Night Owl Cards

  Rod of Padrographs is sending out cards again and I received one of the envelopes last week. A nice surprise.   The package contained a mix of then and now and I couldn't help but see the passage of time in the card contents, what/who was supposedly a big deal then and what/who is supposedly a big deal now.   Take this pack of 1991 Stadium Club that was part of the send. This was the first Stadium Club set and something I totally missed out on in 1991 (Most of my focus was on Topps flagship, Score and here-and-there purchases of Fleer and Upper Deck). My introduction to Stadium Club took place the following year.   But I certainly heard about the brand at the time. "Premium" sets were a big deal. The cards were "upscale" for the time. And Stadium Club hit it home on the wrapper by mentioning that Kodak was involved and displaying the Kodak label. For anyone who grew up in the mid-20th century, Kodak was synonymous with film and photography. My very first chea...

After basically taking the year off from collecting in 1990, I was back in 1991. I collected a lot of stuff in 1991 -- because there was a lot to collect. They blew the barn doors off in 1991. Cards and collecting and hobby people in general would never be the same because of '91. There was no going back. The genie was out of the bottle. Everyone had an accountant. We were all going to be stinkin' rich. And the quickest way to retirement -- in 1991 -- was to buy even more cards. The card companies were there for you. There were no less than nine major card sets in 1991, the most ever. I'm not even counting things like Classic and O-Pee-Chee Premiere. Nine sets to collect. NINE! For the first six years of my collecting existence I was collecting one solitary set and sticking my fist in a cereal box for another. That was it. NINE! The '91 card season is probably most notable for the growth in "premium" sets. Leaf in 1990 spawned Stadium Club and Ult...

Every five years or so, Topps comes out with a new Stadium Club product and we are forced to address something that a few of us are loathe to admit: Yep, Topps has still got it. Stadium Club is that rare product in which most collectors can agree: it is one of the best-looking sets available. When Topps focuses on providing the best photographs of the best players, it cannot be beat, at least not while Upper Deck isn't around. I think that when Stadium Club appeared every year, eventually collectors grew immune to its charms. There were so many other companies and sets that were doing the full-bleed thing, Stadium Club didn't stand out anymore. And I think the Stadium Club brand also grew weak. The early aughts was not a good time for SC. I think that's why this format -- Stadium Club popping up every half-decade or so -- works best. We fall for Stadium Club all over again. Absence makes the heart grow fonder. It also helps that Panini is the only thing considere...