Night Owl Cards

  When I first started blogging way back when, I was amazed not just by the size of my new blogging buddies' collections, but also their ability to continue acquiring cards and also distributing those cards at will to fellow collectors. I knew only my tiny card world, which mostly remained the same since I was a child. I never had that much money to spend on cards. At first, it was whatever I could save up from my allowance, then it was whatever I could save up from my newspaper route, later it was spill-over cash from part-time jobs. I then took on a career that is renowned for paying squat and that's how I've survived in the hobby, carefully budgeting what I can spend on cards. I perhaps have more money now than ever to spend on cards at this stage of my life. But I behave as if I'm still counting quarters before biking to the drug store a couple miles away. And I remain amazed at what other collectors seem to have available. Without being able to view their collectio

  I'm working on a couple of blog posts that involve research and I was hoping one of them would be ready today, but it turns out we're a long way from that. Thanks, work week. So I've got a fairly quick post instead.   I think we can all agree that among the poses that appeared on baseball cards from the '50s through the '80s, one of the best was the first baseman's pose with mitt outstretched waiting for the throw, or even better, with the ball nestled in his glove.   I liked those shots a lot. There's a reason that you haven't seen the few examples of that pose in the 1975 Topps worst to best countdown yet. They're just too good.   I believe the first time I became familiar with that pose was with the 1976 Mike Hegan card. It was so cool. Had no idea who Mike Hegan was (didn't pull his card in '75), but that card couldn't have been a better introduction. It sure left an impact, and it's never left my brain.   So any player making t

    It's no surprise that I would subscribe to that theory. Night owls wouldn't be caught dead spouting sayings about worms and early birds. Later has always worked for me, in dozens of scenarios. The latest one was the monthly card show this afternoon. The show doesn't start in the afternoon. Like most weekend shows, it's open bright and early, when I'm still sleeping. I'll get up early Saturday for a long road trip but otherwise, wake me up at 11.  That doesn't stop me from going into a mild panic that all the card goodies will be gone by the time I get there. So sometimes I roust myself up earlier than I want to. I did that last month, and when I got there, the place was so packed that I ended up not buying anything because I couldn't breathe. So this time I traveled through Saturday at my usual leisurely pace. I arrived at the show at around 1 (this is also the approximate time that I arrive at the big show at the state fairgrounds, and it's alwa

  There has to be a name for the experience of intending to send a package of cards to someone, packing up the cards, forgetting to mail off the cards for months, then finally sending the cards with a note of apology, both for forgetting and taking so long. There has to be a name because I've done it and you've done it. We've all done it multiple times. We need to stop doing it, stop the apologizing. Here's why: You're busy. I'm busy. I'm so busy that I don't remember that you told me you were going to send me cards. When was that? Months ago? Hell, last year ? I don't remember that! Who are you again? Sorry, I don't mean to be rude. I'm just busy. And forgetful. And old. I collect cards and write a blog, I believe that's the definition of being old. So no apology needed. In fact, whenever the cards arrive, that's the perfect time. That's when they were meant to arrive. I'm happy they showed up now, rather than months ago whe

  I mentioned on my 1975 buyback milestone post that I was easing up on the chase after reaching 500 buybacks for the set, so I could focus on some other card things. But a few other buybacks trickled in before I made that decision so I'm now at 505 of the 660 cards in buyback form. Here are the last five that arrived from the recent binge: Some good ones there. Happy to get the Dock Ellis out of the way, though it wasn't exactly cheap. Two of the cards in that group have not shown up on the 1975 Topps worst-to-best countdown yet, which means they're in the final 200. We're getting into the 100's now, all these cards to come are great -- heck a whole bunch prior to the final 200 were great. This isn't 2017 Topps you know. Time for another edition of the countdown:   200. Frank Taveras, card 277 The card that introduced me to Frank Taveras. It was an instant favorite, and every Taveras card to follow was a disappointment (especially when he went to the Mets). I r