Night Owl Cards

   I've made many references about my sister-in-law's ability to select exactly the right box or packs of cards when she's picking out a gift.   It's happened over and over. The cards I get from her, I never pull myself.   But this time it was even more impressive. She didn't even have to pick out the box herself.   She sent a Target gift card for Father's Day. It took me awhile to decide what kind of cards I wanted. I ended up settling on a Topps Series 2 box, it was the only thing in my wheelhouse and I almost always purchase some Series 2, particularly if it's a set I like, and that's the case for 2026.   The box arrived a few days ago and right from the first pack I knew it contained my sister-in-law's magic touch. Yet she didn't touch the box!   I don't think most people are interested in seeing every card -- it's Series 2 -- so I'll offer a highlight from each pack. That'll be enough to show that this wasn't the ordinary...

   Ever since I was a kid I've been about the "more" of cards. I have always liked "more cards" over "less cards."   This probably has to do with not having a lot when I was a kid. I had old-school parents who thought kids should earn things through something called an allowance. I didn't have much money, and there was nobody around to just give me stuff unless my grandma made a visit or it was my birthday. Even then nobody was gifting me a complete set.   So when I finally started working and receiving a paycheck, well, adding as many cards as I could seemed like a great idea.   Add the fact that I come from the set-building generation -- what's the point of getting cards if they're not going toward a set? -- and more is the way to go. Those sets are at least 660 cards strong and filled with commons.   So through decades of following the "more mantra," I have added binders upon binders of cards and boxes upon boxes. You've se...

   Does it seem like finding the baseball cards you want is like finding a mate these days?   It does for me. Oh sure, I can find cards that I like and add them fairly easily. But the ones I really, really want seem more and more elusive. Is it because everyone else wants them, too? Is it like when everyone wanted to go out with that one girl?   It feels like that.   I've all but given up on the 1975 Kellogg's girl (or the earlier '70s Kellogg's sets for that matter). They're playing way too hard to get. Higher prices and you can't even be sure that the card is going to come without flaws.     I'm still in hot pursuit of 1975 Hostess though. It's gotten more and more challenging. I just landed this Roger Metzger short-print and purchased another SP just today. But there are 10 cards to go after that and most are SPs. Did you know there's some guy selling the Bill Buckner card for $200??? You're not worth that, honey.   I'm trying to guess whi...

  Yes, more charting. I'm going to say this is the April thing to do and be fine with it.   As much as I gripe about how you can't even get a Shohei Ohtani base card without shelling out a buck fifty, I'm still adding cards of my new favorite player at a decent clip. Topps produces so many cards of him that I can't help it. And every time I check which players rank the highest in my collection in terms of number of cards, Ohtani is climbing the charts probably faster than anyone.   About a week or so ago I received a package from Jeremy of Topps Cards That Never Were , which made it very clear that he's not afraid to ship out Ohtani cards to someone who could really use them.   Uh, I guess there's not a base card in there, huh? But that foursome is pretty snazzy. The 2026 flagship card with the leaf pattern arrived in a separate envelope as Jeremy said he forgot to include it. He also added that I hope I like it. I do I do.   The green parallel Heritage card is ...

  Rod of Padrographs is sending out cards again and I received one of the envelopes last week. A nice surprise.   The package contained a mix of then and now and I couldn't help but see the passage of time in the card contents, what/who was supposedly a big deal then and what/who is supposedly a big deal now.   Take this pack of 1991 Stadium Club that was part of the send. This was the first Stadium Club set and something I totally missed out on in 1991 (Most of my focus was on Topps flagship, Score and here-and-there purchases of Fleer and Upper Deck). My introduction to Stadium Club took place the following year.   But I certainly heard about the brand at the time. "Premium" sets were a big deal. The cards were "upscale" for the time. And Stadium Club hit it home on the wrapper by mentioning that Kodak was involved and displaying the Kodak label. For anyone who grew up in the mid-20th century, Kodak was synonymous with film and photography. My very first chea...

   I realized just the other day that I have been rooting for the Dodgers for 50 years. Today, the first Dodgers game of the year, marks exactly 50 years -- although according to the calendar I guess 50 years wouldn't arrive until April 9, which was the first Dodgers game of the 1976 season.   Anyway, for 50 seasons I've been a fan. Last year I celebrated 50 years as a collector and the year before that I celebrated 50 years of owning baseball cards. I'm still waiting for my awards.   I've mentioned before that although I started collecting in 1975, I wasn't watching any baseball games. My allegiance to the Dodgers was demonstrated almost entirely by wearing a Dodgers hat, which was really a Los Angeles Angels hat. I'm wearing it in the photo above on the occasion of my 10th birthday.   Outside of that, being a Dodgers fan in 1975 meant getting as many of the '75 Topps Dodgers as I could. I did not watch any regular season games on TV until 1976. That's...