Night Owl Cards

I'm not going to get into the debate over which card-updating philosophy was better during the '70s and '80s: the free-form airbrushing from Topps or the understated type-written phrase from O-Pee-Chee. I see the merits and drawbacks of both. With Topps' airbrushing, you get a player in his "new uniform". Sure, it's artistic license and not a very good one at that, but as a kid, I didn't notice it much. With O-Pee-Chee, you get a formal statement and none of the messiness. The photo isn't updated, but for some of us we might not WANT the photo updated (see: Cey, Cubs). The updating habits of both Topps and O-Pee-Chee are well-known. But I want to focus on the unsettling part of O-Pee-Chee's technique. Since OPC kept the traded player in his old uniform, I have cards like this: It's a little weird. Because of my team-collecting rules, this goes in my Dodgers binders, and it's rather odd seeing someone dressed in green when

What better way to recognize tonight's start of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver than with the first O-Pee-Chee night card to appear on this blog! This card looks exactly like the 1986 Topps Don Sutton card, except for the O-Pee-Chee designation in the top right corner of the photo. The card stock is lighter on the back, too, but that's as detailed as I'm going to get because there's a blog dedicated to OPC dissection already. I look forward to the Olympics every two years, and am old enough to have watched when it was every four years (the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles was probably my viewing high point). I've heard others say they prefer the Summer Olympics to the Winter, but I'm the opposite. I like the Winter Games. Part of it is because I live in a winter climate, and I'm not far from Lake Placid. I have interviewed several Winter Olympians. But also, the Winter Games are more interesting to me. They have unusual sports that I enjoy deciph