Night Owl Cards

  I'm now 50-plus years into my collecting journey. I haven't seen it all when it comes to cards, but I've seen way more than I haven't.   That's why the concept of "new to me" means more than it ever has. I love finding cards that are new to me. It's probably why I still buy packs of current product, because they have the best chance containing cards I've never laid eyes on.   It doesn't matter the era for new-to-me. Sure, the very best is something from the '70s or '80s, but I've covered that period pretty thoroughly so chances are slim. I'll take "new" from any time period. Even the '90s.   That's where the card up top comes in.    It arrived from of a very nice send from Dennis of Too Many Verlanders . But you could see the question marks forming above my head. "Now what the hell is this?"   So many questions. What year is this? What set is this? Is this an insert? It looks like an insert. What...

  My latest sportlots order is in and I went the "even I can afford that" route, which is mostly sportlots' reason for being.   Most of these were cheap upgrades and easy team set-fillers. There are a handful that don't fit easily into a compartment other than "cards I want."   I'm not going to show the upgrades other than the '70 Jesus Alou up top (replaces the one I have with tape on it) and the '76 Lopes Record-Breaker comparison:   The card on the left harks back to my collecting days in 1976. It's a nice keepsake but doesn't fit with my modern collecting standards. I've owned a cleaner copy in my '76 Topps set for quite awhile but another version for my Dodgers binder has not shown up at the house until now.   The other upgrades are related to the 1975 Topps set, specifically the minis. I will continue to upgrade '75 cards for as long as I'm collecting. Some of the minis I accepted just to get the set done so now it...

Robert from $30 A Week Habit was kind enough to shop for cards off of our want lists and then challenged us to write about them in 100 words or less, because he apparently used up all of his reading time shopping for cards off our want lists. The challenge starts now: Robert steps to the plate brandishing a 2006 Ethier, but grounds weakly to second as Bob Walk the Plank just sent me this. Third inning now, and Robert HITS A STAND-UP TRIPLE. Gary Sheffield completes the boring 2000 Topps Stars Dodgers set! Oof. It's the fifth and Robert has whiffed. I've received this card twice recently and already owned it! Doh! In the seventh, Robert pops to third on a Todd Zeile Chrome that Walk the Plank just sent. Tie game now. Bottom of 9th. And Robert hits ... ... ... ... ... A HOME RUN with a Piazza '94 gold!! The crowd goes wild!

So, the "Future Stars" subset is back. Everyone knew it was coming back because when Topps released its prototype of the 2014 design back in August , it plastered "Future Stars" script on its Yasiel Puig mock-up card. Topps is obviously rather proud that the "Future Stars" are back. It's a nod to collecting from the 1980s when Topps first featured the phrase on its cards. Those who first collected back then probably got all gushy when learning that it would reappear. Me? Well, other than indicting "Future Stars" for the ruination of the card collecting hobby, I didn't give it much thought. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's look at the beginning of the "Future Stars" tradition. And no, I'm not starting with 1987 Topps. "Future Stars" first arrived in 1980 with Topps' traditional rookies subset. In previous subsets, Topps labeled the new players "rookie stars" or "rooki...

Sometimes I think I'd get more out of this hobby if I had a little more direction. Sure, I have certain cards I collect -- Dodgers, specific sets, night cards, oddballs -- but I could refine my collection a little more. I hate to use the cards I received from Jon of Community Gum as an example, but really I could have picked any group of cards that I received in the mail lately. For instance, I will take as many of these Moments and Milestones Dodger cards that you are willing to send, but what hope is there in me collecting them all? Will I make the slightest attempt to do so? Gary Sheffield isn't even a favorite of mine. Mike Piazza is a little more of a favorite, but my chances of finding all 150 of these cards are zero. These are very nifty. They're from Topps' golden giveaway website promotion from 2012, the one I completely ignored. I would imagine that there are other Dodgers in this set. But since I ignored it, I have no idea. And the i...

I'm pretty certain that by this point in the postseason, every baseball fan has settled on "their team" for the playoffs, whether or not "their team" has been eliminated already. But on some off chance that someone turns on the TV tonight and has no earthly idea who to root for in Game 6 of the NLCS or the rest of the postseason, I am here to help with my own biased brand of baseball card illustration. I think you should root for the Dodgers. It's rather clear cut. To help me underline my point, I am using some cards that I received from Baseball Dad and one of his sons (I guess that would make him Baseball Son?). I sent my curled up 2010 Topps Chrome collection to son of Baseball Dad and I received some great cards as thanks. So here you go. This is why you should be rooting for a Game 7: 1. Let's start with tonight's starter, Clayton Kershaw. Not only is he almost the consensus best starter in baseball, but he might be the best h...