Hocus pocus ... er, harum scarum ... er, helter skelter ... er, HONUS BONUS!!

Are you starting to feel like I don't have any time for you?

Sorry about that. It's true. I don't have any time for you.

But you've figured that out already. Perhaps it's me cutting down to posting four days a week (from a former twice-a-day poster). Perhaps it's no card packages from me for weeks. Perhaps it's the lack of in-depth content or unusually short posts, at least by customary NOC standards.

As usual it's not me, it's the job. Work. Eat. Sleep. That's about all I've accomplished recently.

I'm hoping to shake myself out of my stupor at least somewhat after this weekend, because, thank the sports gods, THIS IS THE LAST WEEKEND OF HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS UNTIL WHATEVER TOO EARLY TIME THEY DECIDE TO START THEM UP AGAIN!!!!!

I know there will be a time when they decide it's an excellent idea to play high school sports around the calendar with absolutely no break at all. I see them inching closer toward that ridiculous bright idea every year. I only hope I retire before it becomes reality.

But you don't want me to squawk about scholastic sports when I can squawk about baseball cards, and to that I say:

HONUS BONUS!!!!!

That was fun.

I'll say it again.

HONUS BONUS!!!!!!

OK, I'm done now.

The first time I saw that there was some sort of card set called HONUS BONUS (sorry, I can't stop), I was dumbfounded.

Honus Bonus? What a weird name for a set!!! What the heck were these? And without any Honus Wagner floating head in the upper right corner? That just seems like a waste.

With just a minimal amount of research (again, the time issue), I discovered that these cards are really part of a fantasy baseball game. It's a dual-interest set. You can play the game or you can collect the cards. Or, if you have much more time than I do, you can do both! You can HONUS and BONUS!!!

The cards aren't anything to get excited about though. Since they're not licensed by MLB, you get a bunch of side-angles. And the photos are all greyscale.

But the design is colorful and they look a little bit nice when all the teams are mixed together, so that's something.

Also:

I know that's been bothering you since you saw your first HONUS BONUS card.

Getting compared to the 1999 Upper Deck salad tongs set isn't going to make Honus Bonus feel any better about itself, but it's not easy being only a partially licensed card set trying to make its way in the very stifling modern card world.

Unfortunately, the whole Honus Bonus thing appears to have come and gone. The web site went down a few months after it went up. All that's left are a bunch of HB cards from 2017 scattered through repacks and the interwebs.

In my usual late fashion, I didn't see a single Honus Bonus card in person until a package arrived from Sportscards From the Dollar Store several days ago. (I still haven't gotten that package for him out the door. It's been sitting on my desk for almost 3 weeks). The Julio Urias card is the first of my own.

I was completely thrown by how smooth and slick it is. Not what I was expecting.

Beyond that, there's not much to say. I suppose I should put up a want list for the Dodgers. But I don't know when I'll get to that. Perhaps I need to repeat HONUS BONUS to myself a few times and it will write itself!!

Anyway ...

Let's show some licensed card needs that were also in that package with the Honus Bonus card:

OK, I cheated. That's a Panini card. So it's still not licensed by MLB, but it is licensed by the USA and tell me, which is a bigger deal (no political statements, please)?

And how much fun is it to see an 18-and-under Clayton Kershaw?

Gee Whiz, the Dollar Store is filled with unlicensed stuff. Tell me when was the last time you saw a Dodger uniform with WHITE numbers on the front? The answer is: never. You've never seen that. What Panini is showing you is not reality.

One more unlicensed card and I promise I'll find some licensed stuff to show.

This is the best that Panini baseball gets (outside of that Hometown Heroes set that it decided was too good to produce again). When Panini is faithful to the Donruss sets of the past, it looks fairly good. Not great, but Panini will take "fairly good" I have a feeling.

The first MLB-licensed card of this post is from Bowman Sterling, a set that fancies itself so fancy that mere commoners who shop at chain stores will never find it.

I don't see what the big deal is anyway. Aside of Alex Guerrero being a complete flop, the printing on it is almost unreadable.

OK. Now, NOW, we are getting somewhere. Back in the days that you could be a company from Canada and still come at consumers with a full-on licensed card. A full-on licensed card that represents two teams on one card!

Doug sent several 1971 O-Pee-Chee Dodgers, but I had the others. What I didn't have was:

1975 Topps O-Pee-Chee Dodgers!!!!!

That's too awesome because that means I'm at least halfway to having the full 1975 OPC Dodgers set. That might be worth a want list!

Because this package was from Canada that means it also came with cards that you expect from Canada.

Yes, hockey Sabres.

But we're not done.

More hockey Sabres!

None of these guys still play for the Sabres (Gil Perreault no longer plays for the Sabres? No kidding). That's what happens when you collect Sabres: a whole bunch of dudes that don't play for them anymore.

The only two guys in the stash still playing for the team. We'll see how long they last.

Every time I get Sabres or Bills cards I promise to myself that I'll finally get them organized to figure out what the heck I have.

But then work taps me on the shoulder and there's no chance of that happening.

I hope I can get back to posting at least 5 times a week at some point. And I'm hoping to get a few packages sent out on Monday.

Anything more than that will be a bonus.

7 posts a week and two mailings a week, and that's a ...

HONUS BONUS!!!!!!