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The Incredible Story of 2010 Upper Deck Exquisite

On October 6, 2001, Jose Canseco played his last game in the majors, wrapping up an injury riddled career at the age of 37, while racking up several awards:  Rookie of the Year, 4 Silver Sluggers, 6 All Star Game appearances, 2 World Series rings, and MVP. During his playing career, collectors only had a couple options for picking up a game used patch card of his, as these types of cards were new to the hobby.  Over the next few years after he was out of baseball, companies really started ramping things up, and Canseco collectors were treated to

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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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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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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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My Vintage Collection

Raise your hand if you sold something too early this past year. If I were a betting man, I'd say that nearly every one of you reading this put your hand in the air while gritting your teeth.  Never in a million, billion, trillion years would I think cards would explode in the midst of a pandemic! I had a bunch of high graded PSA rookies from the 80s and 90s, as well as FASC wax, and even a ton of low grade vintage. And I sold nearly all of it. Before prices skyrocketed. Yes, everytime I see for forum

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My Jose Canseco Collection – Updated for 2021 Video Series

In this four part video series, I show off my entire Jose Canseco baseball card collection updated for 2021!  I have done a LOT of consolidating, and here is what I am left with.  It was a blast going through them all :)  Grab some popcorn, and snuggle up with a loved one for two hours of Jose Canseco cardboard goodness!         And, as a bonus, I did a TOP 50 video showing some of my favorites:  

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I Captured the King, and Lost the Queen, But Got the Babe

Let me start off by saying, I'm going to try super hard not to turn this article into a book.  A lot has been going on!  To kick it all off, I did a MASSIVE trade involving a boatload of Jose Canseco cards.  The boxes on the right are Canseco cards.  The box on the left?  An 1888 Allen & Ginter N28 baseball card set. I know what you are thinking:  How very Tanner of me to trade my 1888 Allen & Ginter set for Canseco cards.  PLOT TWIST:  The Canseco cards actually left my collection! I packed up a

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