Night Owl Cards

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...

I tracked down a 1 1/2-inch binder today and paged my complete 2011 Topps Lineage 1975-style mini insert set. Here is a quick snapshot: Isn't it beautiful? I admit I am a bit concerned that the thrill of both completing this set and having pages that fit these cards is fading a little. The excitement of both feats should stay around forever. I guess that's why I blog, to keep the thrill going a little longer. Completing a 200-card insert set is no easy achievement and these minis marked the first time I ever thought of doing such a thing. If the cards weren't a tribute to my favorite cards from the first year that I collected, I never would have attempted such insanity. Now I'm standing over my purchased binder with the cards all paged, yelling to myself, "THIS WAS DIFFICULT, DAMN IT! DON'T YOU REMEMBER? BE MORE EXCITED!" Anyway ... After having paged the "real" 1975 Topps mini set and now the Lineage mini set, with the perfect...

It's no secret that my ultimate goal in collecting -- as of 7:52 p.m., Nov. 27, 2012 -- is to complete the 1975 Topps mini set, the set that reminds me of the pinnacle of my childhood more than any other set in existence. There is no doubt in my mind that I will eventually complete that goal. And when it happens, it will be a true miracle in a cardboard sense, just because I'm the type of collector who prefers less challenging tasks. In the meantime, I am content with mini miracles such as this one: on Saturday I completed the 2011 Topps Lineage '75 minis tribute parallel set. Yup. I did something I never thought I'd ever do. I polished off a 200-card parallel/insert set. I realize that the Lineage minis are not 1975 Topps. You don't have to tell a guy who bought '75 minis at the corner grocery store in 1975 that. Lineage minis have those horrible card backs. The team font is all wrong. The "Topps Lineage" watermark is annoying. And they spe...