Night Owl Cards

  I tend to underestimate the size and depth of my collection. When someone says I should set up a table at a show to sell cards, I instantly scoff. I could never have enough cards that could interest people enough to buy them!   That's the way I'm built. I'm not a natural boaster and generally feel inadequate much of the time (though I'm getting better the older I get). I always assume others have more/are better. And that's the way it is in the card world, too.   None of that's true, though. I've been receiving cards from people around the world for more than a decade. It's obvious I have a collection that is both impressive and unique. But I also know there are people out there with far more cards, far more impressive cards, far more expensive cards than me.   I don't know any of those people, I don't think. The one collector that I know who comes close to that -- in my mind anyway -- is Johnny of Johnny's Trading Spot . He's the only ...

  February is filled with somewhat sketchy holidays.   I'll start with Groundhog Day, which is about good for rewatching a movie. Valentine's Day is often derided as a "Hallmark Holiday." The weeklong "Winter Break" mostly recognized by schools, morphed from single days recognizing presidents into a 5-day celebration of ... um ... winter, I guess? Then there's the Super Bowl, which is fine for the food. The teams are usually gross.   The best holiday in February, by far, is when Topps Series One is discovered on store shelves, a.k.a. "the first cards of the season."    On that day I see something I don't see the rest of the year: card shelves fully stocked with current baseball product at the local big-box. I'm referring to Target because Walmart is in a current state of baseball card indifference (I did find a 2025 Topps Holiday tin hiding in the back of a shelf at Walmart a couple weeks ago).    So it was yesterday when I was out cele...

  Greetings, my lovely readers.   There is one thing I love to do most when collecting cards. I think you know what that is.   I love to complete sets.   It's not easy to do and it's getting more difficult. But that's OK, I've completed plenty in my time. Even if I never completed another, I'd always have the dozens and dozens perfectly finished sets to view at my leisure.   Still, I press on.   Just yesterday I completed one. It was pretty easy. I finished 1989 Score.   It took not even a couple of months once I received a pile of them from Bru . And then the final handful showed up this week.    First, these three cards from Detroit Tigers Cards and Stuff . Ol' Boobie Maine happened to open a box of '89 Score at the same time I was trying to complete it! I guess that's not all that coincidental. Even 37 years later there's probably someone opening a box of the stuff almost every day.   The Brian Harper was the gremlin in the set that s...

(If I was still on Twitter I would have witnessed approximately 78 pack rips of 2026 Topps by now. HAVE YOU RIPPED ANY 2026 TOPPS YET?!?!?!?!? Ignorance is bliss. I don't even feel like checking out the local big-boxes. Time for Cardboard Appreciation, this is the 364th in a series):   I was reminded of this card recently by The Writer's Journey as he displayed it over on Bluesky. It's a fascinating card for anyone who collected the 1983 Topps set as I did in the year of Michael Jackson.   I completed the set way back in the first year of this blog. But I wasn't actually finished because I didn't have this card. which arrived today.   In 1982, the Angels' Reggie Jackson and the Brewers' Gorman Thomas tied for the American League in home runs with 39 each. That led to the following uncomfortable card in 1983 Topps:   I really don't like three-person league leaders cards (see all of the Topps league leader cards for the last couple of decades), unless the...

  It's been almost a daily ritual around here the last few weeks to clear snow off the car, out of the driveway, along the walkways. This morning I got up to pull my car in from the street and nearly face-planted because the snow was covering up a sheet of ice that fell around 4 a.m. last night (driving home from work was a bit of an adventure).   Through it all I think I've done an OK job of regularly sending out card envelopes and packages, although I've had to have the conversation with myself over whether it's safe to drive to the post office at least a half-dozen times.   But almost once a week I get there, and I'll be mailing out the latest downsizing box in the next trip. Meanwhile, I received cards (and other items) in response to my last downsizing send . Claimant Mike delivered!   This is not required nor expected but lets see the goods, there is quite the variety.      Starting with an owl card because owl.   It's been awhile since I've...