Night Owl Cards

   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...

  Did I show this 1941 Play Ball Whit Wyatt I got about a month ago? I don't think I did, I used to be more on top of stuff like that but that's the way it's been in the hobby for me lately.   The first half of the year I've been in a hobby lull. The combination of weather, lack of decent transportation and the general cost of everything, particularly cards, has really cut into what I usually do in the hobby. That isn't just acquiring, but trading and organizing, too.   Don't worry, the desire is still there. I grab a card here and there when I can. I finally landed the 2025 Chrome Shoehei Ohtani for something under $5 -- it had been going for anywhere from 10-20 bucks for months.   My latest '75 buyback arrived several weeks ago. It was the 544th buyback in my chase and a key one. I've been aware of the Ron Santo buyback for years but it was always selling for more than 30 dollars. I finally landed one for two-thirds less.   It's been mostly small v...

(I feel like I'm repeating myself but I'm not actively trying to blog less, I just don't seem to have the time to dedicate to NOC like I once did. I'm still hoping that will change soon, but if the sporadic posting continues or worsens, it's not because I don't care. Time for Cardboard Appreciation. This is the 368th in a series):   Once I finished the 1969 Topps set six months ago, in the weeks that followed I noticed something about me as a collector.   I said that '69 would probably be the last large vintage set I would seriously chase and I still feel that way. I am still pursuing sets, but they're easier mid-1980s varieties or smaller 1970s oddballs.   But because of rising card costs on even some of those smaller pursuits, I've spent a lot of time gathering more modern Dodgers. I won't say it's not fun. I still like gathering cards of the guys I watch on my screen and some of those cards are very cool, but it's not the same as the v...

(Happy National Pet Day. There was a point a couple years ago when I thought there'd never be another pet in the house. I even wrote about it. Today, there's a cat who is about to turn one all up in my business. Knocked over a bunch of cards today. She's officially part of my hobby. Time for Cardboard Appreciation, this is the 351st in a series):   I reached a collecting milestone yesterday when this 1941 Play Ball card of former Brooklyn Dodgers MVP first baseman Dolph Camilli arrived.   Although I have a modest number of pre-1950s baseball cards, this was the first time I ever purchased one. Everything else pre-1950 has arrived as a gift or in a trade.   I've written many times that I collect cards for which I feel a connection. Those are mostly cards related to my childhood, my adolescence, my first disposable income days and all the way to the present time. If I know the players -- especially if I have seen them play and read about them when they were playing -- the...