Night Owl Cards

  The other day I received one of those pink postage-due-your-cards-are-waiting-for-you-way-down-at-the-post-office slips.   I always go and pay the postage because CARDS, and even being down to one vehicle -- that also needs work done kind of immediately -- wasn't going to stop me. It was a little surprising how much "postage due" has gone up for simple PWE, but after seeing the contents, I was happy I made the effort.   The cards arrived from reader Casey, all 13 of them stuffed into that one envelope, and some required extra protection, too. But this wasn't 1991 Donruss, or even the average modern cards I usually receive. Certainly worth the cost.     I'll start with one of the many parallels in products these days. This is one of the acceptable ones because it involves color, and also I'm always grateful when someone sends me an Ohtani card.     My first team logo border parallel. I've seen plenty of these online over the last couple of years but n...

   What would you say collectors who aren't bloggers think of us collecting bloggers, if they think about us at all?   Would they think we're wildly dedicated to the hobby? Probably not. But we are.   Would they think we're wasting our time, writing a bunch of words nobody has time to read anymore? Maybe.   Would they think we're stodgy, focused only on old cardboard (defined as anything before the '90s) and traditional ways of collecting -- buying packs, holding on to base cards. Some would, I think.   But I happen to think that card bloggers have the most varied and interesting collections. Sure, there's a bit of pack rat in all of us collecting bloggers, but those hoarded stacks of cards are so damn fascinating. In this world of specialization -- just take a look at what the grading aspect of the hobby focuses on -- I'm glad my collection is eclectic. It's not as eclectic as some but it's more eclectic than most.   All I need to do is look through...

  I've done a fairly good job of avoiding the blaster purchase over the last four or five years.   Once a standard pick-up, I gradually pulled away due to  blaster-exclusive "manufactured relics," then general unavailability during the pandemic, then a hike in price and the repeated frustration of pulling Marlins and Diamondbacks.   There are really only 3 times out of the year that I respond to the blaster siren call: When the new Topps flagship comes out, when new Heritage comes out, and when I get a gift card for Christmas. (Keep in mind I was regularly buying multiple blasters a week a dozen years ago).   The Target Christmas gift card arrives when I'm at my weakest. Typically at the holiday I haven't received any separate cards as gifts and I've also avoided buying cards during the holiday season so I can purchase gifts for others. The gift card gives me permission because I haven't opened packs in soooooooo long.   So that lengthy intro was intended ...

  Life is still too busy and full of upheaval, even with getting some tasks out of the way. I just finished and filed my Beckett magazine story so hopefully I'm done with that (and hopefully it reads well). But there is still far too much happening.   That doesn't mean I'm not collecting. Cards still come to the house ("stuff I need to blog" is really stacking up). Today the weird Topps High Numbers "Team Quads" insert of the Dodgers arrived. These are a riff on the 1975 rookie stars cards except the title here should be "Team's Four Most Marketable Players".   I also found time for the monthly card show today. I skipped it last month after going to shows on back-to-back weeks in April.   I was in a casual mood and you could tell shoppers were getting into summer mode as it was rather light (still people bopping you with their pelican case things). I hoped that I could find a Hank Aaron or Steve Carlton for my 1969 Topps chase, but no luck ...

  I got a card envelope from Japan last week.   I've received card envelopes from all over the world -- England, Australia, France, the Netherlands, probably places I'm forgetting -- but it hasn't happened for a good while. So it's very cool when the return address says "Tokyo".   It was sent by Zippy Zappy, of Torren' Up Cards . As you might know, he now lives in Japan. He used to live in the same state I did, now he's real far away. But the cards are still coming.   He sent me my first Roki Sasaki card, the card you see here. It's from the 2021 BBM set, I'm assuming "Cross Torrent" is some sort of insert? Sasaki's Japanese rookie cards appear to be from 2020, this card came out in his first year in the Japan Pacific League. He pitched for the Chiba Lotte Marines for five years before coming to the Dodgers. He's been a regular starter for really just the last three years, and his thing is he strikes batters out a lot . This c...