Night Owl Cards

Ah, 1998, an epic year in the night owl timeline. But baseball cards didn't have anything to do with it. I was five years into my collecting hiatus. The year is legend because I became a dad. I am sure I watched some of the Mark McGwire-Sammy Sosa home run race with a baby in my arms.   Somewhere in the summer of 1998, my wife and I were wheeling that baby in her stroller while walking through a mall, I don't remember which one. We walked into a chain book store -- I don't remember which one -- and I spotted Topps cards on one of those islands near the front of the store. They were packs of 1998 Topps. OK, sure, I'll grab a couple of packs and see what cards look like in the year 1998.   I recall thinking they were OK, nothing special. They certainly didn't break my hiatus, which lasted for another eight years, give or take a pack or two. I had no idea how active the hobby was at that time -- the number of sets and companies and "innovation." It was a year...

    This morning, I sent off my "response" to the cards I received from Matt during the most recent Diamond Jesters Time Travel Trade . That means I can post what I got, guilt-free.   Often when I claim cards from the vast Time Travel inventory they are not related to any set I'm chasing and rarely Dodger-oriented. In fact there's seemingly no rhyme or reason to why I chose them, like I'm randomly gobbling them up. But there is always a reason. Always.    Let's see what those reasons are, unveiled in beautiful backlit words for the whole world to see. I shall go chronologically:     1964 Topps Jerry Adair   Probably no need to justify picking up a vintage card, but 1964 has never been on my list to complete. I wanted this rough-and-ready version of the Jerry Adair card because this card is one of the ones I picked up at a card show 11 years ago that featured written updates on the fronts. My copy includes "+SS" written in pen underneath 2nd base. ...

  I realized only a couple of days ago that Topps had released its Archives brand.   I don't know how anybody keeps track. Archives' arrival has come a week, maybe two, after Allen & Ginter arrived. And that came shortly after Topps Holiday debuted, which seemed to be released practically on top of Topps Update.   All of this showed up after months of virtually no new releases at all -- or none that your average plebe collector (that's me!) would notice.   This does not seem very consumer-friendly. I can't focus on four new products bunched up near the holidays when my money is tied up in finding gifts for others. But I'm sure Topps/Fanatics doesn't care. This release schedule is probably the best way to "maximize profits," which seems to be the only objective in business these days.   So, no, I haven't had any time to buy any Archives. Nor any Allen & Ginter. I decided to pass on Holiday and I took care of Update with one purchase of the D...

(Greetings on National App day. I can recall the carefree days when I didn't know what an app was. Now I am wondering if there is a National Delete Your App day. I would like to celebrate that. Time for Cardboard Appreciation. This is the 360th in a series):   It came. My one card to recognize and remember the Dodgers' World Series title in 2025.   Sure, there will likely be a Heritage card or two to remember it next year (1977 Topps had three World Series cards). But this is it for something immediate. Topps isn't producing any blaster with a commemorative set anymore, and I refuse to throw cash at any of the other Topps Now cards.   I was prepared for this after last year. I looked and looked for a nice World Series set to remember the 2024 Series victory but just ended up being horrified by the price of the online-only set of 15 ugly cards.   I decided one card would do and I got something appropriate.   I think I like this way of approaching it. It saves me ...

I claimed some cards from Baseball Cards Come To Life! awhile ago when he offered up most of the 1985 Topps Wendy's/Coca-Cola Tigers set.   I'm one Barbaro Garbey card away from the complete set, hopefully I can afford to add that this week. You know how demanding the Christmas shopping gets around this time.   This is a set I was only slightly aware of but it's got a lot of things going for it. First, it doesn't have just one sponsor but two and displays both sponsor logos on the cards! Second, it recognizes a specific team, the 1984 World Series champion Tigers. Third, it includes just about every player from that roster. It's a 22-card set. None of this present-day pretending that a team has 8 players and 2 of them retired 70 years ago.   For me, the set automatically slots into my top 10 food issues from the 1980s. As far as food sets go, the decade doesn't get a ton of thought from me because I was so obsessed as a kid with 1970s Kellogg's and Hostess....