Bringing a $200,000 19th Century Advertisement To Life

I think I now understand why why I get so romantic over 19th century baseball cards and collectibles.  They give a rich and vivid voice to a time period that has been largely forgotten by yesterday's fans and collectors - and unknown to fans and collectors of the present. Baseball and baseball card collecting in the 1800s is fascinating - there is no shortage of fun stories and history that have come out of this time period.  In the pictures below, you will see the likenesses of hall of famers, baseball pioneers, and players who reached larger than life celebrity

1995 Upper Deck Electric Diamond Gold Rarity Mystery

Did you know that the Alan Trammell version of this sold for over $400 the other day? Heck, Kent Merker went for $22! 1995 Upper Deck Electric Diamond Gold - This set was sold in 2 series. Series 2 is harder to find, but series 1 isn't exactly a cakewalk.  Canseco is in series 1, and doesn't show up often, but isn't as tough as these series 2 cards. This is a card that I never thought much of until researching this set. The wild thing about it is the Electric Diamond Gold cards are stated to have fallen at

Remember when buybacks were rare?

Remember when buybacks were rare? Take for instance, this - Canseco's most famous Topps card, ever. In 2004, Topps gave collectors Jose's first ever buyback auto, and hand numbered it to 99. (Super rare, considering the they probably produced millions of them.  The 1991 Donruss Elite is numbered to 10,000, so this buyback is less than 1% of those!)   In 2015, they upped the ante and released one numbered to /14.   In 2016, they released it again, but numbered to /97. The only real on card difference being the stamp is on the other side. Oh, and several

1986 Donruss Jose Canseco Rated Rookie Fun Facts and my latest Pickup (It’s SUPER rare!)

For a time period growing up in the late 80s/early 90s, there wasn't a bigger card than the 1986 Donruss Jose Canseco Rated Rookie.  It was the grail of grails.  I have heard reports of it selling for over $150 back then. It didn't matter to me, because anything over $20 might as well have been a million dollars.  It was the card that was so hot and so big, that I don't even think it entered my dreams. 1986 Donruss Jose Canseco Rated Rookie - the face of the hobby While I was preoccupied with 1988 Donruss and 1989 Score,

Showing off Customs & Cards While our AC is Busted

Greetings from mission control - where the lights are off, and game 2 of the ALCS is blaring so I can hear it above the 2 fans pointed at me.  The ALDS nearly killed me.  When you spend the first 12 years of your life as an A's fan in California, but have 28 years of Houston life under your belt, it is confusing who to root for.  This totally describes me last week. I was sad the A's lost, but it was a REALLY entertaining series.  The sheer amount of bombs hit makes me wonder if the playoff balls

  • 2000 Venezuelan Sticker Jose Canseco

2000 Venezuelan Sticker Jose Canseco – Ultra Rare!

If you know, you know.  :) The 2000 Venezuelan Sticker.  On the outside, it looks like one of the countless Panini stickers they did decades ago. This, however, is different. It was created in Venezuela during a time when global commerce for things like this just wasn't a common thing, and was created during a time when card companies were creating some truly beautiful cards, so unless you know what it is, even if it popped up, most wouldn't look at it twice. For old school supercollectors and player collectors, however, this has been on many people's want lists since

Custom Baseball Cards for Weddings, Anniversary Gifts, Births, etc.

Creating customs of monumental personal life events is my favorite.  Don't get me wrong, I LOVE creating Canseco customs for my personal collection and such, but there is something about creating anniversary gifts, baby births, etc.  I wanted to share a few here!  If you are interested in having one done for you, contact me at tanmanbaseballfan@gmail.com :) Wedding Anniversary Gift This was actually done as part of a trade to get some Canseco cards in my collection :)  My buddy sent over a few photographs and some relics from his wedding.  I created this! There are six pieces shown,

1889 Goodwin A35 Round Album John Ward – Kicked out of School for Stealing Chickens!

Aside from being one of my favorite 19th century pieces to look at, there is a lot of history here in this 1889 Goodwin A35 John Ward.  The piece below was a custom project I worked on which houses the original, authentic 1889 A35.  You can read more about that here. John Montgomery Ward was a celebrity who many admired from afar but many also despised up close. This very polarizing figure also formed the first ever sports player's union. Initially kicked out of school for stealing chickens, Ward became a star pitcher, tossing the 2nd perfect game in baseball

I Have Acquired an Honus Wagner Rookie!

First, let me say right off, no, I didn't purchase a T206 Honus Wagner.  What I did pickup, however, predates the T206 by at least a decade *and* is significantly rarer!  This was definitely an Indiana Jones moment for me. Let me introduce you to my newest piece:  The 1899-00 M101-1 Sporting News Honus Wagner Rookie!  I have only seen six others up for sale in auction houses this century, and half of them have significant amounts of it cut away.  This is one of the finest examples of this premium insert to ever hit the market! The funny thing

I Bought Out TWO Jose Canseco Supercollectors

As a buyer and seller of baseball card collections for 15 years, I always enjoy being neck deep in cardboard.  When it comes to buying Canseco collections, it is way more exciting for me, as I am able to keep out what I want instead of just selling everything.  Check out how this last month went for me! BUYING MATT'S CANSECO SUPERCOLLECTION About 2 years ago, I was in the thick of selling off my Jose Canseco supercollection.  One of the very first people to buy a significant portion of it was noted Jose Canseco Supercollector Matt.  If you are