It has been a while since I’ve shown my Jose Canseco collection since I sold out back in 2018.  I went at it hard for about five years trying to get everything, then sold out.  Since then, I’ve gotten back in, but have worked extremely hard at picking up cards that are super meaningful to me. 

I’ve bought and sold some substantial collections, thinned down, bulked up, rinsed, and repeated.  2024 was a really great year for my collection, and I’m extremely happy & satisfied with where I’m at!  I wanted to show you all some of my favorites.  This certainly isn’t all of my firepower, but I figured most of you all would probably appreciate the eye candy power of these selected cards most 🙂  

2024 has been a year of pairs, so many of the pics below will be in twos. 

This pic shows a couple heavy hitters, but the one on the left is one of my absolute favorite cards.  Laundry tags of Jose are super difficult as it is, but a jumbo rookie tag?  Yup. This is his one and only at the monent!  I LOVE it.  The other is a nice Rawlings sleeve tag, and they both seem to flow nicely to spell out the name Rawlings 🙂  

This is a dream card – it is a piece of the patch Jose wore in the 1989 World Series – the pinnacle of my childhood!

If you don’t know about these cards, a google search will do you well.  GREAT story on them.  There are about 7 of the first card, and 5 of the 2nd.  95% of all of them at least are probably locked up in personal collections.  They go for big moola!

This pairing of Essential Credentials is among the best that the 90s has to offer!

These two beauties are incredible looking.  The 1997 Score Platinum and Premiere.  The Premiere on the left is tougher than finding an alligator in a tu-tu. 

To me, these are more art than cards.  The sketch on the left is from Topps’ most expensive product ever, Transcendent.  Steve Y actually gifted me this card. It isn’t everyday someone just gifts you one of your favorite cards in your collection!  I also know the artist, Daniel Bergren!  The one on the right is a drop dead gorgeous Museum wood framed auto.  Both 1/1s. Both perfect. 

90’s gold doesn’t get better than this.  The 99 Fleer Brilliants 24kt might set a record if it ever hits the auction block. The Ultimate Victory is a 1/1, and the 96 Mirror Gold is … well … let’s face it, the most monumental card of the 90s.  Plus, this one comes from the collection of the Pinnacle CEO!

Speaking of 90s grails, if I had to pick three of the holiest grailiest 90s cards of A’s playing days cards for Jose, it would be these.  1997 Totally Certified Platinum, 1998 PMG, 1998 Crusade Red.  

Did you know? Jose only have two patch cards produced during his career (while he was actually playing, that is.)  The 2nd card has an unnumbered parallel as well, so we won’t count that at the monent, but these exact two are my favorite patch cards of him during his playing career that were ever created.  Heck, I traded an autographed barrel, and a few other 1/1s just to get the first patch card!  The 2nd card is the most colorful patch I’ve ever seen of his.  

1987 Topps Jose Canseco was the first card i ever pulled.  Topps has done multiple renditions of it over the years, but none (in my opinion) surpass the beauty and rarity of these two – they never show up!  The left is #/25, and the right is #/15. 

One of the handprint cards all the way back in 2014 was offered to me. Instead of grabbing it, I sent it on its way to another collector.  For years, I was kicking myself … I can still remember one popping up on ebay with the seller saying “forget case hits … this is a pallet hit!”  This particular piece was in someone’s dad’s curio cabinet in the back for years and years.  So happy it has now made it to my collection.  

The only sets Topps made Own the Name letter cards for Jose shown below!

These cards have a special significance.  All these Rangers patches are actually from the jersey Jose wore when the ball bounced off his head, and when he pitched a few days later.

A pair of Jose’s absolute first autographed / jersey Topps cards.  Man, Topps outdid themselves with these!

This may seem like an odd pairing – both absolutely deserve their own graphic.  But, since I created this around Christmas, I figured these would do well. Plus, they have the distinction of being the only regular sized on card auto patch cards of Jose for Topps.  How crazy is that?  Both are /5, the left may be the only logo patch of his in that card, and the Dynasty bears the logo patch Jose wore when he was traded to Texas. 

A couple incredible Absolutes!  #/5 and #/15.  The hat hole may be the first appearance ever of a hat piece (or hat hole piece!) whereas the TOTT might be the first appearance of that glorious gold from the logo patch.  

Speaking of hats … two of the absolute coolest hat pieces I’ve ever seen, but sadly without a picture.  Still, I love em!

I’m not one to fawn over jersey number cards, but when it comes to Jose’s first ever pack pulled autograph, the serial # 33/250 to me makes it way cooler than most 1/1s. Simply put: Monumental!

Jose’s first ever Topps patch cards!  All of them from what I’ve seen are either solid green or solid gold. They are #/15, so this is over 10% of the run 🙂 

My favorite button cards of Jose to ever have been made!  The /8 was likely a mistake by Flawless, and should have been the 1/1, as it is the only button in the entire run I’ve seen.  

This one is fun:  Two elephant faces: one green, one white.  Both with autos, about 15 years apart, and both 5/5!  

The first auto knob I picked up since having come back, and it has bounced around a few places to other collections.  2024 brought it back home, and I was able to marry it up with the auto barrel of the same year. To my knowledge, this is Jose’s only barrel auto with a black bat.  

Sterling is my favorite.  How about THREE bat knobs!  To get specific, the left and right I believe are ends of the bat.  I LOVE the variance.  

Double barrel action from Sterling!  These are the two most visually appealing barrels ever to be made for Canseco, in my opinion.  

Boy oh boy do I love this double barrel action from Museum.  The first one is just perfect in my opinion. I remember seeing it pulled nearly 10 years ago. It has bounced around in a few collections, and finally came back to me 🙂  The Devil Rays barrel might be his only nameplate Devil Rays barrel card.  Love that one too!

Family photo of all my barrels and knobs!

This offering from Leaf is an anomaly.  IMO, it whips pretty much any other jumbo patch offerings from licensed sets.  They did such a great job – I normally don’t do a whole lot with Leaf, but oddly enough, I’d pick this over much of the other stuff out there.  And I also think this is Jose’s only jumbo patch / on card auto rainbow out there at the moment (unless I’m forgetting something!) Dynasty has larger than normal patch windows too, but the patch dimensions on these are about twice that of Dynasty (yes, I measured and calculated it, LOL!)  

Here is a family photo of all my Superfractors!

Last but not least, a Christmas tree I made of my 90s-00s fire 🙂 

So, as always, I’m ALWAYS looking to add to my Jose Canseco collection – if you see anything super cool or rare of his, please let me know!  Thanks for reading/watching, and I hope you have a GREAT NYE!