Tonight on the Masked President it is revealed that Claudia Conway is Donald Trump.

 I believe that the biggest surprise of the season of the Masked President will be that Claudia Conway will be revealed as Donald Trump.

This makes those most sense as who else but a 15 year old teen age girl who is on social media all day long, contacted Covid at exactly the same time as President Trump and rides around in cars just to be seen is President Trump. 

Just like Bruce Wayne is Batman, Claudia Conway is Donald Trump.  

Ranking the Topps baseball sets from 1952 to 2020. Part 1

 

Ranking the Topps baseball sets from 1952 to 2020. Part 1. 

The basis for this ranking will be primarily the front design with some consideration to the card backs, texture and feel of the cards, the player selection, size and subsets.

O.K., first off I am classify the Topps sets into era’s:

1952-1956 – The Non 2 ½ by 3 ½ era

1957-1972 – The Golden Age of Topps Cards era.

1973-1980 – The Seventies era

1981-1991 - The new Competition era.

1992-1996 – The Card stock / Glossy stock upgrade era.

1997-2002 – The Death March Metallic era.   

2003-2008 – The 21^st Century era.

2009-2014 – The Topps getting cutesy and manipulative era.

2015-2020 – The no border era. 

1952-1956 – The non 2 ½ by 3 ½ era

I know some people consider this the golden age era but these are not the cards that you know of today because of their size. Since that is so it is unlikely the top card set will come from these tears. Also, with Bowman around Topps did not have all MLB players under contract for the sets.

1957-1972 – The Golden Age of Topps Cards era.

Cards that we know of, the right size, all the players and a lot of classic designs.

1973-1980 – The Seventies era.

The end of issuing cards by series, more of a plainness looking to the sets (with some exceptions),

1981-1991 - The new Competition era.

Some consider this the junk wax ear also but surprisingly Topps started to give some thought into the sets and the designs sometimes changed drastically from year to year.

1992-1996 – The card stock / glossy stock upgrade era.

With the 1992 set, the end of the thin gray stock card board was put to rest (a sad time to me) and the glossy supposedly better (and now more expensive cards) began.

1997-2002 – The Death March Metallic era.   

Come on can you visualize any set in your mind from these years. Foil. Foil. Foil These were some of the ugliest cards Topps produced and years later with all the gloss these cards will actually stick together.

2003-2008 – The 21^st Century era.

Topps started to put some thought  into the cards instead of foil and the return of white boarders.

2009-2014 – The Topps getting cutesy and manipulative and exclusive era.

Topps began to emphasize bigger photos and photos with more personality.  The designs only varied slightly from year to year, were simple and somewhat fun and colorful. The manipulative - the variation photos began to appear more and more.  This means master set collectors had to pay more money if they wanted ALL the cards in their set.

2015-2020 – The no border era.

O.k, so 2015 had borders but it was really the beginning to the transition to the lack of borders era. These sets continued a process where Topps varied there designs ever so slightly from year to year.  It seems with 2021 Topps designs, Topps is transitioning back to white borders with some colored striped thrown in.   

 Next post some real rankings 

The 20 Greatest Sport Card Blogs of all time.

 I attempted to do this in a series of post a couple years ago but it did not happen. So lets try again and do it in one post. As I explained back in 2012, I have read the Sports Card Blogroll just about every day (and that is still the case), so I deem myself an expert on the subject.  Let me just say that sports card blogs in 2020 are just not the same as they were in 2012. They are just how could I say, not as fresh as they were back in 2012. There are a number of reasons for that and I will get into few.  The newness of the blogs have just wore off. When I was reading the blogs 8-12 years ago, it was all new. The basic premise was the blogs told me about the cards I owned and presented them in a different light and made them new and fresh again.  The blog 88 Topps Cards, made a junk wax set into one of the most interesting things I ever read and owned.

Also,  I think of the Sports Cards Blogs like Monday Night Football. In the early 1970s, its live nighttime broadcasts with Howard Cosell and the gang  was just must see TV.  However, by the late 1970s and early 1980s the newness and freshness wore off.

In addition, the first time you read about the great action photo on the 1971 Topps Lindy McDaniel it is new but through the years other bloggers will write about it the card and it is just a little less fresh.

There are other reasons, (Twitter, Youtube, Facebook,  Case Breaks, Exclusivity Rights, Trading, Commercialization of) the Sports Card Blogs are not as formidable as years ago.  So that said here we go. Below are the top 20 through 2020 and far below the top 20 through 2012.

 

Top 20 Sports card Blogs of all-time

 

2008 through 2020 (Posted on August 15, 2020)

1. Night Owl Cards 

2. The Topps Archives 

3. Wrigley Wax 

4. The Phillies Room 

5.  Cardboard History

6. Cards on Cards 

7. 30 year old cardboard

8. garvey cey russell lopes 

9. 88 Topps Cards 

10. Puck Junk 

11. The Shlanbotnik Report

12. The Chronicles of Fugi

13. SABR Baseball Card Research Committee

14. Waxacholic

15. Voice of the Collector – the Anti Beckett 

16. A Card Board Problem

17. A Pack to be Named Later 

18. Phungo

19.  Mint Condition

20. Card Board Junkie

The Criteria is Dominance x(times) Durability, with Durability a huge factor, if you been blogging for 12 years straight that helps getting on the list.

Notes:  Night Owl Cards like Howard Cosell is still the GREATEST…..The Topps Archives gives you the undiscovered history of Topps Cards…Wrigley Wax, The Phillies Rooms and Cards on Cards gives you baseball cards from a team perspective…Cardboard History the fastest riser….Some of the Blogs have ended and some have slowed down their pace through the years.    

 

Top 20 Sports card Blogs

 

2008 through 2012 (Posted on November 23, 2012)

1. Night Owl Cards 

2. Wrigley Wax 

3. 30 year old cardboard 

4. The Topps Archives 

5. Card Board Junkie 

6. The Chronicles of Fuji 

7. The Phillies Room 

8. garvey cey russell lopes 

9. Cards on Cards 

10. Waxacholic

11. 88 Topps Cards 

12. Sports Cards Uncensored 

13. My 2008 Topps Blog 

14. Condition Poor 

15. Voice of the Collector – the Anti Beckett 

16. Mint Condition 

17. A Card Board Problem 

18. Bdj610’s Topps Baseball Card Blog 

19.  Puck Junk 

20. Wax Heaven 

Why the Democrats will win the 2020 presidential election and why the stock market will fall in the next 3 months

I'm back and ready for a little bit of a predictions.   After studying the US GDP numbers since 1927 and Presidential election results, the following rules tend (83 percent of the time - 19 out of the last 23 elections) to apply:

1. If the (calendar year) GDP rises from the third to fourth year in a Presidential Administration, the political party in power stays in power in the White House. The exception was 1968, where the GDP rose from 2.7 in 1967 to 4.9 in 1968. The Democrats lost the White  House.


2. If the (calendar year) GDP drops from the third to fourth year in a Presidential Administration or if the Calendar year GDP is negative in the third or fourth year of  Administration in power (the political party in power) loses the White House. The exceptions were 1944, 1948 and 1956. 

Below are the results:

1928: The GDP rises from 0.6 (1927) to 1.2 in 1928. The Republicans stay in power

1932:  The GDP in 1932 was -12.9 (it was also negative in 1931). The Republicans lose White House to Democrats

1936: The GDP rises from 8.9  (1935)  to 12.9 in 1936. The Democrats stay in power

1940: The GDP rises from 8.0  (1939)  to 8.8 in 1940. The Democrats stay in power

1944:  The GDP drops from 17.0  (1943)  to 8.0 in 1944. The Democrats should have lost but did not

1948:  The GDP in 1947 was -1.1 (it was positive in 1948 at 4.1) The Democrats should have lost but did not

1952:  The GDP drops from 8.0 (1951) to 4.1 in 1952. The Democrats lose the White House to the Republicans

1956:  The GDP drops from 7.1  (1955)  to 2.1 in 1956. The Republicans should have lost the White House  but did not

1960:  The GDP drops from 6.9 (1959)  to 2.9 in 1960. The Republicans lose the White House to the Democrats

1964:  The GDP rises from  4.4  (1963)  to 5.8 in 1964. The Democrats stay in power

1968:  The GDP rises from 2.7  (1967)  to 4.9 in 1968. The Democrats should not have lost but did. Republicans take the White House

1972:  The GDP rises from 3.3  (1971)  to 5.3 in 1972. The Republicans stay in power

1976:  The GDP in 1975 was -0.2 (it was positive in 1976 at 5.4). The Republicans lose the White House to the Democrats

1980:  The GDP drops from 3.2  (1979)  to -0.3 in 1980. The Democrats lose the White House to the Republicans

1984:  The GDP rises from 4.6 (1983)  to 7.2 in 1980. The Republicans stay in power

1988:  The GDP rises from 3.5 (1987)  to 4.2 in 1988. The Republicans stay in power

1992: The GDP in 1991 was -0.1 (it was positive in 1992 at 3.5). The Republicans lose the White House to the Democrats

1996:  The GDP rises from  2.7  (1995)  to 3.8 in 1996. The Democrats stay in Power

2000:  The GDP drops from 4.8  (1999)  to 4.1 in 2000. The Democrats lose the White House to the Republicans

2004:  The GDP rises from 2.9 (2003)  to 3.8 in  2004. The Republicans stay in power

2008: The GDP drops from 1.9 (2007) to  -0.1 in 2008. The Republicans lose the White House to the Democrats

2012:  The GDP rises from 1.6 (2011)  to 2.2 in 2012. The Democrats stay in power

2016:  The GDP drops from 2.9 (2015)  to 1.6 in 2016. The Democrats lose the White House to the Republicans


This brings us to 2020. In 2019 the GDP was 2.3. So far the GDP is about -18.0 with a projected -5.0 rate for all of 2020. This tells us there will be a political party change (well at least an 83 percent chance) in the White House. While I don't have the numbers, I remember reading that in a Presidential Year if the Stock Market drops from August 1st to October 31st, the Political Party in the White House will lose the White House.  The last time this did not work was 1980.

With that reasoning that the Political Party in Power now will lose, then this means the stock market from August 1st to October 31st will fall. The Dow Jones is at 26,428. It will be less than that number on October 31st.

Number 1. NIGHT OWL CARDS. The 20 greatest sport card blogs of all time.

Nuff Said. The Former, Present and Future Champion. He was number one in 2012  (and 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016... if I did rankings) and he is still King in 2018.  The Distance between him and the competition is expanding.  Michael Jordan has Lebron James but Night Owl is like Babe Ruth when you realize he was more than just a hitter and nobody else compares.  He latest post:

2017: The best, the worst, the ... 

we be the best post in the next 365 days by any blogger unless  Night Owl comes up with something better (he probably will). As I have written before he makes you look at cards in a way you never did before. 

No 1. in 2012 -Night Owl Cards. 

The 20 Greatest Sport Card Blogs of all time countdown (updated for through 2017)

After a 4 year hiatus, I have decided to start posting again.  I have decided to go back  and update the 20 Greatest Sport Card Blogs of all time.  Below is the list from 2008 through 2012. My new  list will include the time  period from 2008 through 2017. It has been 10 years now that I have been reading the Sport Card Blogs everyday, so lets see who moved up, who got removed and who is new.

I am going to do the countdown differently this time and start with Number 1 for my next post.

2008 through 2012

1. Night Owl Cards 

2. Wrigley Wax 

3. 30 year old cardboard 

4. The Topps Archives 

5. Card Board Junkie 

6. The Chronicles of Fuji 

7. The Phillies Room 

8. garvey cey russell lopes 
9. Cards on Cards 

10. Waxacholic

11. 88 Topps Cards 

12. Sports Cards Uncensored 

13. My 2008 Topps Blog 

14. Condition Poor 

15. Voice of the Collector – the Anti Beckett 

16. Mint Condition 

17. A Card Board Problem 

18. Bdj610’s Topps Baseball Card Blog 

19.  Puck Junk 

20. Wax Heaven 

No Fate But What You Make

A wise person once told me those words years ago.  It took me a long time to realize how right she was. There is no fate but what you make.