Night Owl Cards

It's that time of year when I begin to put the past year's uncompleted sets away (thanks a lot, Topps). I take them from their stacks on a desk and store them in boxes. While leafing through the cards, I took note of this excellent night card item, and of course the Budweiser sign displayed prominently in the background. "Silly Topps," I said to myself, shaking my head internally (yes, it can be done). "Handing out free advertising again." I've noted this at least a billion times before, and devoted an entire post to it a couple of times . Each occasion I mentioned that there is a ton of advertising in ballparks, even more so than 20 or 30 years ago, and that it's impossible for the ads not to appear on cards these days. But it's also possible that there is a deal between Topps and advertisers to get those ads on cards. But as I was going through the 2013 base set, I began to notice that there weren't as many ads in the background...

Without really knowing it, I categorize Dodger eras into the three categories of "good," "bad," or "indifferent." And, by association, my attitude toward certain Dodgers players, past or present, is colored by whether they appeared in a good, bad or indifferent Dodger era. For example, take this fine card of George "Shotgun" Shuba, supplied to me by the Junior Junkie (all of the card you will see here are from the Junior Junkie, by the way). Shuba was hardly an exceptional player. He was a utility man. But because he played at a time when the Dodgers were perennial contenders, when they were breaking racial barriers, and because he had such a cool nickname, he is a favorite. Shuba is known for the symbolic gesture of shaking Jackie Robinson's hand in the minor leagues. He's also well-documented in the book "Boys Of Summer." And he hit a pinch-hit homer in the 1955 World Series. Through circumstance, he shined. He came ...

JFK BLOWN AWAY WHAT ELSE DO I HAVE TO SAY? Pretty happy the day is over. ( reference ) ( reference for youngsters or the musically unaware ) ( reference for nitwits )

I didn't know this until today, but I have won a card contest every month since August. I don't consider myself one of those people who wins contests all the time. As I just mentioned, I even ignore contests for free cards sometimes. So if I don't always enter contests, how do I keep winning? Well, for five easy payments of $99.99, my proven contest-winning methods can be ... nah, not really. I have no idea how I keep winning. I'm just in some sort of contest zone. Like a hitter in a hot streak, I'm seeing the ball real big right now. It's like a beach ball up there. A giant, free-card-filled beach ball. Let's see the rundown of contests I've won: August: The "guess how much the cards I bought at the card show cost" contest, from gcrl September: The "explain yourself for minis" contest, from It's Like Having My Own Card Shop October: The "almost the easiest World Series on the Web" contest from Collector...