrow afternoon ... um, if there's power.    The storm has hit, it's a whiteout as I write this late Friday afternoon. We're supposed to get like four feet by the end of Monday. That will be the second four-plus-feet storm of the winter already and I'm ready to move out of this stupid place. It only took me 30-plus years.   But let's not diminish the Christmas spirit! I've come here to show cards from others full of Christmas cheer! They sent these cards early enough that they not only showed up in time for Christmas but they arrived before the travel ban and mailmen started being arrested for walking on the streets (this didn't really happen -- I don't think -- I can't even see out my windows).  One person was so on top of th...

The spending moratorium has ended. Cash is flowing again. It's been a while since I had an August like that. It used to be a regular thing -- every August I knew money would be tight -- but the last few years we had somehow avoided it. Then, thanks mostly to pandemic-related bureaucracy, cash-strapped August made its triumphant return. But enough of that! Trading is back. Online card purchasing is resuming. And, most importantly, I've found monies for approaching card shows and post-office trips!   I'll be gathering together a couple of envelopes for sends this weekend. Meanwhile I have received a series of PWEs. Even with my professional writing talents, I have a difficult time devoting one post toward a PWE. So you're going to see a parade of them. Don't worry, it's a short parade, not one of those with 46 school bands, each one stopping in their tracks to play the The Muppet Show Theme.   I'll even put them in pyramid form for you.   First the latest Time...

I had intended to show off the incredible perfect storm of a mail day that came my way Monday and use many words to describe the wonderful, but the combination of Super Bowl prep, the start of the Olympics and the winter storm is kicking my butt. All I have for you is just one card from that haul. But it's a pretty good one. This arrived from Gavin of Baseball Card Breakdown . It was a thank you for being one of the main commenters on his 1991 Musicards Blog , which just celebrated its one-year anniversary.   It was nothing to comment on his blog. I love that set and have completed it. My appreciation for music is apparently a lot more intense than many of the card bloggers because there should be a lot more people commenting on that blog!   Anyway, Gavin announced he would be sending out something special for the top commenters. I expected something musical in nature, perhaps one of those special customs that he does so well.   But when I opened the elaborate packaging i...

  I'm a bit odd, I know that. But everyone is. I think collecting baseball cards is "leaning in" to your oddness. Might as well accept it and have fun.   My oddness exhibits itself in my collection in many ways, although all of these things make perfect sense to me.   One of the weird things I do has to do with the binders in my collection.   I will always be a binders guy. As a set-collector, it just makes sense. Boxes hide your collection. I like to see the cards displayed, as if in a book. You know how much I love periodicals anyway. Binders are an extension of that. To get a full idea of my binder oddness, I'm going to the one that houses my 1970 Topps cards. Weirdness is on glorious display for that year. Here's a page as evidence: Right away, I'm sure you've spotted my habit of double-bagging. I don't think I need to defend this anymore. I've mentioned my reasons for doing this multiple times (saves money and space). It makes sense to me, eve...

(Greetings on National Ice Cream Sandwich Day. Do yourself a favor, and buy a few ice cream sandwiches for the freezer. Better than going to the ice cream stand and getting in a yelling match over face masks -- yes, that really happened where I live. It's time for Cardboard Appreciation. This is the 294th in a series): Gavin of Baseball Card Breakdown knows how to push my buttons. In a bid to drum up a few trades, he offered a couple of custom cards of rock n' roll Hall of Fame legend Joan Jett. Well, he didn't have to ask me twice! Jett's is part of my teenage history. "I Love Rock n' Roll" first hit radio stations when I was a junior in high school and I went right out and bought the album by her and the Blackhearts. A year later, I bought her follow-up album, which wasn't nearly as popular, but no less rocking. Jett is a lifelong baseball fan and has rooted for the Baltimore Orioles her whole life, which makes her an idea candidate for a...