Night Owl Cards

 (Hey, fellow Northeasterners, are you enjoying the special edition two-month long March this year? I hear things are going to turn around in a matter of days. I'll believe it when I feel it, but right now there's a freeze warning. Time for Cardboard Appreciation. This is the 369th in a series):   There is no end to the cards that I've read about and promptly forgotten due to my brain's attempt to keep the real important stuff in -- and there's only so much room!   Topps Cards That Never Were mentioned this particular card a couple of weeks ago and I was immediately intrigued. It is one of nine 1992 Topps Pre-Production gold cards, cut off a sample sheet that Topps issued ahead of the 1992 set.   Jeremy wrote that this card leaves out the word "manager" on the front of the card and that was enough for me to think: "I need that card."     Here is the regular 1992 Topps gold Lasorda (such a great card) with "manager" mentioned.     It...

  Yes, more charting. I'm going to say this is the April thing to do and be fine with it.   As much as I gripe about how you can't even get a Shohei Ohtani base card without shelling out a buck fifty, I'm still adding cards of my new favorite player at a decent clip. Topps produces so many cards of him that I can't help it. And every time I check which players rank the highest in my collection in terms of number of cards, Ohtani is climbing the charts probably faster than anyone.   About a week or so ago I received a package from Jeremy of Topps Cards That Never Were , which made it very clear that he's not afraid to ship out Ohtani cards to someone who could really use them.   Uh, I guess there's not a base card in there, huh? But that foursome is pretty snazzy. The 2026 flagship card with the leaf pattern arrived in a separate envelope as Jeremy said he forgot to include it. He also added that I hope I like it. I do I do.   The green parallel Heritage card is ...

  I don't know how many card collectors can relate to this, but I'm writing about just one collector here.   I pretty much wrapped up my second straight Beckett Vintage article this past weekend. I sent the images today and will give one more read before sending the article. I basically wrote two magazine stories back-to-back, and let me tell you, they always take more time than I realize. I took the entire afternoon Sunday to finish up the first half I had written Saturday. Good thing it was so hot out that I wanted to stay inside.   The magazine stuff takes me away from my hobby, which is ironic. I've got a lot of incoming cards that I can't get to -- so I do weird things that only make sense to me:   When I receive cards from someone I separate them, cards I need and cards I have. Because there's limited room on the card desk (because all the incoming cards), I usually put the cards in one stack but the ones I own already, I flip them over.    But then I...

  I've been watching snippets of spring training the last couple of days. It's a busy time of the year for me, so I can manage only a couple of innings at a sitting usually. But that's enough to get that spring high that I'm so desperate for here in the later stages of winter.   I watch the the spring games and marvel what I see, like it's life on another planet. Spectators in the stands are actually fanning themselves! I take a quick look at the temperature bud on my laptop screen. 18 degrees. Nope, no urge to fan.   I can only imagine what it's like to live near spring. Going to ballgames sure is great. But I'd appreciate the simple, carefree feeling of hopping in the car (without clearing it off or stumbling on ice) and traveling a smooth street to the nearest big box or card shop. Sure, every life has problems, but in some places there is no snow on top of that.   One person who lives near spring is Jeremy of Topps Cards That Never Were . He was able to ...

  I have a competitive personality. That conflicts with my low-key demeanor and probably explains why nobody expected anything out of me in gym class and then out of the blue I'd make some diving catch in the outfield and everyone was like "where'd that come from?"   I'd get competitive at work. When we actually had a sizeable sports department, I'd want to be the best writer on the staff. And that motivated me to get better. In grade school I'd want the best report card grades (but there was always someone better). My want to compete has played out in a variety of circumstances, including here on this blog. It's part of the reason I have the collection I do as well. I'd like to have the biggest and coolest -- without going into debt or jail or being obnoxious. During the first few years of this blog, blogs were where you'd find out what the first cards of the year looked like. Anytime there was a new set, you'd check the blogs. So there wa...