Skip to main content

Posts

Casting a wider net

    This 1975 Hostess card of Brewers pitcher Billy Champion cost me 8 bucks -- a little more than 10 with shipping included.   The card contains a small crease in the corner and the pitcher, although featuring one of the all-time names in the sport, was an average performer in the '70s, otherwise known as "a common." But it's a short-print.   The Champion arrived not too long after the card of his former teammate, Robin Yount. The Yount is a short-print and its his rookie card, too, but it cost only a few bucks more than the Champion, likely because it's got a few issues (though nothing that bothers me in the slightest when it comes to Hostess cards).   I've returned to attempting to finish this set after getting frustrated with it last year. I didn't encounter the kind of price bumps I'm seeing with '75 Hostess when I was completing the 1976 and 1977 Hostess sets (1976 completed at the end of 2021 and 1977 in mid-2024). But I've got around 17...
Recent posts

Card numbers for commons: 591

  The last post that I wrote was the 5,900th on Night Owl Cards. As I've written before, that doesn't mean a lot except that I've been doing this for too long.   But it is a good prompt for a blog post ... well, semi-good prompt. I thought about writing a Card Numbers for Commons post, using 590 (I won't cover any set with a No. 5900 on principle). But the whole point of this series is to recognize numbers used for "common players." Traditionally, card numbers ending in zero went to stars.   So how about 591 ... for, uh, post number 5901?   Sure. You just want to see nifty cards anyway.    To go over the Card Numbers for Commons rules again, I show off five cards numbered 591 that I own and then five cards that I don't own but would like to maybe someday.   So here are five that I have:   5. 1971 Topps: Jackie Brown   One of the first group of 1971 Topps cards that I owned after trading for them with a friend who would give up all those wonde...

The one and only

  I tend to underestimate the size and depth of my collection. When someone says I should set up a table at a show to sell cards, I instantly scoff. I could never have enough cards that could interest people enough to buy them!   That's the way I'm built. I'm not a natural boaster and generally feel inadequate much of the time (though I'm getting better the older I get). I always assume others have more/are better. And that's the way it is in the card world, too.   None of that's true, though. I've been receiving cards from people around the world for more than a decade. It's obvious I have a collection that is both impressive and unique. But I also know there are people out there with far more cards, far more impressive cards, far more expensive cards than me.   I don't know any of those people, I don't think. The one collector that I know who comes close to that -- in my mind anyway -- is Johnny of Johnny's Trading Spot . He's the only ...

The best holiday in February

  February is filled with somewhat sketchy holidays.   I'll start with Groundhog Day, which is about good for rewatching a movie. Valentine's Day is often derided as a "Hallmark Holiday." The weeklong "Winter Break" mostly recognized by schools, morphed from single days recognizing presidents into a 5-day celebration of ... um ... winter, I guess? Then there's the Super Bowl, which is fine for the food. The teams are usually gross.   The best holiday in February, by far, is when Topps Series One is discovered on store shelves, a.k.a. "the first cards of the season."    On that day I see something I don't see the rest of the year: card shelves fully stocked with current baseball product at the local big-box. I'm referring to Target because Walmart is in a current state of baseball card indifference (I did find a 2025 Topps Holiday tin hiding in the back of a shelf at Walmart a couple weeks ago).    So it was yesterday when I was out cele...