No time

Often I go into tangents on here about how little time I have. Whereas others with no time simply don't post, I continue to post but whine about it in public.

That's because I refuse to lose what I've built here. I could cut back on this blog or the set blogs I'm running. But disappearing for a few days is not an option for me. I'd do it if I had to, but I really don't want to. So, as long as I'm in control, you're stuck with me for quite some time.

And there's that word again, "time." I have even less of it than a year ago at this time, for various reasons, some self-created, some a matter of prioritizing, and some ... well, some of that's YOUR fault.

Yeah, your fault.

I'll give you an example.

This is a card given to me by Nick at Dime Boxes. No doubt found in a dime box. It's a semi-replica of a 1910-11 Turkey Red card of Brooklyn's George Bell, who lost a league-worst 27 games in 1910.

But obviously it's not a real Turkey Red card. For one, you'd never find that in a dime box. Two, it's much smaller than your 1910-11 Turkey Red. Three, the texture isn't anything you'd see in Turkey Red, either.

It's a reprint, obviously.

But from what year? And by whom?

Beats me.

The back is an exact replica of the original card, down to card number. There is no notation anywhere of a date, who reprinted it, nada.

My giant Sports Card Catalog book doesn't seem to include it either. My guess is it took a pass on a lot of the reprints, because -- come on, the book is already nearly 2,000 pages!

And you're saying, "so? Get online! Do some research! Find an old-card website or a Beckett checklist! Do work, man!"

I can't. I have no time.

I write this blog, I scan some cards and that's about all that's allotted to me. Then it's off to a job, or handle the latest daily crisis (today I just got a bill for how much it's going to cost to repair my car), or chauffeur someone to something, or spend a few moments toward healthiness, a.k.a., keeping myself alive (the older you get, the more you have to dedicate actual time to doing this. Something to look forward to, youngsters).

I have NO TIME to figure out exactly what a card is.

You there. Mr. Jordan. I have no time to figure out who reprinted you and when and why and how. Zero hours, zero minutes, zero seconds.

Same with these guys, also from Nick. I know they are Rex Barney and Bruce Edwards (thank you, card backs). I know they are tributes to 1948 Bowman. I know they are teeny tiny. I know they are made out of some kind of thick paper stock.

I also know the date on these. They're reprints from 1987.

Don't know by who or what they're called, though.

You, too, Billy Cox. You're a reprint of your 1949 Bowman card. Reprinted in 1988. But you've got to tell me MORE, MAN! I got NO TIME!

The reason I get stressed about this is because eventually these cards have to go into Dodger binders. My binders are categorized by year, then by set. But if I don't know the set and I don't know the year, where the hell do they go?

I can't bear to throw them in a box of stuff just because I don't know that. So I'm torn between forever not knowing and telling someone in real life "hold on, I don't have time for you, I've got to figure out who reprinted this card of Rex Barney in 1988."

Yeah, that'd go over real well.

Fortunately, one great thing about card blogs is you gain knowledge. At one time I didn't know what this card was. It's also a reprint, but a Topps Archives card from the early 1990s. Thanks to the card blogs, I once had none of these cards and didn't know what they were. I'm now down to needing just two of the Dodgers and know all about them.

So there's hope for you Rex Barney and George Bell and all the others.

This is a recent Topps tribute to the 1933 DeLong series. If you only could have been here when I was trying to figure out exactly which set this card was mimicking. I knew it was from the '30s, I could see the cards in my head, but instead I kept leafing through my SCC book going, "I don't have TIME for this. No TIME. No TIME!"

Fortunately, for you, I figured it out. Just in time.

But, finally, Nick got around to finding cards off my want list -- cards that I know all about. Like these are two jokers from the 2005 Sweet Spot set. Last two Dodgers I needed from the set, too.

And this is a 1977 Topps upgrade of the Joe Niekro card I already have from this set. It also happens to be Niekro's birthdate today.

I just love it when I can name sets off the top of my head -- without wasting a second. 1994 Donruss gold foil parallel.

2006 Allen and Ginter. A former Nebulous 9 need.

2012 Topps Update Hanley Ramirez. I see you, Hanley.

And the completion of my 2012 Topps Update set. Four right-facing dudes.

Plus a couple parallels.

Feels good to have some knowledge about some sets. See how I whipped through those last few cards? Not a whine to be seen.

But I truly don't mind getting cards that are unknown to me. I'm not against learning. I just have to wait for a vacation most of the time to get any learning done.

But keep on sending the weird stuff. I'll get it cataloged some day.

I particularly like this item. I have one already, but the Guerrero is torn off of the rest of the card.

If you know something about these 1986 TrueValue MSA cards, you know there's much more to them than the front here.

There's a back featuring all your motor oil needs.

And the inside -- note a couple other players.

And the outside -- when you fold it all out.

Ain't that fun?

Now, I know what you're saying.

You had all that time to write that big long post. You scanned all those cards. You even played with that last card there, folded it out, scanned all its parts, and wrote about it.

You've got to have SOME time there somewhere, don't you?

Well, no, not really. Let's see if I can explain ...

Ah, hell. I can't explain.

No time.