The $107,868 Lesson, My Book, and Starting Over

If you haven't noticed, I haven't been very active anywhere online for a while.  In fact, November marks the first month in SEVEN YEARS that I didn't write at least one article.  There is a reason for that.  In October, my family suffered a terrible loss by losing my father.  Life tends to stand still when something like this happens - especially when you are as close to someone like we all were to him.  While things are getting better a little day by day, dad passing away left a huge hole in all of our hearts. We are very

Full Jose Canseco Topps Rookie Cup Rainbow Set Complete!

It took 2 years, but I finally completed it! 2016 Topps 65th Anniversary 1987 Rookie Cup    Shown below are the only 1/1 rookie cup autographs made (so far, that is - just wait until this time in 3 years and there will probably be 20 more  ) Here they are shown with the autographed 1/1 in the middle: The last card that came in was the yellow. I ran a poll on what the least liked plate was, and overwhelmingly it was yellow. I can honestly say I was much more excited about the yellow coming in than the regular 1/1 

Collecting Milestone Achieved!

As I found out a couple years ago, March 12th marks the anniversary of collecting.  I found an old journal from elementary school at my parent's house that said as much: Since today marks the 29th anniversary of when I discovered my love for cardboard, I thought it would be a good time to show off my latest collecting milestone: It is important to note that I didn't REALLY start on my Canseco collection until 2014, so the below is the result of four years of laser focus - much of this, I can thank many of you for pointing me in

2017 Leaf Q Memorabilia Autographs Jose Canseco Rainbow Complete!

I've talked a lot about how impressed I've been with 2017 Leaf Q over the past few months.  For Jose Canseco, they come in three flavors: 2015 Flashback - My favorite by far - simply perfect. Patch Perfect - Nice large patches, tons of beautiful foil, but no picture. Memorabilia Autographs - Nice large swatches with on card autographs and lots of beautiful foil, but no patches. Months before the release, a friend texted me some pictures of Canseco signing several of these before anyone else had ever seen them, and I instantly fell in love. Those are beautiful, but

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

Vacation Wrap Up

This past month, Mrs. Mouschi and I celebrated 16 years of wedded bliss.  We have been together 18 years and are rapidly approaching that magical time when we will have known each other longer than we haven't.  I still remember her loving words to me many years ago: "Sometimes I wish I were you, so I could be married to such a wonderful person like me."  She is so eloquent! Work has really had me burning the candle at both ends, so for the big 16...we hit Denny's. And we got this: Yes, friends.  This tall glass of water came

Thanks 4 the Cheese & Mac!

About a month ago, you may recall I wrote an article about the Kraft Home Plate Heroes cards that were on the back of Cheese & Macaroni boxes in 1987. Forum users AndretheNick sent me another interesting one. This was likely part of a completely separate run, perhaps a proof of some sort, as the regulars did not have so much white at the top. Thanks Andre! I had been kicking this around, and thought a few customs were in order as well: The cheese relic card, in all of its neon orange glory Noodles AND DUAL CHEESE & MAC

You haven’t seen these before – 90’s Prototype Edition

What lies below is the unveiling of some cards you have likely never seen before.  In addition to this is the absolute craziest deal I have ever been a part of! If you ask seasoned hardcore collectors, they will tell you the 1990s inserts/parallels are where it's at.  The best of the best?  Across the board, you will likely hear about 1996 Select Certified Mirror Gold, 1997 Pinnacle Totally Certified Platinum Gold, 1998 Donruss Red Crusade, among others.  These are *true* white whale cards for collectors.  With only 25-30 of each having been printed, some of these cards have been dreamed about

Cheese & Macaroni … or Macaroni & Cheese?

1987 Kraft Home Plate Heroes I'm not sure what your thoughts/feelings are on Mac & Cheese, but it has been in my life for 30 or more years.  The cheesy goodness.  The way you can stick a noodle on each prong of your fork.  Perfection....almost. In 1987, Kraft DID make it perfect by printing 2 baseball cards to cut out from the backs of each box of Macaroni & Cheese (or as I like to call it ... Cheese & Macaroni ... anyone else with me? No?  I didn't think so.) I blame this commercial for ruining it for me subliminally.

Remembering to Be Thankful

You can't have everything.  Don't even try.  Don't get too bummed out when someone else gets a card you have been holding out for. This has been my mantra this morning, as I look back on some cards I have missed out on recently.  I've been EXTREMELY fortunate / blessed / thankful / lucky to land what I have, and I thought it would be a great time to do a collection update!  There are some great 1/1s that are my favorite to show off, but there are also some hum-drum cards with great stories that are my favorite to write