Night Owl Cards

  Several nights ago, just before turning in, I was leafing through my huge hardcover book of all the Topps cards from 1952-85. It's a good way to relax before bed and I should go through it more often than I do instead of staring at youtube videos.     The book may not be quite as fascinating as when I first saw it in a mom-and-pop bookstore back in the late 1980s. I've completed so many Topps sets since that point and the only cards pictured in there that I have not obtained are from the 1950s and '60s.   Except for one set.   1984 Topps Traded   It's the only 1980s Topps Traded set I haven't completed. In fact, it's the only Topps '80s set period that I haven't completed.   That's because the Dwight Gooden pre-rookie card is in this set. But the most recent set I haven't completed other than 1984 Traded in that book is 1968 Topps! 1984 Traded should be finished! Instead I have only 13 of the 132 cards.   I decided after looking throug...

  Somewhere around 30 years ago, I went to my parents' house while on summer break from college.   My dad and one of my brothers took a trip to nearby Owego where my grandmother lived. She was in her 80s at the time and we were there to do some house chores for her. One day we drove over to the small downtown area for some shopping and ducked into a second-hand bookstore, which was easily the highlight of the trip for me.   There were some oversized discount books for sale and one of them was the 35-year picture history of Topps cards in which every Topps card issued between 1951 and 1985 was displayed. This book was fascinating since the day I heard about it (I imagine any collector would be fascinated). I always wanted to own it.   The book was 15 or 20 dollars, a good deal even then. But either I didn't have the money or didn't want to spend the money and so I walked away without it, even though the book was destined for me.   As the years went on, that book ...