Early Bird's Night Owl Haul: Pack #1

The first card blog that I began to read regularly, and which made me think that this was something I'd like to do as well, was Greg's Night Owl Cards. Naturally, it helps that he is also a Dodger fan, and that's how I managed to stumble upon his site. But it's his writing that keeps me coming back.

Fortunately for me, with his blog being must-read material, I managed to get to a post of his quickly enough to be the first to comment, and therefore become the winner of a treasure trove of mid-1970s Topps baseball goodness. Greg had upgraded quite a few cards from those he collected in his pre-teen years, and he graciously offered up a goodly sum of well-loved 1976 and 1977 cards. Being a completist, a Topps aficionado, and no condition-Nazi, I was thrilled to be the lucky winner.

I was even more excited when I opened the sizable box he sent me and saw a note from Greg saying that there would be more on the way, which I've also since received. I like to really savor the experience of new cards (and old cards that are new to me). Plus, I don't have a huge budget for buying cards all of the time. So I'll be dragging out the experience of looking at what Greg sent me. I plan to "open" a ten-card "pack" each Friday, Saturday and Sunday night (my card nights) until I'm done. And I'll be sharing the experience here.

These were the first ten cards:

1976 Topps Joe McIntosh HOU #497T
1976 Topps Charlie Moore MIL #116
1976 Topps Bill Madlock CHC #640
1976 Topps Frank Duffy CLE #232
1976 Topps Rick Monday CHC #251

1976 Topps Fritz Peterson CLE #255

1976 Topps Joe Decker MIN #636
1976 Topps Mike Sadek SFG #234
1976 Topps Johnny Grubb SDP #422
1976 Topps Dick Allen PHI #455

Sweet! Sure, some of them are pretty beat up. But they're in no worse condition than many of the cards in my own collection of this vintage. And the condition makes them no less enjoyable. Actually, some of these, such as the Monday, represent upgrades for me. And most of them are actually new to me. All for simply indulging in the pleasure of reading Greg's blog. I've thanked him a few times already, but he can't be thanked enough. Thank you, Greg. Thank you, thank you, thank you.