Night Owl Cards

A couple of weeks ago, during my anniversary post , I mentioned that I'd like to make some small changes on the blog and in my online approach to the hobby. Although these are such minor changes that I don't expect anyone to notice, I'm doing them for a reason. As much as I'd like this blog/collecting thing to be my job, it's not my job. I need to streamline, as they say in the auto industry. The easiest way to streamline is to scrap activities that I never have time to do. I operate three blogs and I'm on Twitter. That's plenty and there shouldn't be any more projects unless it involves cashing a paycheck. So, you probably didn't even notice, but the link to my tumblr page has disappeared. The page is still there, but I haven't done anything with it since January. I never have time to put anything on there, and tumblr is really an image-driven medium. I'm not a photographer or graphic artist and I feel uncomfortable posting images...

This month I passed my one-year anniversary of being on Listia. I only know this because they sent me some "Happy Listia Birthday" email and gave me some free listing thingy. I didn't pay attention to what it was exactly, but I think it's one of those special auctions that pops up in the blue boxes at the top of a listings page ... you know, the boxes I ignore. None of it matters because I'm doing less and less on Listia these days. I don't really have the time for it presently, and the "good buys" on the site are getting rarer and rarer. There have always been goofballs on there that think an unopened pack of 1990 Donruss starts at 2,000 credits, but even the rational people seem to be starting every bid at 499, and unless it's a card I really, really need, I'm not bidding 499 to start. None of my auctions on there have started at more than 100 credits, and I've done just fine. Out of 50 or so auctions I've put up, only one di...

I received what I thought was my 10th different autographed card of Ron Cey the other day. I was quite pleased, for one, because it was free off Listia, but also because the total number of autographed cards in my collection matched with the uniform number of my favorite player of all-time. I normally ignore autographed cards on Listia. Autographs aren't the be-all and end-all of collecting for me, and I pass on most of them as scribbles. And if I can't verify them on a site like Listia, then they are easily dismissed. I can definitely envision some poor soul scrawling the name of a player on a card and passing it off as real. I don't need that on my conscience. But this is different. I know Cey's autograph well, and that, my friend, is Cey's signature, 100 percent guaranteed. The fact that it's on the glorious 1976 SSPC set that I must collect one day just makes it ... well, let's just say I'll never find a better card on Listia. So with th...

The trouble with trying to make a trade post more than a trade post is I always end up with leftover cards that don't fit into whatever topic I am addressing. They are square pegs (no, I never watched the show) that are significant on their own but are unable to conform to the latest discussion on this blog. To go along with that, there have been an abundance of one-card plain white envelope packages arriving -- what folks are calling PWE bombs -- but it's difficult to write one-card posts all the time. These are all items that are more than worthy of showing and I definitely don't want to ignore the fact that someone sent them to me. So let's have a look at what has been messing up my card desk and undermining my 2013 mission to stay on top of card clutter. I'd recommend not clicking away to something else. There's some good and varied stuff here. This is yet another card from Jaybarkerfan's Junk . It is my first relic card of former Dodgers s...

I had decided that I would no longer feature my Listia acquisitions on the blog. It's not that I suddenly have a problem with the site. It's just that I wonder how many people are interested in seeing 1990s cards of Dodgers. "Look what I got" works if the card or the situation is something exceptional. And it's worth it, too, if it's a trade post. (Because no matter how many people turn callously away, I know that at least one person is interested). But picking up some '90s card online? From someone no blog reader knows? It's really not necessary anymore. Anyone who is intrigued by Listia is already on there. But then I looked at the cards that I got off the site recently and decided ... I GOT TO TELL SOMEBODY!!!! You lucky, lucky people. I will start with shiny and then gradually morph into moldy. It'll be like seeing cards devolve right before your very eyes. Consider it a science experiment. I'll even sign a note for your teacher...

I keep saying that I expect my relationship with Listia to end eventually. Slowly but surely, it's getting more difficult to acquire cards on the site. The credits that are required to land a card or cards appear to be going up. But I haven't hit my breaking point yet. I'm still finding a way to add free cards to my collection, even through periodic issues along the way. Unlike ebay, where a whole bunch of people are on the site to run a reputable business (most of the time, anyway), Listia seems to be filled with a lot of regular joes and jills. And some are more "regular" than others, if you know what I mean. Selling cards from a dilapidated lean-to on the side of the road? Yeah, I can see that. One address that I mailed to yesterday couldn't possibly have been real. It sounded like an address you'd see in a Looney Tunes cartoon. I also was disappointed to never receive a card that I had looked forward to for my 1972 Topps completion quest. It ...

I've just returned from out-of-town. Four nights away and pretty loopy from an all-day drive. So how about a smattering of oddballs since I'm feeling so odd? Each of these came from Listia. Lately, all that has interested me on that site are oddball cards. Part of the whole ebb-and-flow of the site, I think. If they keep throwing TCMA cards up for bid, I"ll keep coming back for more. This is from what seems to be the ubiquitous 1987 Greatest Teams set. I often confuse Snider and Alston on cards -- must be the silver hair -- so it's good to see both of them in the same place where I can keep them straight. On to a Pacific Legends card. I obtained this one only because I suddenly became ashamed by how few Seattle Pilots cards I have. I think this is just my second one. But it's a good one. Gary "Ding Dong" Bell will forever be remembered as Jim Bouton's roommate on the '69 Pilots as recounted in "Ball Four." "Smoke '...