Night Owl Cards

It is another day of heat and humidity here in the Northeast. As I write this, it is 92 degrees with 54 percent humidity. I'm sure it is even more oppressive in more southerly parts of the Northeast. But a few degrees won't make anyone sweat any more or complain any less. The heat doesn't bother me like it does some people. Yeah, I don't like it being 80 degrees when I'm trying to sleep, but I accept this as summer. This is what summer does. In fact, it was 88 outside when I got up. I went out for a run. No problems. But not counting roofers and mailmen, I was the only one out there. I'm one of those annoying folks who doesn't want too much air conditioning. I need to feel the heat of summer. It makes sense to me. It makes me feel alive. Some of the best moments come when it is blazing hot outside. For example, you know that if it's hot, someone, somewhere is playing baseball. As I was outside, I thought about the times when I was collecting c...

I have sold cards at garage sales several times. I don't give cards up easily, especially to random people who may not enjoy them as much as I do. So, the vast majority of cards that I have sold on the front lawn are items that I never wish to see in my home again. Dupes galore. Non-baseball cards. Non-sports cards. Items of that nature. I've experienced regret with what I've sold in a garage sale only once. It was the time I sold the oversized glossy cards from the early '80s. Collectors of this time remember these "cards" with glee. They were 5-by-7-ish (or more accurately, 4 7/8-by-6 7/8). The photos were featured on thick cardboard stock and contained glossy fronts, much as you would see with movie star oversized photos. The first time Topps issued these was in 1980. It was a set of 60 and they were sold in one-card packs. The photos came with gray backs or white backs. From what I've read in the Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards, the whi...