For years I’ve been collecting and writing about Jose Canseco cards here, and I’ve had the chance to work directly with Jose on what I’m about to show you. It’s months of work, dozens of designs, and something I don’t think the hobby has seen before.

The card companies keep going back to the same well: the Athletics, the 40/40 season. Jose Canseco is so much bigger than that. He transcended baseball and became a fixture of pop culture itself. It was time somebody made cards that reflected that.

As The Steroid Collection takes a brief intermission, allow me to introduce you to…

The Steroid Era: a time when baseball players became household names and pop culture icons. Jose Canseco wasn’t just part of it. He was the Godfather of Steroids.

Produced in direct collaboration with Jose Canseco, The Steroid Era reimagines Jose through 30 different lenses across what I’m calling the Cansecoverse. Five waves. Six cards per wave. 

The gallery is now open. Here is Wave One. 

Subject 01: Level One

The flagship card of Wave One. Classic Jose with bat in hand, complemented with silver holographic foil. Every card in The Steroid Era features a QR code on the back that unlocks its Cansecoverse dossier – a classified file with lore, Easter eggs, and connected storylines across all 30 cards.  Note that autographed variants (coming soon!) are required to obtain the file number to unlock the dossier.

 

Subject 03: Progenitor

Jose is considered by many to be the architect of the Steroid Era in baseball. This card leans into that legacy with a steampunk aesthetic. Shown here as the die-cut parallel with rounded corners.

Subject 04 — Colossus

A moniker Jose heard throughout his career — and one he earned. Shown here in the gold holographic foil parallel.

Subject 02 — High Roller

A nod to Jose’s well-known love of poker. The example below is the Lucky Draw parallel — embossed with a custom logo. These are randomly inserted across base packs.

Subject 05 — Sector 33

If you follow Jose on social media, you know about the alien and UFO tweets. Sector 33 leans all the way in. 

Subject 06 — Frankenseco

The final card of Wave 1, and the one I’ve been most excited to show. This variant features Jose’s actual embedded workout material — hand-cut and placed into the card.  The variant shown below is the one of one parallel.

Wave One packs are available for pre-order now at the special introductory launch price. Each pack contains all six Wave 1 cards — five silver holographic foil cards plus one random parallel. You might pull a gold, a die-cut, an embossed Lucky Draw, a workout-used relic, or even a one of one.  On-card silver and gold ink autographed variants are coming soon.

Inject the Steroid Era into your collection Today!

Five waves. Thirty cards. One Cansecoverse.  This is The Steroid Era.