Night Owl Cards

  This time of year is ideal for looking back -- something I do a lot no matter what time of year it is. In fact, I am preparing for my end-of-the-year spectacular, which I hope you'll see tomorrow. But a couple of folks on Twitter the other day were looking farther back than just last year. They were reminiscing about the golden era of blogging, specifically when card blogs started popping up. The first of those card blogs, I think, were around 2005 or 2006. It gets a little murky and people start arguing about who was first, and really, who cares -- people are writing about baseball cards!!! There were just a handful of blogs before 2008, no more than 20. Then 2008 arrived and that was the year of The Card Blog Boom. It's also the year I started blogging, although I had no idea I was joining what was "the thing to do" in the hobby at the time. Twitter folks were remembering that time and how few card bloggers there were then, but exactly how many were there? The gu...

  Lucky you, because I didn't go anywhere this week, I can publish the latest edition of my "best on-card element series" before I expected! I hadn't planned to cover 1985-89 until after the new year, but nobody can plan anything anymore so I don't know why I'm bothering to semi-apologize for any delays or changes. Delays and changes are an everyday part of life now more than ever. You'll get it when I get to it! How about that?   I'm up to the back half of the '80s in determining the "best" or "most notable" design element of each major card set for each year. This might be the last one of these I do. The number of sets gets obnoxious in the '90s -- I may be willing to cover the first half of that decade, we'll see.   So without further adoing, here is the rundown for basically what was my favorite period in life -- and, no, it didn't have anything to do with 1987 Topps.   1985   1985 Donruss   Best on-card element...

  My trip out of town for a few days was canceled. No, it wasn't COVID-related, but we're back at the nest without a lot to do.   The wife and daughter decided they wanted to check out the flea market close to the downtown area. I've mentioned this place before. Back when it was fairly new I went there a time or two and found baseball cards .   But I hadn't been to the place since before the pandemic, I think the last time was in the spring of 2019. The card selection had dwindled to next-to-nothing and with the hysteria over cards in the last couple of years, I didn't bother making another trip, surely there would be nothing left.   We walked into the place and it was clear it had expanded over those couple years I hadn't been there. Lots more stations to squeeze in people's junk, and they had added an upstairs portion. I don't have a lot of use for most flea market items, but I do gravitate toward periodicals and old record albums and there were lots o...

  For Christmas I received a blaster of Allen & Ginter from my daughter. This may not be the only card present, there is a second Christmas happening this coming week (love those). But the blaster was a pretty big occasion because it's the first time I have opened any A&G all year. Think about how much A&G's stock has fallen with me: Once I participated in Gint-a-Cuffs, in which I bought a whole box of Allen & Ginter, plus a few extra blasters. Every year between 2008-15, you could see me at a Target on an almost a weekly basis looking for, or buying, Ginter. And between 2016-18, I'd make sure to get at least a few blasters and packs. I completed every set between '08 and '14. Now, this product is for special occasions only, right up there on the once-a-year list with snowman cookies and tired leg lamp Facebook posts. Thanks to the unavailability of card product on retail shelves, A&G pivoting toward social media figures and my fading interest in...

  The main thing that bugs me about the uncertainty of the baseball season in 2022 is whether Clayton Kershaw is going to be back in a Dodgers uniform. The more time there is to think about that, the more I consider him playing for the Texas Rangers or not even at all. And I think I like both of those possibilities even less than than there not being a baseball season next year. To help take my mind off of that unpleasantness, and also perhaps as a farewell to my favorite player for the last dozen years, I went on a COMC Black Friday Kershaw card binge. The timing seemed right, and since I was taking advantage of the savings, almost every card was a buck or less. And the three or four that went over were still $1.25 or less. With 842 total Kershaw cards before this binge, my plan was to get to 900.    But I fell far short. I'm only at 889 now. Not sure what happened. I miscalculated, or ran out of money, or some life crisis knocked me sideways for a couple of days. Possib...