Night Owl Cards

I don't know whether it's because I watched the Yankees lose last night or that I recently landed a couple of Yankees cards that finished off some sets, but I'm in a cheerful New York state of mind with this post. This very unnatural-looking card of The Mick, fresh off of my Nebulous 9 list, finally, at long last, completed the Mantle insert set from 2006 Topps. As regular readers may know, I have been attempting to complete as many things as I can from the 2006 Topps set as that's what vaulted me back into the modern part of the hobby. I don't normally try to finish insert sets randomly, but that's what I've been trying to do with '06. It's more of a half-hearted attempted 15 years later, but I can say I wrapped up one in 2021! Mantle is all over 2006 with a card for every home run he hit running rampant at this time. But the Mantle insert set is a tidy 10 cards (OK, OK, 10-card insert sets are actually infuriating). Each card featured Mantle on one...

  Today is one of my favorite days. It's been one of my favorites since 1976, the first year I watched the All-Star Game. I have posted about the All-Star Game many times, often at this time of year. And I've mentioned many times that I will continue to watch the ASG no matter how much it wanders away from the game I knew as a kid and while growing into adulthood. I am determined to have fun because it's such a favorite of mine. That's why it bothers me when people say "it's not the same, I won't watch" or "I haven't watched it in 17 years" or "it's boring" or "I watch soccer instead." I want to shake them. That may seem severe, but think of one of your all-time favorite activities, something you've loved since you were a kid and continue to love. Now imagine someone dismissing that thing that you love. That's the All-Star Game to me.   I will do a lot of my favorite things on this day. I'll watch baseb...

So, some cards arrived from Zach of Autographed Cards just the other day. He told me he had a few of the 2003 Fan Favorites cards on my list and shipped them off. The Kent Tekulve is the highlight, of course. Believe me, fellow Teke fans who may not have been old enough to see him at his height, we were baffled that this guy was actually getting real major leaguers out. Here are the rest that Zach sent. These five get me down to six to complete the set, and then I would have all three Fan Favorites sets finished off. That would be a nice point of pride in my collection, something that the current Archives product could never hope to match. Zach sent two other cards that I didn't expect. It seems he got suckered into buying the 65th anniversary Archives product at Walmart, too. And he unearthed two Dodgers in his box. One was a Koufax rookie replica. How weird is it to see a 1975 Topps back on the reverse of a 1955 Topps card? The other card is another one ...

With all of the Topps tributes to itself over the last 15 years, I have no idea which original Topps design has reappeared the most. But if this were the 1980s, my guess would be the 1975 design. During the early '80s, as a budding collector becoming more and more aware of what was available in the hobby, I would see various '75 Topps style mockups in advertisements when companies were illustrating that they had cards for sale. And there were also actual sets that mimicked what Topps did in 1975. Plus, I distinctly remember one of those tiny ads that used to appear in Baseball Digest, saying "Your FACE on a baseball card!" and showing some unknown boy on the 1975 Topps design. In short,  the '75 Topps design was instantly memorable and iconic the moment it hit packs. And folks recognized it by paying homage. That has continued to this day, helped along by Topps' undying love for itself. But I won't complain, because the 1975 Topps set is my all-ti...