When I Fell in Love with 90s Cards

When I came back to the hobby about 15 years ago, like most, I set out to capture the cards of my youth.  I completely missed the 90s insert & parallel craze ... in its entirety.  Eventually, I was seduced by game used cards, and ultimately ended up becoming a pseudo dealer.  Over the next several years, I bought & sold cardboard of all types, while becoming educated on the various different types that were created during my hiatus. In 2013, I picked up a 90's collection, and like all other collections, I split it up and sold them.  Then

40th Birthday Jose Canseco Mailday!

So, today, May 9th, I turn 40.  I'm not sure what's harder to believe - my age, or that in a week, I am going to have a 1 year old!  One thing remains the same, though:  My lover for baseball cards! It has been quite a while since I've had a meaningful Jose Canseco mailday.  This one, my friends, is a doozy!  It consisted of 11 cards total, but I will only show three here, so I don't drone on.  I would like to spend some time on each to talk about their meaningfulness to me. 2005 SP Legendary

Trading Trout for Mantle?!

Last year, I was on a kick to discover various parts of the hobby, one of which included PSA graded rookies of the newer guys.  On April 8th, 2019, I got in a card that I just couldn't get out of my head:  A 2011 Topps Update Mike Trout Diamond Anniversary PSA 10.  Like many, I have several "I wish I didn't sell" Mike Trout horror stories, and worried I was buying at its peak, but thought it still had quite a bit of room to grow - I was right! Eventually, I sold all my modern PSA stuff, except

BIGGEST Mailday/Week Ever! Pre-War Collection Reboot

If you are reading this anywhere near the time I have published this article, you may have a number of fears and concerns.  The Coronavirus has certainly changed the world we live in - at least temporarily.  As a baseball fan, one concern that afflicts you but maybe not anyone else around you is the delay of the season. As baseball fans, we endure the long, hard road from November until Spring Training.  When it gets here, it is like a breath of fresh air.  This is not something that has been afforded to us yet, so we wait with

1991 Upper Deck CHROME Prototype Sample?!?!

Whenever a prototype from the junk wax era pops up, it is huge news.  People *LOVE* new takes on cards from their childhood, and this one is no exception. A little over three years ago, I wrote about a 1991 Upper Deck Chrome prototype (I wrote a HUGE article - it is mentioned at the bottom) and how I was able to get my hands on one.  Why reinvent the wheel?  I'll go ahead and just repost what I wrote there, here, from January 2017 ... and then pick up where I left off afterward: ================ One of the most innovative

Sunday, Billy Sunday

On the Blowout forums, someone made a post asking about what card brings you joy.  I LOVE this topic - while the entire hobby brings me joy, I thought I'd put a spotlight on one card in particular. Rather than gush about a Canseco card, I wanted to show my most meaningful non Canseco. As a kid, I read a book called Billy Sunday: Baseball Preacher. I remember nothing about the book itself, but as someone who loves both Jesus and baseball, this clicked with me. The cover of the book had a mock 1956 Topps card if I recall

1919 W514 Babe Ruth Curse of the Bambino Baseball Card!

I picked this up a couple months ago, but have been waiting until the 100th year anniversary to the day! I'm still jumping out of my skin excited about it :) 1919 W514 Babe Ruth! I made a graphic detailing what is so special about it as shown below: This card has flown way under the radar given its historical significance and who it is of. It is nowhere near the most popular Babe Ruth card (though I think it should be up there) - heck - it isn't even the most popular card in the set! That honor goes

Biggest Mailday Ever? You Decide!

I'm about to show not one, not two, but THREE epic cards that have come into my collection ... on the same day! A few weeks back, Gary Carter supercollector Anthony Cali reached out to me to let me know someone had this beauty: This is a big, huge deal.  Rawlings shirt sleeve cards are extremely rare for Canseco.  Not all jerseys have them, and when they do, they typically account for one or two of the tiny squares that card companies cut jerseys up into. I did a quick & dirty measurement on a jersey by spreading it out

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

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