A few days ago, I posted the question to “Describe your dream card that doesn’t exist” in various places on the Internet.  I received hundreds of responses – here are a few of them:

A sweet spot auto card of Nolan Ryan on a game used baseball from one of his no-hitters
Roger Clemens / Mike Piazza dual card with a bat piece
1954 Topps Mickey Mantle

Some of the responses were … interesting.  For instance, this one by dbackschamp2001:

I cannot say if this is crazy or brilliant, but I do hope dbackschamp2001 gets the help he clearly needs.

To use all these pieces is something only a mad man would attempt.

Challenge accepted.

It took a little while, but I wanted to incorporate all of the pieces, but I think I got it right.

I present to you:  Robb Nen in a top have sliding down the empire state building on baseball bats with an alligator under one arm while eating pizza.

Is this not savage enough for you?  Then try the Gatorfractor version.  The border is made from the very hide of the Alligator he was holding.  Note the eBay 1/1 marking in the upper left, making it the only TRUE eBay 1/1 ever.  All other eBay 1/1’s are impostors and should be taken down from eBay IMMEDIATELY.

To the original requester:  I am afraid I will be unable to guarantee Mr. Nen will never see this.  In fact, surely this will make its way to his social media pages, if he has any.

With as fun as this card was, I’d have to say one I like even better is coming up next.

Imagine this:  It is February 1998.  You have plans to go see a movie.  You want something hilarious.  Something with Adam Sandler, but not too Adam Sandler.  You want Adam Sandler in some sort of a sparkling romantic comedy.  Just then, you remember.  Aha!  The Wedding Singer is out and it is an Adam Sandler sparkling romantic comedy. (Seriously … check the pic below.)

The movie appeals to you because it is a throw back to the decade prior:  The 1980’s.  It is late already, but you hope there is still a showing.  You go to the theatre and thankfully there is an 11:55 PM showing.  You purchase your ticket, costing you a whopping $4.75.  With a smile on your face, you walk inside and hand the ticket to the theatre employee.  He hastily breaks the ticket apart at the perforated edge, hands you the stub and tells you to enjoy the show in about as exciting of a voice as you can expect from a theatre employee at midnight.

Your mouth waters as you breathe in the intense aroma of freshly buttered popcorn, which will be yours for a mere $16.  Can life get any better?

Yes, yes it can.

Popcorn bucket in tow, you turn from the refreshment counter to make your way to your movie. Your eyes try to navigate through the sensory overload that is the movie theatre, contemplating which movie you should see next.  Half Baked?  Meh.  The Big Lebowski?  Perhaps.  Beverly Hills Ninja?   Chris Farley is in it, so of course that is a no braine….

Your eyes are immediately drawn to someone, interrupting your train of thought.  NO WAY!!!  That can’t be!!!!  IS IT??? IT IS!!!!!

Before your very eyes is the man who graced card #1 of 1989 Upper Deck.  KEN GRIFFEY JR!!!!!

Nervous but determined, you go up to Griffey, and ask him for his autograph.  You check your pockets for something … anything … for him to sign.  You can only find your Wedding Singer ticket stub.  You hand it to him, and he obliges, signing it over the buttery fingerprints.  You just met Ken Griffey Jr … AND you have his autograph to prove it!

Okay, so I don’t know exactly how this chance encounter went down, because it wasn’t me.  It was 1988 Topps lover Mark.  He approached me with this ticket stub and told me how he got KGJ’s signature at the movies, and wanted something unique created for his collection.  Something that incorporated KGJ, The Wedding Singer and 1988 Topps.  *ALMOST* as eclectic as the Robb Nen card above, right?  🙂

I took on this project, not really knowing what to expect.  After toiling over it for a while, here is what I came up with!

On the front, you see a 1988 Topps inspired design, with Griffey and his signature on the ticket stub.  The back is a custom designed Wedding Singer graphic that shows the front of the ticket.   This piece measures 5×7 inches and displays the awkwardly sized signature perfectly.

This kind of project is one of my favorite types to do.  For me, it is all about taking something that is held near and dear to someone’s heart like a memory, ticket stub (or both!) and creating a collectible out of it.  It is my hope that every time Mark looks at this piece, he’ll remember every detail of his Griffey encounter on February 13, 1998.  Even the smell of buttered popcorn in the air.