I don't have a lot of time today. I've been squeezing in the last few day trips before vacation ends. Also, we added a new roommate yesterday.   That's Francesca, a.k.a. Fran, a.k.a., she'd be adorable if she'd sit still for a second. So after swearing off pets a couple years ago, there's another one to rule the roost. These things are never my idea but I do like my pets. Anyway, here's a quick thing I noticed a week or so ago that may not interest anyone but I thought it was interesting. When I completed the 1977 Hostess set, I noticed something about the back of the set ..read more

  The operator of the Number 5 Type Collection blog, Matthew, is touring The National in Cleveland as I write this. But before he went there, he happened upon a free box of 1980s cards and asked if anyone could use any. My '80s wants are slim as I've completed nearly everything I'm interested in for that decade, as far as large sets. But one set immediately popped in my mind because I'm so aware of how inadequate it is compared to other '80s sets in my collection. I requested whatever 1983 Donruss cards he could spare, stressing I needed more than 80 percent so no worries about dupes ..read more

  I wrote a month or so ago that I've been working on a post on the 1991 Studio set. Based on the information provided by players on the back of that set's cards, could a personality profile be developed for the average Major League Baseball player in 1991?   I went through all 264 cards. For most of the cards, there are four categories listed on the back that allows you to know the player a bit more than the photo on the front: personal (birth date, family, place of residence), career, hobbies & interests and heroes.   I focused on the last two categories because they are ..read more

  I have a bias when it comes to the month of July. Naturally I am going to like it because it's my birthday month. It is also the month for the All-Star Game, one of my favorite sports events. It's also a month in which baseball is the primary sport in action and every one of those other sports that dominates the calendar loudly -- football, basketball, hockey -- isn't playing. Even my next favorite sports event after anything baseball, Wimbledon, is mostly in July. I'm not done. July is the slowest month of the year at my job. Therefore it is the month in which I take the most vacati ..read more

 (I managed to find my way to a ballpark today. It's been awhile. I go so infrequently these days that when I do, I'm surprised by the prices on everything. I mean this is minor league baseball, should I be spending $150 to have a good time for a "minor" event? It's just the two of us! Anyway, time for Cardboard Appreciation with an appropriate card. This is the 341st in a series): When I wrote a post 10 days ago about the very nice cards I received from reader Jonathan, I didn't include a set of cards he sent me. It was the 1986 Memphis Chicks set from something called "Time Out Spor ..read more

  Well, three out of the four posts I've made this week have some sort of mention of 1975 Topps, so why not make it 4-for-5, that always sound better than 3-for-4 in the baseball realm. Once I get through this episode of the countdown, there will be just 100 cards left, which means nothing but greatness ahead. So let's get to it, no fancy intro this time.     120: Ed Kranepool (card 324) Still quite a few Mets cards remaining as they really cleaned up in this set. I remember hearing about Ed Kranepool talked about with the same reverence as Tom Seaver from Mets fans when ..read more

  Twelve days ago I wrote a post about my thoughts on the 2024 Heritage minis after receiving a bunch of the cards from Johnny's Trading Spot. I said that I didn't plan to collect the set. Even though it's a tribute to my most favorite set of all-time, the 1975 Topps mini test set, I didn't feel enthusiasm for it, mostly because trying to collect the main Heritage set was tough enough and I didn't want to repeat the exact same exacting task. Well, sometimes when you have written a popular blog for a long time, you don't get to do what you had planned. Sometimes your reputation precede ..read more

  Last night, Teoscar Hernandez became the first Dodger to win Home Run Derby. As annoyed as I am by this overhyped event -- the introductions and podium standings practically made my skin crawl -- it was nice to see such a happy guy from my team survive to the end over some more-capable mashers. And, yes, I know he wouldn't have had a chance had Judge or Ohtani participated.   I am hoping that this is a good sign for tonight's All-Star Game. It's my birthday again today and for just the third time ever the All-Star Game is on my birthday.   This pretty much makes it the best d ..read more

  By my quick calculating card blogging is at its lowest point in terms of frequency and number since my first few months of blogging. I counted about 12 card blogs now that write at least 5 days a week. Then there are around 50 card blogs that write less than that -- a few times a week, once a week, a couple times a month. So that's maybe 65 blogs that write about cards at least once a month. The amount of former card bloggers that I know is five times that amount. This means interaction is down and that's a bummer, but the good part is everyone -- card bloggers and former card blogge ..read more

  My vacation began in the only proper way yesterday -- with a card show. It was the monthly show and my third straight month attending. It's become such a regular occurrence that I almost didn't make it. I was also preparing dinner yesterday and I needed to go to the store to pick up an ingredient (shallots) that I couldn't find at the closer store a few days earlier. I don't like grocery shopping on Saturdays because all the "it's-my-day-off" people are there and they are really belligerent with their carts. But I had no choice and I told myself the store was close to the card show ..read more