Night Owl Cards

Before the reality television glut of the '90s and early 2000s, I experienced a sudden surge in "stunt programming" on my TV during the early 1980s. People who grew up at that time remember "Real People" and "That's Incredible!" Both shows touted regular people doing extraordinary things and show hosts like John Davidson, Sarah Purcell and Cathy Lee Crosby (💓) became household names across the land. (Fran Tarkenton we already knew). Those shows were quite the sensation right around 1980, although they seem primitive in light of what was to come and what's on TV now. " That's Incredible! " in particular created a buzz, because there was always somebody doing something dangerous on there, catching a bullet with their teeth or motorcycles jumping through fire. I haven't thought of that show in ages, but for some reason it popped into my mind when I opened an envelope from Marc recently. Nothing from the package I wou...

Today is Free Comic Book Day, which is yet another modern-day celebration that would have been a lot more useful to me in, say, 1980. That's when I read comic books. That's when I bought the few that I bought. It's an interest that didn't stay with me long nor follow me into adulthood. While I appreciate comics and cartoon drawings and story-telling immensely, I have no desire to read through a comic book anymore and haven't for years. When Free Comic Book Day comes around every year, I look at the offerings online with faint interest. But the days of wanting to turn those pages are gone. Besides, cards take up all my free time. I decided to look at a few instances of comics on the fronts of cards. I talk all the time about how much I love the cartoons on the backs of cards (and how they should be on the back always ). But comics on the front are a rarity. This is by no means an exhaustive, historical look. I don't have the time today. I just want t...

I received a healthy smattering of these Upper Deck Looney Tunes cards from madding at Cards on Cards recently. Although I have some of the Looney Tunes cards already, I recognized many of the ones I received as cards that I didn't have. I know this because Bugs and company happen to be sitting in one of my Dodgers binders and I leaf past them all the time. I don't exactly feel comfortable about this. I grew up on Bugs -- before all the Space Jam nonsense -- so I am proud to own some of his cards. But putting him in a binder with Sandy Koufax, Mike Piazza and Reggie Smith? Just because Bugs is wearing a Dodger cap? Is this what I've become? Could an artist somewhere draw a Dodger cap on an orange, slap it on a card and -- BOOM -- it would be in my Dodger binders? What am I doing? Well, what I'm doing now is wondering how many of these cards there are. There seems to be a lot, with scary large numbers like "451" on them. Plus, the only cards I have...