Night Owl Cards

  It's amazing to me how my card blogging past continues to pop up in the present, whenever it feels like, and surprise me in all kinds of wonderful ways.   If you haven't discovered this for yourself already, Robert has returned to blogging after suffering some serious health issues. I wholeheartedly wish him the best, and I was thrilled to read that he says connecting through blogging is part of his recovery!   This bit of news arrived at the end of the week that had already provided a blast from my card blogging past. On Monday or Tuesday, I received a large envelope in the mail from a reader, Nolan, who reminded me that we had communicated and traded in the past. I do remember that. I made a futile effort to find evidence on my blog or through email, but I know we connected.     I pulled the above publication out of the envelope and it drew me instantly into the 1970s. Everything about it is '70s through and through. And because of that, I was a kid ag...

  When I receive a card package that contains Dodger cards from a fellow collector, there is a 95 percent chance that some of those Dodger cards will be dupes. That's just a fact of life that I made peace with a long time ago. I have more than 23,000 Dodger cards, you aren't going to get every card past me. It's just not happening. But if you are going to attempt to make sure that every last Dodger card that you send is a need, then you must do what Robert of $30 A Week Habit did when he sent an envelope to me recently. Every last Dodger card that he sent was new to my collection. How did he do that? A) He got lucky. With one of the cards anyway. The above Cody Bellinger insert from 2018 Stadium Club had eluded me. But that's what you need as a fellow trader, luck. I don't know how many of the messages I scrawl that accompany my trade packages contain the word "hope," but it's got to be most of them. But that is just one card from the envelope Robert ...

A few weeks ago, Robert from $30 a Week Habit sent me an email asking me if I was still planning to build the 1967 Topps set. I sent him a return email that said I am planning to do nothing of the sort. I am not insane. Please find whoever told you that scurrilous rumor and correct them immediately. The whole idea is preposterous. Heh. OK, I actually did admit to "planning" to build the '67 Topps set. But when I say "planning," I'm using all kinds of air quotes and saying it very sarcastically so you don't know whether I'm attempting to collect it or not. And there's a good reason for my actions. I'm afraid of the 1967 Topps set. It's scary. It's mean . Not only is the set 50 years old and filled with legends like Clemente, Mays and Mantle, but the high numbers are about as sadistic as they get. I've completed the 1971 Topps high numbers and the even tougher 1972 Topps high numbers and neither are as intimidating...

Robert from $30 A Week Habit was kind enough to shop for cards off of our want lists and then challenged us to write about them in 100 words or less, because he apparently used up all of his reading time shopping for cards off our want lists. The challenge starts now: Robert steps to the plate brandishing a 2006 Ethier, but grounds weakly to second as Bob Walk the Plank just sent me this. Third inning now, and Robert HITS A STAND-UP TRIPLE. Gary Sheffield completes the boring 2000 Topps Stars Dodgers set! Oof. It's the fifth and Robert has whiffed. I've received this card twice recently and already owned it! Doh! In the seventh, Robert pops to third on a Todd Zeile Chrome that Walk the Plank just sent. Tie game now. Bottom of 9th. And Robert hits ... ... ... ... ... A HOME RUN with a Piazza '94 gold!! The crowd goes wild!

I'm snapping out of another '56 of the Month funk to bring you the first post in this series since June. By rights, the next five posts should be '56 of the Monthers to catch up. But I won't do that to you -- as fun as 1956 Topps cards are. This is one of three 1956 Topps sent to me by Robert of $30 A Week Habit . He's got me back into the '56 groove more than once. Out of the three, I'm selecting Harry Dorish to profile. This happens to be Harry's final card and you can see that Topps features him on the basepaths, which it liked to do with pitchers in this set. (Ah, the good ol' days of American League pitchers batting). The same Dorish goofy mug can be found in the 1954 Topps set. Dorish spent most of his 10 seasons in the majors as a relief pitcher. He started out with the Red Sox in 1947 and his best years came with the White Sox in 1951 and 1952. He led the league in saves with 11 in 1951 and added 17 more in 1952. Dorish is also the las...

I have a lot of cardboard in my house. I am not operating under any conscious plan to get rid of any of it. But I've been noticing that, subconsciously, I actually am cutting back. I'm doing so by being more discriminating in what I want. Yeah, I'm avoiding ugly sets. I've been doing that since 2012 Topps, and the tradition has continued through this year's flagship and various unsightly offshoots like Gypsy Queen and Bowman. But I've noticed I now don't even care about acquiring items that I cared about quite a bit just a few years ago. I'll use some cards sent to me by Robert of $30 a Week Habit recently to demonstrate. Back variations, for instance. I've stopped putting them on my want list. It wasn't a conscious decision. My brain made the decision for me. In 2010, I was listing Dodgers mini wants by regular, A&G back, black borders, etc. Now my A&G mini wants are -- "Dodger minis, any kind. Done." T...