My Jose Canseco Collection – In a Three Part Video Series!

Call it off-season depression, or whatever you want, but I am going through baseball withdrawal and figured now would be a good time to do what I've been wanting to do for quite a while.  I've been looking forward to putting together a video series of my Canseco collection post-supercollectordom.  I can hardly believe it, but it has been a year and a half since I stopped my relentless search for each and every card depicting the 40-40 man.  Time flies when you are having fun ... and having a baby :) BTW, Beckett is six months old today, and

2 AM Project – I created a Homer Simpson Custom Card out of Junk Mail

You've heard of junk wax cards ... how about junk mail cards? Have you ever been thankful for a piece of junk mail?  Me neither, that is, until a few days ago.  When it came in, I knew the material looked familiar.  I held it up to a 2011 Topps Diamond Anniversary card, and sure enough - it was the same material ... just green! When I started doing customs, I would always look at different materials and wonder to myself what could be used to create customs that would be fun.  No joke, I'd literally be standing in the

Before There Were Baseball Cards

Listening to a good baseball game on the radio is like soul food for my ears.  As a numbers guy, I find myself oftentimes looking up statistics from players and teams while I've tuned in.  My brain will run statistical scenarios on current players to see how they may stack up against our heroes of the past.  Doing this got me to thinking how in tune we are to the game and its players, and how card collecting helps bridge the gap from being a fan to feeling truly connected. On September 1st, Justin Verlander pitched a no-hitter.  I heard

Custom Art Piece Created using Andrew McCutchen’s Dreadlock!

It has been a while since I've posted a custom, and I thought some folks may get a kick out of this so I figured I'd post it! From the charity auction ... The cut dreadlock The pieces ... Front... ...and back! (With embedded MLB authenticated hologram) Hopefully McCutchen will sign on the acetate just under the dreadlock, which will finish the project off quite nicely! Creepy? Cool? Maybe a little of both, but I enjoyed the heck out of putting this one together :)

PC Holy Grail Alert! When you find a card with a piece of your childhood inside it!

(A video is at the bottom of this article!) If you are like me, you are in the hobby of collecting baseball cards as an adult because you were in it initially as a child.  You may have experienced something you perceived as truly magical in the game of baseball as a child, be it a team, player or game.  Having a memento of sorts, like baseball cards made you feel like you were a part of the game - like you owned something significant.  Opening packs of the new card company Score from 1988 was a thrill.  If you

Bad News Bears & Larry Doby Customs Created!

I'd love to be able to write volumes on these, but I figured I'd keep this short and sweet :) Fun fact! I was actually named after a character in the Bad News Bears. First, I took this: and made this (A negro league card!) Front: Back: Then, I took this Walter Matthau signed index card: and created this: Back: Here is a video of me showing them off :)

One Year Older – My Birthday Post

Today I turn 38.  For those of you who are adults, you probably remember growing up thinking MAN!  There are people my age playing major league baseball now!  A decade further, you think DANG!  This rookie crop is a DECADE younger than I am!  10 years later, you desperately look up and down the active rosters to see ANY familiar name from when you were younger. Thank you for still being around, Bartolo Colon. Ken Griffey Jr., Chipper Jones, Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Frank Thomas ... all are long gone.  At 38, not only is that one step closer to 40; it

Fun Customs with some Jeter Signatures & a Replica Jersey

I'm not gonna lie, 2018 has been hard so far. On Christmas Eve, my dad was rushed to the hospital and literally JUST got out a little over a week ago. Through physical therapy, he is getting stronger, but it was a rough several weeks to start of 2018 for both him and my mom.  I will definitely say this cup is half full though, as it could have been much worse!  We are thankful he is back at home, finally. Unfortunately, things didn't go that way for our dog Dewey.  In the midst of a very tumultuous season in

When a Memory Becomes a Card

A few days ago, I posted the question to "Describe your dream card that doesn't exist" in various places on the Internet.  I received hundreds of responses - here are a few of them: A sweet spot auto card of Nolan Ryan on a game used baseball from one of his no-hitters Roger Clemens / Mike Piazza dual card with a bat piece 1954 Topps Mickey Mantle Some of the responses were ... interesting.  For instance, this one by dbackschamp2001: I cannot say if this is crazy or brilliant, but I do hope dbackschamp2001 gets the help he clearly needs. To use all these pieces

2017: My Year in Review of Customs, Collection Additions & Events

As 2017 winds down, I wanted to do a review on my collection, customs created and events having to do with this hobby to document the entire year.  2017 was huge for my collection - over 600 cards have been added, over 45 articles have been written and several of my favorite customs have been created.  When all is said and done, I am left with the following list of notable pickups, events & customs.  I have swung and missed on a number of opportunities, but you miss 100% of the pitches you don't swing at, right?  This article isn't about