Night Owl Cards

   I will start this by saying that I realize that I have cycled out of both of the major marketing demographics desired by companies that sell products. I am no longer 18-34, nor even 35-50.   I am also aware that there is probably no one my age working at Topps, unless it's at the highest-level office. I come from a different era -- a Gen-Xer who is satisfied fairly easily.   The most interesting changes in cards for me as a youngster and even through my teenage years was that the design changed each year. I also liked seeing players with their new teams. That's all it took to make me happy ... and I was happy with just that for many years.   I didn't need constant change, which seems to be a staple requirement for many in younger generations. But that's my personality, too. I have never been "on to the next." I'd rather collect cards like I did in the '70s.   This is why I don't understand Topps' constant tinkering.   The latest puzzling dev...

  A couple weeks ago reports came out that Panini America is looking to sell. While this barely causes me to shrug my shoulders, considering its output in the baseball market the last 15 years, it's concerning in another way.   One of the most interested parties in buying Panini is Topps/Fanatics. Topps is interested in Panini's global reach and this would fit right in with Fanatics' desire for world domination. While a sale to Topps would allow some of the brands that Panini made that didn't meet my expectations -- stuff like Donruss and Diamond Kings -- to be retooled into looks I might like better (i.e. have team logos), it also carries the potential for Topps to continue its lazy treatment of many of its sets ... or not publish them at all, as seems to be Fanatics' way.   But what Panini was doing with baseball sets certainly didn't interest me, so it mostly gets a shrug.   I haven't purchased a pack of Panini-whatever in a good long time. The last time ...

  Hey, it's July. My favorite month. Maybe I can celebrate by surpassing the record-low number of posts I made to this blog last month.   I never would have figured that June would be the month with my lowest total ever. If I had to guess, it certainly would be March. But I posted just 12 times last month, four less than my previous low, which was in May 2019 when my mom passed.   Nothing happened in June nearly as tragic as six years ago but just a firestorm of everything: multiple writing assignments outside of this blog, constant vehicle issues, the present job schedule and this past weekend, in which I went out of town for my nephew's graduation.   It's the final high school graduation for all the nieces and nephews. All done. Probably no high school graduations again unless I make it for a grandkid's ceremony. While I was in Buffalo, I made sure to return to Dave and Adam's.     I never spend too much time around the clothing, it's all too expensive, e...

  I've mentioned many times lately how difficult it's been to post regularly to my blog.   It may not look like it because I'm still posting around five days a week, but there are lots of posts from the last few months that very nearly didn't make it. It's not a content thing or a lack of will (though I feel that creeping in a bit). It's almost completely a time issue.   I don't know why time is so precious now. I thought I was much busier when there was a young kid to take care of (and shuttle around), yet I was posting twice a day for some of that. But I do know I appreciate it, maybe more than ever, when I can save some time.   Large care packages are terrific. I think everyone agrees with that. It's like Christmas in a box. It also takes a long time to go through, and sort and put away. Days and days and weeks and weeks. Sometimes months. It can be a project in itself, a wonderful project, but it doesn't exactly save time.   Then there are the ca...

  I've been blessed with a few Dodgers-centric packages in the last month. They're most appreciated because I get distracted with other non-Dodger things in my collecting and sometimes I feel that the Dodger part suffers a little. But only just a little.   Thanks to those packages I've reached another milestone. I'm going out of order with when I received the packages here to get straight to that milestone, but you'll see the other packages in good time. I always show them off.   I reached 30,000 unique Dodgers cards yesterday. It was a heavy mail day Monday, which was a nice surprise. Four separate envelopes. The Dodgers started with the beautiful 2024 Finest Shohei Ohtani, which is from the "1993 Finest 'What If ...' Prototype" insert set -- we're just getting more and more complex with our insert names.   That was my own purchase and it was Dodger card No. 29,994 in my collection.     Next up was a surprise envelope from Matt of Cards Over C...