Night Owl Cards

Some time ago I made an effort to keep my trade posts down to a one package/one post format. No more epic trade posts. For the most part, that has worked pretty well. It takes a lot of thinking and creativity to do that -- especially if I'm not going to put a post title up that says "Cards from 'fill in the blank.'" But part of me WANTS to put up a post title that says "Cards from 'fill in the blank.'" What a relief that must be! No topics. No tie-ins. No rants. No clever references. Just cards -- from "fill in the blank.'" Well, here's my opportunity. Because cards have been piling up on my desk so fast that I've got to get them scanned and posted or they're going to start spilling on to the floor and then the dog is going to eat them when I'm not looking and you don't want that. No one wants that. So here are some cards, from ... well ... from everywhere. Literally. I'll start in the deep south...

I received this card from Heartbreaker Matt F. over at Staggering Genius . It's pretty darn awesometastical. (sorry, my daughter's phrases rub off on me). I was so thrilled with the card, I nearly dropped it. But, of course, Matt had to ruin my blissful ignorance with a note: "Like I said"? Did we have a conversation about this? I have no memory of this at all. Ah, geez, it really sucks getting old. I proceeded to turn the card over ... slowly. Card backs on relics tend to disappoint. Well! Seems legit to me! I am to be congratulated for receiving a Pee Wee Reese game-used jersey trading card that features an authentic piece of a jersey worn by Pee Wee Reese in an official Dodgers MLB game. But that note from Matt kept gnawing at me. So, off I went through the Heartbreaking Cards archive, searching, searching for a post on Pee Wee Reese uniform cards. Good gosh, I don't have time for this, I have a job, and stuff to do around the house, and ...

No doubt, the Nebulous 9 has been a tremendous way to obtain the cards that I want. If you don't have one of these things on your sidebar yet, then you're probably wondering why there are no card shows anymore and why the drug store on the corner doesn't sell cards. Kidding. But really, neanderthal, think about it. Unless you're one of those people with impossible collections, it's about as effective a tool for obtaining cards that I have ever come across. Sometimes, it can be TOO effective, which I'll demonstrate in a minute. But first, I'm showing a card from 1990 Fleer that was a former Nebulous 9 need. I am not ashamed. I hold my head up high. I admit my faults. Yes, I placed a 1990 Fleer card on the Nebulous 9 list. We can't all bust cases every day. AJ of The Lost Collector took pity and sent the single card to me out of the goodness of his own heart. Keep in mind, he's a Yankee fan. So this was epic. Still kidding. In my def...

... Let's show more Heritage anyway!!!!! Hey, it's not stopping anyone else. But this will be it on this blog. No more 2011 Heritage scans. Unless someone tosses me one of the two Dodger short-prints I need. Or that whole Jackie Robinson short-printed thing that I have almost pushed out of my memory. Or a Sandy Koufax autograph, which would touch off a week-long blog break so I could be resuscitated. So until then, here are the last few 2011 Heritage cards that I care anything for: These come from Joe at Cobb and Halladay . He is collecting the set. Help him out if you can. Here is my favorite Dodger. He is throwing off the curve of mediocrity that is the Dodgers thus far this season. His last start excluded. Another guy who has pitched tremendously until his most recent start. I like that glove he's got there, too. James Loney is hitting .150 thus far, which puts him in the company of other Dodger stalwarts like Aaron Miles (.226), Rod Barrajas (.18...

I received these two cards from Matt of Heartbreaking Cards a few days ago: Very generous of him. He had posted these very cards on his blog and then confessed that he had nothing to say about them. As a proud Nomo collector, I was incredulous. I most certainly thought there was something to say about these fantastic cards, and their tale should be told. So, I commented and told Matt that I could certainly find something to say about them. I didn't tell him that what I could say was, "gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme," but I think he figured it out anyway. So, the cards arrived and attached to them was a note. The note said: "I didn't have anything to say about these but I'll expect 500 words on my desk by Monday!" Oh, great. Another deadline. I deal with deadlines every single day in my job. I'm used to them. But I'm not very fond of them. And I don't like them creeping into my hobby life. So, I conveniently let the deadline ...

Today is the second anniversary of Night Owl Cards. Why am I posting a temporary tattoo of a San Francisco Giant on the birthday of my blog? I don't know. To be goofy, I guess. And in hopes that this will serve to jinx the Giants in their bid to ruin my postseason viewing. Garrelts was a key figure in one of the more notable moments on my blog in the last year. He became the symbol for my horrible luck initially on Topps' Million Card Giveaway site. Things have improved slightly since then, although I think I reject 147 trade offers for every one I complete. The last trade completed came Sunday. I was just throwing a bunch of unwanted cards out there in hopes one of the offers would stick, and one offer was claimed instantly, while I was still in the middle of making offers. That's the card I got in the trade. I know it's not exciting. But it's a card I need and it's better than the junk wax that I sent off in exchange. Anyway, if I had to pick the hig...