Tools of the Trade Custom & New Website

Have you ever had one of those days where you feel like you have accomplished nothing?  Well, I have had about a month full of them.  Not because I haven't been busy - but because the progress I have been making on everything seems to be so slow.  Heck, I haven't even touched creating a custom for over a month! What started out as a simple checklist upgrade, ended up being a full blown website overhaul.  I was going to write an article of how I transformed my MS Word Document checklist into a fully searchable sortable online database, but

Trading with a Fellow Super Collector

Today, I mourn the loss of 3 great PC cards. No, I didn't spill milk on them, nor did I accidentally drop them in the toilet, admiring them while peeing. After a week of going back and forth with a fellow Canseco super collector (Razor), I gave up 3 cards and cash in return for 6 cards. I will likely show them when they come in, but a fun little picture back & forth ensued that I thought I would share in the mean time. In true James Bond fashion, he sent me pics to update how my package was

Mantle, Maris and Jackie Robinson – Need I say more?

For reasons I do not wish to get into publicly, this past decade has had many years of pain and agony.  It is funny how when life goes smoothly, each day seems to zip by quickly.  These past few years have been filled with those kinds of days (Thank you Lord - keep 'em coming!) Blogging has been good therapy for me, and has become a fun hobby as well.  It really is great - I have been fortunate enough to have received a ton of flattering feedback, and have been able to use it as a way to chronicle

My Collection Just got Personal

As you read this, there are probably millions of online transactions happening around the globe.  Currently, I have cards incoming from Vermont, North Dakota, Florida, Mississippi, Indiana and New Jersey.  These cards are from people I have known for a while, people I have just met or simply people selling cards from Ebay.  They all have one thing in common though:  None of it would have been possible without the use of the Internet. While online transactions are now as commonplace as air-conditioned houses, it hasn't always been like this.  When I first started collecting in the late 80's, the

Hunting a Card that Doesn’t Exist

When I first started actively looking for, and buying cards for my PC, I wasn't exactly a big spender. Take this card, for example.  I had never seen this card ... ever.  In all my 26 years of collecting.  It was a blank back and up for sale for $4, I believe, and shipping was $3 if I recall correctly. I wasn't too keen on spending $7 on a card like this, so I did what anyone would do in my situation.  I asked the buyer if he would be willing to do $5 including shipping for this card. EPIC

My First Break, The National and Brian Gray

My wife and son have been gone on their mission trip since Thursday afternoon, and I am stuck here all by my lonesome - well, aside from our 2 dogs who are so depressed about their departure, that they don't acknowledge that I'm still here.  (Seriously, dogs - the least you can do is come downstairs when I walk in the door!) This morning, I opted to not let my inner uber-lazy-tv-watching bachelor win and actually got out to do something.  One thing I have been wanting to do is to actually physically see my Beckett on the news stands

Card Revived from the Trash Heap

During my collecting journey, I've made some pretty good friendships with others.  Two of them are very close to Canseco.  One of them pitches to him before games to warm him up and in home run derbies.  At Jose's 51st birthday party, he mentioned the poker cards I made him.  Canseco said "Oh yeah, Tanner made these for me - I love them - they are my favorite!" To hear that your favorite player say something like that about what you made for him AND remember your name (oh yeah, my name is on the back of the cards) -

Garage Sale Results for my Wife and Son’s Mission Trip!

I posted this on the forums as a final post to the thread I started showing my moustache / autograph card I was selling for the mission trip.  I know this doesn't have much to do with baseball, but wanted to post it on my blog as well ... My wife and son leave for their trip on Thursday, so I thought I'd just give an update on the whole money raising part.  I had about 6 people buy the mini blue/red autographs of me, which was very nice of them.  I even had 2 people donate some money from

Custom Time with a Babe Ruth Bat

Since taking apart several 1 of 1's at the requests of their owners to create something truly unique - and posting them - I have had a number of critics.  While several have said they like what I came up with more than what the card companies created, many just thought it was "wrong" to do...regardless of how nice they turned out. One thing that has come out of this whole ordeal is apparently what many of the card companies have been putting out simply are not enough to keep people satisfied.  I have had a lot of interest in

Latest Canseco Pickup!

About 16 years ago, you may recall Fleer putting out a set by the name of Brilliants.  The base cards feature a chrome mirror like finish, and had a very premium look by itself.  Very classy looking card.  I remember seeing them from time to time whenever I would go through huge collections I purchased, and would find a Canseco.  I would be ecstatic because it was so nice looking! Later on down the road, when I got more serious into my PC, I sought out the parallels as well.  They had a blue version, which was insanely beautiful -