Cardboard grails are a weird thing, man.  They make you do strange and irrational things, like keep you up at night, trying to figure out where to search, and even post things like this …

or this … 

or even this!

  

When I walked away from supercollecting, not a single card in the above graphic had surfaced the entire time I was searching.  It should be noted that the first card shown, the 1996 Select Certified Mirror Gold was my main grail I never found, and was one of three that were my favorites.  I dreamt about this card.  I considered buying up all the boxes of ’96 Select Certified and setting up breaks by selling spots just so I could have a chance to pull this card.  

A half a year after retiring from Supercollecting, the unthinkable happened … someone split up their 1996 Mirror Gold set, and sold them on eBay…Canseco was one of them!  I ended up winning – heck, I still remember my heart POUNDING with each second that was counting down until the end.  Though I won at a record breaking price for any Canseco card back then (which seems like nothing now!) I was told the underbidder miscalculated the time, and didn’t place in his bid before it ended.  PHEW!

Getting the ’96 Mirror Gold back in January 2019 was the biggest and best mailday I had up to that point.  It was a very big deal!  I *LOVED* that card.  

For two years.  

In March of 2021, I ended up selling it for record-breaking money – a price that to my knowledge, still stands as the highest amount paid for a Canseco card, ever.  I didn’t want to sell it, but I’m of the mind that if the amount someone is willing to pay is high enough, I’d be stupid to not take it.  

I figured there was a VERY good chance I’d never land one again.  The same goes for the 1998 PMG that’s shown above (which, by the way, has quickly become one of my favorite cards, ever!)  

2023 has been as wild as 2022 was boring when it came to Canseco cards.  

Earlier this year, I was fortunate enough to land ANOTHER PMG…AND … the main event for me for now, anyway … 

This …

I am beside-myself-excited!!!  This card came to me nearly two weeks ago, and I still can’t get enough of it.  If you are a 90s aficionado, you know my Frozen graphic above has another grail that I was asking for:  The 1999 Fleer Tradition Starting 9.  Guess what?  I landed it, too.  For the first time ever, I now have all 4 of those cards in my collection!  It is wild to think I entered 2023 with only 1 of them, and now have all …

Man alive, don’t they look great together?!?!?

It’s a very strange sensation, but I feel more … “complete” and “content” with my Canseco collection now than I ever have before.  I’m sure saying that I’m content after having a number of grails probably sounds good, but it typically doesn’t matter what you have  – contentment doesn’t really happen all that often to us collectors.  There are certainly a handful of other cards I’d like of his, but the 96 Mirror Gold filled a hole in my collection that just makes me feel like I’m not lacking.  And don’t get me wrong, there are PLENTY of other guys out there with bigger collections than I have – heck, my collection probably sits at 150 or so cards, and could stand to be drastically trimmed down, but I’m just happy 🙂  

These past 8 months have been the absolute hardest my family and I have had to endure with Phoenix passing away.  Nothing will ever come close to making up for the hole we have in our family that will last our entire lives this side of heaven.  When good fortune has come my way over these past several months, it is that much more appreciated.