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134 Year Old Treasure Hunt Yields an Exciting Discovery!

Here is a link to the audio from my podcast if you'd like to listen instead, though I do hope you read the article and check out the pictures! https://anchor.fm/tan-man-baseball-fan/episodes/My-134-Year-Old-Discovery-e13sbv8 What I stumbled upon feels like the baseball card version of the Da Vinci Code and Indiana Jones all wrapped up into one. Everyone loves a good treasure hunting mystery, and I guess that's why I love baseball card collecting so much.  As a 9 year old, nothing would excite me more than when mom & dad would bring me home a pack of 1989 Donruss or take me to

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Huge Mail Day – Bat Barrel Card Showing Point of Impact!

Years ago, I picked up my first bat barrel card.  I was super excited about it, but if I am being honest, I didn't really think much about one bat barrel being better than another.  A few years back, I sold it (along with most of my collection), and jumped out of my skin when I had the chance to pick up my first barrel again - I even have the recording of when it was pulled on Youtube saved on my computer! To me, this card is perfect.  The bat company name and nameplate are perfectly centered, and the

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Unlocking the Secret of 2011 Goodwin Champions Using 1/1 King Kelly

In 2011, Upper Deck once again resurrected the 1888 Goodwin Champions name a second time to launch a new set in the same theme from its 123 year old predecessor.  The King Kelly is known to many as the most beautiful baseball card from the 19th century, ever.  It has been said that the artist used a stormy background to go along with Kelly's stormy personality.  The Kelly is the 7th card shown in the pic below: 2011 Goodwin holds a special place for me, as well as a good mystery.  First, as far as I know, it is the

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How 19th Century Old Judge & Gypsy Queen Baseball Cards Were Made

To me, searching for a baseball card = treasure hunting.  Can you relate to that? For years, I've written about my treasure hunting finds - I would wait with bated breath for the release of the latest checklist to see if an exciting Canseco card was created. I would (and still do!) get super hyped about a card that was "hot off the presses": Beautiful artwork designed in Photoshop Fresh ink applied to brand new, high gloss card stock by the latest and greatest technology Machines more expensive than my house apply foil, embed a game used relic, and cut

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Putting a T205 Gold Border Christy Mathewson Under a Microscope

I've always loved T206 white borders.  The thought of having something to do with my favorite sport/hobby that predates both world wars was always intriguing to me.  Plus, the T206s are the most famous sports cards in history. A tobacco card issue that has always been in the T206's shadow is the 1911 T205 Gold Border.  In spite of the fact that it is numerical before T206, it was actually issued after.  The number designation given by Jefferson Burdick was a reference to the alphabetical order (Gold vs. White). The T205 Gold Border is much rarer than the T206 -

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1934 Goudey Lou Gehrig – The Happiest Card Ever Made?

When I first started creating custom cards for my collection, it was mainly because Canseco wasn't found in some of the newer releases that I wished he had been included in.  While creating new cards were fun, I also wanted to try my hand at recreating my favorite player on one of the most iconic cards, ever:  1934 Goudey. About 7 years ago or so, I picked up some 2008 Goudey to draw inspiration from. I absolutely loved the bottom of this.  My wife suggested I create a card with me at the bottom instead! Using this picture ... and

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I’ve Acquired the ENTIRE 1919-21 W514 Complete Set – Babe Ruth, Shoeless Joe Jackson, Black Sox Set & Customs!

The 1919-21 W514 issue is a set of cards that has always intrigued me.  There are a number of key cards, and fantastic stories!  Being that the set is now 100+ years old, it also feels like history. Created right after World War 1, the simplistic artwork and low quality card stock serve as reminders of America dealing with the aftermath of WW1. Due to their meteoric rise in price recently, I sold my W514 Shoeless Joe Jackson and Babe Ruth.  The money was great, but I was sad to see them go.  I caught wind of an auction house

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1997 Ultra Platinum Medallion Jose Canseco – Mysteriously Elusive

MASSIVE mail day / grail day today for two reasons. #1 I completed my Ultra Platinum run (again), and #2 I GOT THE 97 ULTRA PLATINUM SERIES 2!!! For those of you who don't know, this card is impossible, in spite of the print run being reported as 200. I've only seen 2 others in decent condition, ever. Sales history shows 24 other 1997 Ultra Platinum Canseco cards having been sold. 23 of those were the S1 Red Sox version. PSA shows 83 S1 platinums of any player graded, whereas S2 platinums have a total of 8! I've got theories:

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The Diamond Cutting Stage – Customs, Pickups, and More!

It has been a while since I've written, so I figured I'd write a little bit about what I've been up to!  First, here are some customs I created: This Back to the Future jumbo was created using a signed index card from Lea Thompson. Here is a video showing it (along with Footloose and Roberto Clemente customs). A Braves fan reached out to me with a number of signed baseballs from his collection that he wanted cards made out of. A UFC fan reached out to me with a fight glove from Chris "Lights Out" Lytle.  Here

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A Boy and His Collection – A Parable

Here is a parable that I wrote!  I draw this partially from personal experience, but think and hope you all can connect with this too. Listen to the audio version here!   Let me tell you a story of a little boy who went exploring with his family in the woods. Once upon a time, a family took a trip to go hiking in the woods.  They happened upon a stream of cold, crystal clear water.  The little boy was fascinated by the shallow stream, and crouched down to get a better look at the bed of the stream.  What he

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