Topps released its Update set last week and in my customary fashion of the last few years, I absolutely did not rush to Target to see if I could find some.
This time of the year is for putting away the year's cards, not for adding more of them. Boxing up the current year's cards that have been on display in my card room since last winter has been the late October/early November tradition around here for quite awhile.
I usually put away the brands I know I won't buy the rest of the year first and then Topps flagship is the last to be filed (what to do with this year's very late arrivals, Allen & Ginter and Stadium Club? Well, if I get any, they'll probably go straight to the box).
I ended up with 253 cards in the 2022 flagship set, which is around 38 percent. Thirty-eight percent is the definition of Casually Collecting A Set. I've been so casual about it that as I was boxing them up, I realized I hadn't looked for night cards from the set.
I've kind of slacked off on that for current sets, just because Topps is so paranoid about showing unauthorized advertising that the crops leave little of the background visible, making the very pleasing tell-tale night card a thing of the past.
I can still spot them, but it's mostly the "light is different" stuff.
The lighting tells you that J.D. Martinez's photo was taken during the day and Martin Perez's at night. But that's not a very exciting night card, nothing that makes me want to put it in the night card binder.
This card, like the O'Neill Cruz card at the top of the post, reveals the night card scene by the shine on the batting helmet. Again, not exactly the obvious night atmosphere that I enjoy so much.
Other tell-tale night card signs on 2022 Topps are World Series markings in the background. Since there will never be another daytime World Series game in my lifetime, this is obviously a night card.
Jose Urquidy appeared in two games in the 2021 World Series. The Astros are back in the World Series this year but so far Urquidy has not taken the mound.
Topps helps with night-card identification by creating cards of specific moments, such as this wild card celebration from the Dodgers-Cardinals clash last year. I know that took place at night, therefore night card.
But, of the 2022 cards I have, this is my favorite night-card example.
I got excited viewing this because there are actual illuminated lights in the background! But since the card involves a team that often plays indoors, I got paranoid. What if it's a daytime game with the roof closed?
I don't know how often Arizona plays daytime games, but I needn't have worried about that anyway because a quick glance at the Dressed To The Nines website told me that the Diamondbacks wore their weird slate-gray uniforms only during road games in 2021.
I'm terrible at identifying most stadiums but the fact that Topps draws all of its flagship photos from Getty Images made my identification task easy. This game took place in San Francisco!
Carson Kelly is following a foul ball off the bat of the Giants' Donovan Solano during a game on June 14, 2021, a night game at Oracle Park.
So, it's official, the Kelly card is a night card, probably my favorite of the year so far, and the only other question is whether it goes in the night card binder. I will probably need to see if I have a double of the card (although the chances of me ever attempting to complete 2022 Topps are slim).
Then again, I may be getting a factory set from my sister-in-law again this holiday, which will mean instant dupes for the night binder!
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