Night Owl Cards

So, as you may know, I celebrated a birthday recently. I wrote a post about it, as I normally do. Some people may wonder why I do that. Well, it's my blog and I tend to touch on items that pertain to me on my blog, and my birthday definitely pertains to me. So that's why I write about it. But just so it doesn't get too egotistical, I try to tie it in with cards. This time, I wrote about the former Dodgers who share my birthday. There are three of them who spent any appreciable time with the Dodgers. I lamented that I didn't have a card of one of them, Norm Sherry. I mentioned that I did have a card (actually I have four) of another one, John Purdin. And I mentioned another player, Tommy Tatum. I brushed off ever getting a card of him. He played during the 1940s and in only 69 total major league games. I was pretty sure there wasn't a card of him. So, a few people read the post, the kinder ones wished me a happy birthday, and everyone moved on with their n...

Fleer's products have produced the most illustrative names so far in the Define the Design segment. The '87 set is the Blue Freeze Pop set. Wonderful. The '88 set is the Barber Shop Pole set. Perfect. The '89 set is the Pinstriped Gangster Suit set. Awesome. I'm in the mood for something clever and interesting today. But I don't have a lot of time to write. So let's try to name some other Fleer sets from not so long ago. How about the 1984 Fleer set? It's one of my favorites. It's rather simple, which may make naming it a little difficult. But I know I've seen that "blue bar on top and bottom" somewhere before. I'll have to think about this one. You have to like the colored frame on 1985 Fleer. The company did a good job of matching its design with each respective team early in its history -- specifically 1982 and 1985 Fleer. Other than that, it kind of has a geometric design reminiscent of today's Bowman. Bowman will p...

I've been doing this Gint-a-Cuffs thing for three years now. I have purchased four boxes of A&G during that time. Granted, it's not a lot compared to some people. But out of those four boxes, just once you'd think I would have pulled a rip card, or a numbered Bazooka back, or some crazy relic. I'd even settle for a box that was geared toward my favorite team. Like this one . But there's no chance of that this year. So, I'll just say that next year, "I'm due." Moving on. Presenting packs 13-16: PACK 13 245 - Brian McCann, Braves (0 points, what can I tell ya, Captain) 225 - Jack LaLanne, fitness guru (0 points) 217 - Shaun Marcum, Brewers (0 points) 295 - Chris Carpenter, Cardinals (0 points) BHS-25 Ichiro (+3 Baseball Highlight Sketch). Two years in a row of these sketches and I'm still not liking them. They don't work, they don't belong in A&G, and I trade them every chance I get. 315 - Jayson Werth, Nationa...

As Julys go, this one has been just about the worst in my experience. It hasn't been terrible, because it's impossible for July to be terrible, what with the birthday and the vacation and everything. But the problem is that my job thinks it's February. So it's throwing the workload that I deal with in February into July. That has translated into lovely incidents such as getting called in on my vacation, getting called in on my day off, tension-filled meetings and frustrating work shifts -- stuff that NEVER happens in July. But what does this all mean to you? Well, as I might have mentioned, my blog posts ain't up to my satisfaction. I've had to postpone or discard lots of ideas that take too much time and research.  Also, putting together trade packages for people is down to a once-every-two-weeks affair (I hope to get a few together today because I'm going to try to land some comp time -- we'll see how that goes. EDIT: It actually worked! ). Al...