Night Owl Cards

    I've written about this card a few times on this blog. It's the first autographed card I ever bought, at one of the first card shows I ever attended back when I was a teenager.   It was a pretty savvy move at the time, though I was not thinking of getting a deal or anything like that. Still the value of Koufax cards and Koufax autographs have shot up in the decades since. I'm very happy I have it.   But my main focus as a collector has not been autographs, it's completing sets and completing Dodgers team sets. Because of that, this Koufax card has always stood in the way. Since it's autographed, I never considered it part of the 1961 Topps Dodgers team set, though I list the set complete on checklists, like on TCDB.   While attending the monthly show in town over the last few months, I've noticed that the one dealer I go to all the time had a 1961 Koufax under glass. Just your regular, "ordinary" '61 Koufax, no signature scrawling on it.   I...

  The National has come and gone for another year but my National is still in the works. Longtime readers know that I don't go to the National, I wrote a post about why last year . Though I'll never rule out going in the future, a card-carrying introvert like me won't regret it if he never attends.   But usually at this time, inspired by the pictures I see from the National, I acquire some cards of my own. I call it "My National".   I'm fortunate enough that I happen to have enough money to spend on cards right when the National is going on, usually birthday-related, but not always. This year I had some money from a Beckett Vintage article plus an unexpected reimbursement check  So I got to acquire cards without blowing cash on plane tickets, gas, tolls, parking, food, lodging and admission, too!    Now, "My National" didn't come without some annoyances, as well. There are still a few cards that haven't arrived due to constant ebay delays tha...

  My first COMC order of the year arrived Monday -- two days after I attended card show, I really need to learn how to space these things out. It would help with the lean months. Part of the order (I'll get to the majority of it next week) was me finding the final cards to complete the Allen & Ginter frankenset that I have been working on for years. The final cards filled the last empty spots as well as replaced some players who were repeated in my frankenset binder. Here are the final dozen: My inspiration for choosing each of these last 12 was the same for finding a card to fill each of the 350 slots -- it just has to be interesting to me. But sometimes there aren't any very interesting cards at a particular number, so then I pick someone who isn't offensive/annoying. My frankenset is a mix of regular backs, A&G backs and black borders/gold borders. I have no desire to create separate frankensets (and binders) for each individual parallel. It was difficult enough ...

  The sooner you figure that out the easier life will get. I bet it takes people until their 30s to realize that, and many even later in life. I think I was in my 40s, and I still wonder if I know how to adjust. Because it's not just solely being aware that life is a series adjustments but to be at one with it, to be at peace with the new development and that there will always be new developments, and LFG.   For example, there's card show coming up in a couple of weeks. Not only that but -- new development -- there are two card shows in essentially the same area going on at the same time. I've had it marked on the calendar for months because shows don't come around all that often, my last one was five months ago. Why I plan stuff out anymore is beyond me, because I'm not even sure I'll go to the card show now because -- new development -- money is suddenly tight. With new developments and adjustments popping off all over the place, it's good to have backups....