Night Owl Cards

I recently received a handful of early 1960s Post cards from a couple of different folks. This is very cool because not long ago, I lamented that I didn't have any of these kinds of cards. Yet, just in the past year, several kind collectors have sent me some to admire up close and personal. Post cards, for whatever reason, seem to be an invitation for people to write on them. I'm not sure why. Maybe it's because you had to cut them off a box and they already had a homemade feel, so you might as well add your own little mark. Both Post cards that mr. haverkamp sent me contained "updates." I can appreciate these because that automatically means the card has a back story. And any journalist worth his digital recorder loves a good back story. The first one I particularly admire because it's a true update. Whoever owned this card previously was so taken with Wills' MVP season of 1962 that he or she had to update Wills' 1961 Post card. The handwri...

Back during my first year of blogging, in 2008, I jumped into everything about cards that I possibly could. I sampled every kind of pack, explored all the sites and forums, bookmarked every last page, and probably drove bloggers crazy with emails and questions. One of the many things that I did was sign up for etopps. I can't say I fully understood the concept, and now that it is dead, I still don't have a handle on it. Near as I can tell, you could try to land issued cards every week, which were in limited quantity, and then let the card sit in your portfolio -- where I guess it could "mature," I don't know -- or eventually order the card to have for real. You know, like normal collectors do. But the problem was I could never get a card. They were always gone by the time I put in a request. There are thousands upon thousands of collectors who are much more psycho-rabid than I am, I learned. Eventually, I gave up. I assumed I'd never have an etopps ca...

I'm probably not going to do an end-of-the-year "Best of 2012" countdown this year like I normally do. I still have time to change my mind, but right now, when I think of "2012" and "cards," the word "best" is not anywhere near the first word on my lips. So I might want to steer clear of that. But I know how everyone loves countdown shows -- myself included -- so this is what I can offer: the 10 best Dodger cards in my collection, also known as "The Best Dodger Cards Ever Made." Yep, it's time for greatness. So no more ados. It's time for eye-feasting. 10. Sealing Yanks' Doom, Game 4 1963 World Series, 1964 Topps Granted, the photo is nothing great, except for the fact that Frank Howard is teeing off on Whitey Ford for a home run. But the caption is the greatest headline ever written. A caption announcing the death of the New York Yankees. A death knell for the Yankees on cardboard. It's glorious, a...

In the last post, I made an assumption at the end where I figured that everyone knew what I collected. But more than five years into this blog, I still get emails from folks who still aren't quite sure. So I thought the end of 2012 would be a good time to review. It's evolved somewhat, but, overall it's remained the same. Feel free to bookmark this post as I'm sure the first thing you do when you get up in the morning is wonder "what cards can I get for Night Owl?" And to illustrate this post, I've used the rest of the cards that reader David sent me. He's got a handle on what I collect, that's for sure. He pretty much hit every category. So here we go. What I collect: 1. Dodgers Any and all sets. If they're wearing a Dodger cap or listed as being with the Dodgers and I don't have it, I want it. Getting cards like this, from sets that I didn't realize existed (just because I list it on my want list doesn't mean I kno...

I think it would make a nice test case study if you could put non-card collectors in front of a card display, featuring every kind of current card imaginable, and come to some conclusion based on what kind of packs they select instinctively. I kind of do a mini-version of that study -- all in my head, of course -- at Christmas time. I've now gotten to the point where I know I'm going to get something related to cards each year at this time. But since I refrain from asking for specific items -- I'm not going to make them track down a 1958 Duke Snider -- I'm basically sending them out into the woods and asking them to shoot at the first thing that looks good. And from the looks of what kind of cards they find for me, I can draw some horribly inaccurate and unfair conclusions. But it's fun, so what the hey. For example, my in-laws would be the shiny mojo type. I know this because almost every time they've purchased cards for me on the last 4 or 5 occasio...