Night Owl Cards

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New to me

I'm now 50-plus years into my collecting journey. I haven't seen it all when it comes to cards, but I've seen way more than I haven't. That's why the concept of "new to me" means more than it ever has. I love finding cards that are new to me. It's probably why I still buy packs of current product, because they have the best chance containing cards I've never laid eyes on. It doesn't matter the era for new-to-me. Sure, the very best is something from the '70s or '80s, but I've covered that period pretty thoroughly so chances are slim. I'll take "new" from any time period. Even the '90s. That's where the card up top comes in. It arrived from of a very nice send from Dennis of Too Many Verlanders . But you could see the question marks forming above my head. "Now what the hell is this?" So many questions. What year is this? What set is this? Is this an insert? It looks like an insert. What...

One to go (or none to go)

This rookie card of Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher Kirby Higbe arrived the other day. It marked what could be the end of my pursuit of the 1941 Play Ball Brooklyn Dodgers. There are five cards in the team set. I now have four of them. The fifth one has been priced out of most people's ranges. So I'm good with having four of them and calling it complete. As a "glass is half empty" guy in many situations, I don't expect to obtain the Pee Wee Reese rookie. Therefore, let's look at the cards I do have: Dolph Camilli was the first. It's the best-looking one by far. I don't have a handle on all of the set's cards but I wouldn't be surprised if it's the best-looking one in the entire set. Next came Hot Potato Hamlin and Whit Wyatt. Wyatt has the healthiest of creases going through the upper right quadrant. I was not picky about condition in picking up these cards so it doesn't bother me (though it wasn't that evident in the ebay...

Card numbers for commons: 719

I finally completed my 2025 Heritage High Numbers Dodgers team set yesterday. The Hyseseong Kim card was the last to arrive at the nest. Of course, it's a short-print and is a part of the infuriating way Heritage is acting recently with online exclusives and short-prints and inflated ebay pricing. I also wondered if it would ever arrive. It took exactly a month, from purchase to arrival for me to claim ownership. "Rushed" is a funny way to put it. I didn't realize when I bought it that it was through comc consignment -- that violated my "never going to deal with that place again" policy. I guess I have another reason now. Anyway, ugliness out of the way, I can now celebrate with a Card Numbers for Commons post using Kim's card number -- 719. To go over the rules, this is the post in which I take a certain card number that once was the domain of commons and find five notable cards with that number in my possession. Then I look for five nota...

Thank goodness for the '80s

It's getting so that I'm running out of places to turn to find cards that I like that aren't stupidly expensive or unavailable. Modern cards are out in that area. They're seeded with short-prints and often they prevent you from finishing a set. See: 2025 Topps Heritage. Vintage in many cases is out. Thank goodness for card shows, I can still find them there. But looking for cheap vintage online is a old-fashioned practice that became fruitless a few years ago. Even my dear '70s is filled with roadblocks. I'm at a stand-still with both Kellogg's and Hostess, either because of prices (Kellogg's) or unavailability (Hostess). Sure, I like a whole bunch of different kinds of cards so I can always pivot, but the only reliable period to pivot is the 1980s. Heck, that's still a decade that makes people just give away whatever was manufactured during those 10 years. Thank goodness! There's a reason I've written so many odes to the 1980s. R...

They all look the same

Just a quick observation while I'm dealing with more visiting and various summer activities. I received these two 2026 Bowman cards from The Shlabotnik Report about three weeks ago. They were my first look at this year's Bowman. I don't buy those cards anymore. One of the many reasons I don't is because Bowman has no interest in distinctive designs, which can be attached to a respective year. They look far too similar to me every year. In general this is an issue with modern cards. Having grown up with cards in the 1970s, I need my cards to look vastly different from year to year. So it's a generational thing, I have a feeling. So when I saw the two 2026 cards I thought they didn't look any different from the previous year ... or the previous five years. And then I realized it has been this way now for 15 years. This is a Bowman card from 2011. Those of you who were collecting then know that Bowman liked its black borders at the time. ...

I saw that player?

As a baseball fan it's fun to look back on games I've attended and remember the ballplayers I witnessed in person. I'm not lucky enough to be able to go to a big league game every week or even every year. So seeing those notable players is extra special to me and, yes, I've written about that . I've watched Dennis Eckersley, Cal Ripken Jr., Vladimir Guerrero Sr., Reggie Jackson, Jim Rice, Adrian Beltre, George Brett and Jim Palmer. But this post isn't about those guys. Instead have you have looked up the players you watched that you didn't know you watched? I came across this idea off a BlueSky post when I realized that I watched former Blue Jays second baseman Damaso Garcia during the first game I attended in person. But I didn't see the Blue Jays in my first game. I saw the Royals and Yankees. Garcia was playing for the Yankees in 1978 and on July 15 he appeared in the game I watched in Yankee Stadium. My mind was blown. I didn't even kn...