Night Owl Cards

Thank goodness someone revived this thing (although the image may be outdated now). I had no idea what I was going to write about tonight, and it's been like that just about every day for the last two weeks. Even though I do agree that part of my funk is because there isn't much new card-wise, I'm not going to complain about that because: 1. I already went on a rant about how that's not necessarily a good excuse. 2. If there were new card items at this time of year, I would be a complete mess because I can't possibly spend cash on cards in December, and I'd end up in a ball on the floor moaning about my misfortune. Drool would be involved. 3. If I convince myself that I must buy cards to eliminate my funk, I will end up with a blaster of 2011 American Pie, and I've already winced and shuddered over some of the cards that I've seen. (If there's a loose pack of the stuff, though, I'll give it a whirl). The Blog Bat Around is just the th...

I have turned out the lights on the blog so that you can enjoy these cards as they were meant to be enjoyed -- in complete darkness. As you know, I have been in love with this Opening Day Stadium Lights insert set since the first day they were announced to the collecting public. A 10-card set featuring players at night on cards that glow in the dark is definite indefinite proof that Topps is reading my blog. Yesterday, I received the final card I needed for the set, from GCA . I don't even care that Adrian Gonzalez is photoshopped into a Red Sox uniform and that there is almost no chance that he is actually standing in Fenway Park in this photo. When there is a set of all night cards, I am willing to forgive a thousand card company sins. Each card mentions the player's night-time statistics on the back. I suppose it would be too much to ask that every player featured in the set performed noticeably better in night games than in day games. But only the Miguel Cabrera, Ch...

Yes, the Awesome Night Card series has been hijacked by the Stadium Lights insert series. That series is the reason why I skipped the Awesome Night Card post last week. It's the reason why I'm showing two awesome night cards again this time. I just can't think of any other night cards until I get this set out of the way. These two cards came from Adam, who runs a fledgling blog called Big Sexy Cards . I believe the blog title is a tribute to the Bulls' Kurt Thomas. Don't ask me to explain more. I don't follow basketball. The arrival of Tulowitzki and Utley means I need just two more cards to finish off the set. The Robinson Cano card is on its way to me. After that, all I will need is the Adrian Gonzalez card. You know what that means. If you ever want to see any other night cards on this blog again, photoshopped Gonzalez needs to arrive in my clutches. Give up A-Gone, and none of my night cards get hurt. And then we can all turn out the lights and ...

For the first time, I am showing more than one night card in one of these ANC posts. That may cause an issue if/when there is another night card tournament, but we can't worry our little heads about the future, can we? I recently received four more of the Stadium Lights insert cards from this year's Opening Day. These two came from Spiff of Texas Rangers Cards . These two came from J.T. at The Writer's Journey . I still think this is the best insert series in all of 2011. It beats the hell out of those Kimball Flimsies. I now have six of the 10 cards in the set. I'm missing #2 Troy "Can We Play the Mets All the Time" Tulowitzki, #3 Robinson "John Sterling Get Off the Radio" Cano, #6 Chase "I'm Going to Miss the Whole @##$&* Phillies Championship Season" Utley and #8 Adrian "I'm Not Really Wearing a Red Sox Uniform" Gonzalez. If you have any of those four, I'm interested. But know that it may take me a...

Before I get into this post, just take a moment to stare at this John Buck card. Have you ever stared at a word or a letter for so long that it doesn't make sense anymore? Sure you have. If you stare long enough at this Buck card, particularly his space-age catcher's mask, it doesn't even appear as if he's playing baseball anymore, or that's he's even human. OK, maybe it's me. Anyway, to continue the silliness, I've compiled a countdown of my favorite 2011 cards so far. I say it's silly because I'm not trying to complete any 2011 sets right now. That means I have just a starter's set worth of 2011 cards, and am probably missing some dandy ones. But tradition is tradition and this blog is nothing without traditions and old, moldy cardboard that the app-loving junkies just can't understand. In recognition of my relatively scant number of 2011 cards, I've trimmed the list to a mere top 10. I'll keep the commenting to a min...

I'm in the middle of the kind of hassle-filled day that only March can bring. So why not lend a little levity to the proceedings? I like mascots. That's a change from the past years when I didn't. Back when I first followed baseball, there were no mascots. Baseball was a joyless, regimented pursuit. Then the San Diego Chicken (first known as the KGB Chicken) was born. He was creative, funny and seemed to have a regular time slot on This Week in Baseball. The Phillie Phanatic phollowed. Then came Montreal's Youppi, which I always pegged as the mascot most likely to be beaten up. I'm not entirely clear on the order of appearance of the mascots. But somewhere in there, the Cardinals' Fred Bird snuck in, too, which I didn't think should have been allowed to happen. But allowed it was and the door swung wide open, and soon almost every team had a giant, oversized mascot. When the Red Sox trotted out Wally the Green Monster in the late '90s, I ...

I have never purchased Topps Opening Day with any sense of urgency. In fact, any pack of Opening Day that I've ever bought has come with a customary sigh. (*sigh* well, there's nothing else here. I guess I'll see what Opening Day looks like this year. *sigh*) But this year is different. This year there is actually something I want in Opening Day. Something I NEED very badly. I wrote about it already . But if you're allergic to clicking on links, here is the image. I MUST acquisition these cards. Not only is it an entire insert set devoted to night cards (I think the last was the Upper Deck Vintage set from earlier this century), but the cards glow in the dark. Topps certainly knows how to make Night Owl happy. But the only way I was assured of getting one of these cards in my first purchase of Opening Day packs is by buying a blaster. I know that some friendly collectors will send me these cards when they have one to spare, but I need to have one NOW. So, ...