Night Owl Cards

  I have no problem with how anyone in the hobby wants to collect. Their preferences are their own and I'm glad they're happy. If the way they collect is different from mine, there's a good chance I won't understand it. But still, their way is their way and mine is mine and we can co-exist peacefully, each collecting in our own corner. Except in one instance. There is this one type of collecting that interferes with how I collect. In fact, our two kinds of collecting often butts heads. I'm referring to player collecting, a popular style of collecting for the last 30-to-35 years but something that I am on record as not understanding and I admit I've called it names in the past. But it's probably just the frustration of being a set collector coming out. Set collecting was king when I was a kid in the '70s and remained that way all through my first stage of collecting into the mid-1980s. We '70s set-collectors rarely encountered other collectors hoardin...

As collectors, we do some dumb stuff. We buy cards we can't afford. We buy cards we can't store. We buy cards of players and teams we don't like just because "it fills the set." We buy $100 packs and $1000 boxes. We justify it all because "it's a hobby," which grants us permission for just about anything that passes approval from our significant other, but there are plenty outside the hobby that would say, "that sure is dumb." And under the clear light of day, I'd probably have to agree with them. Most of the time I don't think about the reasonableness of what I do. Usually, I just ask the budget and if the budget nods its head, then I'm buying whatever card thing I want. But I'm entering weird territory today. I haven't actually bought anything yet, but today I posted a want list for 1967 Topps on my blog. I feel completely ridiculous typing that. I've mentioned many times my interest in the '67 s...