Allen & Ginter BIBLE Set?! Jesus has a baseball card!

This may not be news to you, but in 2012, Topps put out an Allen & Ginter insert set called "People of the Bible". It features a great checklist, including my favorite - Jesus! Ed J. sent the entire set to me for free. Thank you so much, Ed! I *love* them! For further research on these guys, you can obviously read the Bible - some folks may be interested in going to www.biblicalarchaeology.org to read up on historical and archaeological facts that support the Bible as well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldFEHjjEuvU Happy Easter - He is Risen!

Superfractor Mailday and Super Sleuthing!

First, today is the 33rd anniversary of collecting baseball cards - so if anyone has any rare Canseco cards to sell, today would be a GREAT day to land a killer Canseco :)  Now, onto the story ...   2020 marks the only year Jose doesn't have an autographed parallel superfractor in Stadium Club.  This is super ironic, because it is the only Stadium Club photo used for a superfractor of him actually signing things.  I am not into getting 1/1s signed myself, but I may make an exception for this one!       It made me wonder what cards the

Custom Work on 100+ Yr Old Photo Developed from an Old Judge Glass Plate Negative From Vermont Find

Could you imagine discovering the Old Judge original glass plate negatives from the Vermont Find in the mid 90s?  I'll write more on that in a future article, but for now, I thought I'd share a pickup (and custom project) having to do with this find.   In this find were photographs developed directly from the glass plate negatives from over 100 years ago.  I was able to obtain a photograph of Abner Boyce.  Abner Boyce was featured four times in the Old Judge set, and is on the Old Judge "scarce" list.  His cards never surface, and it is a

Using Canseco’s First Ever A&G Mini Superfractor to Create his first ever Atomic Superfractor!

When Topps revived the Allen & Ginter name, they did a remarkable job staying true to the brand, while introducing some really, and I mean realllly cool cards.  Metal, stained glass, silk, wood, glow in the dark, rip, framed/not-framed, etc.   It seemed to be only a matter of time when Topps would release the hounds, and create a superfractor version.  It is something that many have been anticipating for years - the 19th century royal lineage of cardboard was on a collision course with the gold standard of 21st century baseball cards: the superfractor.   But could Topps pull it off? 

1888 Yum Yum Tobacco – The 19th Century Evangelist & The Pirate

You've probably heard of Old Judge, Gypsy Queen, Allen & Ginter, and Goodwin.  But have you heard of Yum Yum Tobacco?  If you are not a 19th century baseball card aficionado, the odds are you haven't.  They are among the rarest of the rare, and perhaps possess one of the greatest names for a baseball card ever.  Yum Yum Tobacco?  C'mon!  Did the likes of these Wild West types go into a saloon and ask for some "Yum Yum"?  I get a kick out of thinking that it may have actually happened.  "Git me sum Yum Yum & make it

Remember when Canseco shot himself in the finger? I created some customs using the bullets!

“You know, it's funny,” Canseco said. “I didn't realize I had shot my own finger off. ... Canseco then attempted to minimize the blood loss by lifting the hand over his head and squeezing on his wrist. He went to find his fiancée and told her, “Listen, I'm sorry, but I just shot my finger off.” In 2014, news broke that Jose Canseco accidentally shot himself in the finger.  This all happened in the middle of my negotiations with his manager to do a private signing with him.  Jose played on a team in an independent league, and as a promotional item,

Best Pickups of 2021

2021 has been wild for our hobby. If you are like me, you've experienced some huuuge highs and lows. Since I consider myself a collector of two types of cards (pre-war vintage and Canseco cards) I thought I'd share my favorite pickups of 2021, and want to hear what yours are! For vintage, the clear winner for me is this: 1887 Gypsy Queen Large Mike King Kelly. It is even more appropriate since today is his birthday (Happy 164th bday, 'Kel!) - It isn't just the fact that this is the highest graded example of one of the rarest cards

When Wade Boggs Gets Involved, Things Get Exciting!

A while back, I was doing some spring cleaning, and ran across these gems - they are believed to be my first ever custom cards!  How'd I do?  Apparently 12 year old Tanner left 41 year old Tanner an Easter egg that I didn't notice until now.  Check the copyright on the Sosa LOL As the years progressed, I got a bit better, and found myself creating cards like crazy for my own collection.  Eventually, people started commissioning me to do special pieces for their collections, and as gifts for others.  I wanted to share a few here that I've

My BIGGEST Custom Baseball Card So Far!

I'm super amped about this one - very happy with how it turned out!  It is 6x9 and features multiple jumbo patches of softball superstar Kayla Kindler!  Her dad commissioned me to create this.  Here are some pics, with a video at the bottom!  If you want something cool created for yourself or a loved one, hit me up!      

Meeting an Online Friend in Person for the First Time

Baseball wasn't all that interesting to me in the mid to late 90s.  Sure, I'd check in on the 1998 home run race between McGwire and Sosa, and while I was at it, I'd keep tabs on Canseco, but that was it for the most part.  By the way, I'd check these things through the newspaper.  The internet was just beginning to pick up steam.  Around this time, I thought it was a super intriguing idea to create my own website, though I wasn't sure why.  To have a place in cyberspace where people could visit and get to know