Twice a year I run through my doubles for that particular year's card products and pull any night cards that could find a spot in my night card binder. I do that in the spring and then again in the fall when I'm filing away the cards for the year. It's time for the first go-round for 2025 cards, the few that I have. As I've mentioned many times in the last 5-10 years, night cards aren't as fun these days because Topps crops cards too close and you rarely get to see the best elements of a traditional night card -- stadium lights, neon advertising, etc. But I press on, because there are still empty slots ... many, many empty slots! Here are the 2025 cards that make the binder so far: 117 - Orlando Arcia, 2025 Heritage Fills an empty slot! Very exciting. 81 - Twins, set checklist, 2025 Topps No-brainer, one of the most distinctive cards in flagship this year. Stadium lights and even a lit-up scoreboard! This card replace...
Like most folks in this country, I am not made of money. While going for my daily walks or driving around town, I look at the shiny gargantuans passing for cars on the local road and wonder who can afford that. There are so many of them now, maybe there actually are people made of money? But little guys like me -- who drive a modest CRV -- must pick our moments for spending cash. Budgets and all that. And, while I've never been a bargain-hunter in everyday life, I sometimes am as a card collector. Freebies are still a thing in the collecting social media world, though not as often as they once were. I need to do my part in that area -- it's not due to a lack of cards, just a lack of time. But at least I'm participating in the claiming! Here are some very recent acquisitions, all in response to "free" or "free with a catch" come-ons. Jim of cards as I see them revived his "Almost Free Fridays" giveaway recently. I was only able to find...