Night Owl Cards

I wasn't raised Jewish, but I was raised Catholic. So I know something about guilt. It is Lent, after all. Guilt has been a constant in my life. I am a white male. Elements of society say I should feel guilty. And I oblige. I do feel guilty. I am a son and a father. I feel guilty. I am a husband. I feel guilty. I live far from relatives. I feel guilty. I am middle-class. I feel guilty about making too much and not making enough. I am an employee and an employer. I feel guilt from above and below. I am a pet-owner. The dog lays on the guilt trip. I am a neighbor. I feel guilty over whether my walk is shoveled as quickly as others, my lawn is mowed as quickly as others, my Christmas decorations are up too early or too late. I am a consumer. I feel guilty about not owning the device everyone around me owns. I feel guilty about not getting the best deal I can possibly get. I feel guilty about missing out on SAVINGS! I feel guilty about not seeing whatever movie ever...

If there was one personality trait that I could change about me, it'd probably be related to my outlook on life. In short, I'd cut down on the whining. I'm not exactly bitching every second of the day, and believe me, I complain much less than a lot of people I know. But I'm not exactly the strong, silent type either. I believe if something's bugging you, let it out, bro, before you do some irreparable damage. I think this is why I comment on blogs frequently. I've just got to let it out. Whether it's a complaint or an exclamation or whatever. Got to say what I believe. Holding it in, that ain't good. So a little while ago I was strolling through the blogs as I often do. This particular blog was Dime Boxes , which is a regular appointment on my reading calendar. Nick was displaying some cards that he received from Ethan of Playing With My Cards . Ethan and I happen to be Dodger fans. Now, the cards Nick collects are all across the board. Some ...

Someone apparently thinks all I do is post trades. We all know that's not true. But so what if it was? Would that be so bad? A celebration of what makes the card blog world go round? So that is why I've decided to make this week "trade post week." That's right. A whole week of nothing but trades. That's supposedly what I do all the time anyway, so let's get it right. Hah. Faked you out. I'm not doing that. I couldn't do that. I'd get bored. But showing off trades once in a while? That I can do. And that is what I will do this time. Why I just happen to have this one package here. It's from Ryan of "O" No Another Orioles Blog . I found myself with a Nick Markakis Archives relic a few weeks ago, and I'm here to tell you that this is actual proof that you can still get good stuff for relic cards. I know nobody likes them anymore. But don't tell our brains that. Ryan sent me Dodgers goodies direct from 2013, ...

Every once in awhile, I think about collecting a nonsports set. Not any science fiction thing, I don't get into that. But a set about a TV show or a movie sounds interesting. Unfortunately, I can't do that. I already collect too much ... uh ... stuff. That realization hit me like 2,000 junk wax commons in the middle of yesterday's card show. I was bouncing between 1970s cereal issues and 1950s Topps and '60s cards in the discount bin when I saw him . There was this man, roaming from table to table, searching for one card. It was a card of Eddie Waitkus, the player shot by a young, obsessed, female fan that then led to the book and the movie, "The Natural." Apparently the card makes mention of the incident on the back and this man wanted that card. After thinking, "what a cool card," I kept thinking, "is that all he's here for?" Shortly after that, I talked to a man who was looking for a graded copy of a late 1950s Brooks Ro...

I had gone out of my way to avoid Gypsy Queen this year, walking by it on numerous passes through the card aisle. I've made it well-known over the last three years that I find GQ the ugliest card product that's available today. But last night I was grocery shopping at 2 in the morning. Yes, 2 in the morning. I'm not the Night Owl for nothing. About the only place around here where you can shop at that hour for serious groceries (i.e.: not Slim Jims and Monster Energy Drink) is Walmart. And I'm not subjecting myself to Walmart at no place no time without a trip to the card aisle. Now if this was Target, I'd find me some of those black border Heritage blister packs or some repack goodness. But my Walmart has none of that. You either get Topps base or Opening Day, pointless nonbaseball products (really, why are they on the shelves?) or GQ. (*sigh*) I grabbed a rack pack of GQ  -- there were no loose packs -- for the outrageous price of 10 bucks. To get the...