Mutant Cards, Zits and Cool Customs

We are now about 20 days into 2016, and I haven't written a single article.  Forgive me, readers, for it has been too long.  The end of 2015 went by faster than any other year I can recall, and I am still scratching my head wondering where all the Christmas lights have gone.  Perhaps it is the 79 degree forecast on the eve of the coldest month of the year for us.  (Seriously, Jan 31st here is supposed to be 79, and I wouldn't doubt it hitting 80!) All that to say, I've been working on an idea I'm really

The Bridge Between Collecting Art and Baseball Cards

If your collecting career was alive and well during the 1980's, you were treated to finding your favorite players packaged with all sorts of things.  From cookies and breads to sausage and dog food, they were everywhere.  Unless they were Broders, you were very familiar with the airbrushed hat, not unlike what Panini and Leaf have to do these days.  Companies did a great job understanding what their consumers liked, and in the 80's, it was baseball cards. Cards being inserted into bread is now a thing of the past.  Card companies have done a number of things differently from

$1200 Worth of Cards Lost at USPS?!?!

Remember the fun Fed Ex / USPS picture back & forth post I made concerning a trade with a fellow Canseco Super Collector? That deal didn't come without stress. After that fun back and forth on pictures, we waited. And we waited. And we waited. $21 on insurance for 2 day priority ... and it just said "Acceptance" for the first whole day on the tracking number. It is important to note that there was a message at the bottom saying something similar to "This package is ready to be dropped off." Talk about worrisome! If an employee swipes it

Tools of the Trade Custom & New Website

Have you ever had one of those days where you feel like you have accomplished nothing?  Well, I have had about a month full of them.  Not because I haven't been busy - but because the progress I have been making on everything seems to be so slow.  Heck, I haven't even touched creating a custom for over a month! What started out as a simple checklist upgrade, ended up being a full blown website overhaul.  I was going to write an article of how I transformed my MS Word Document checklist into a fully searchable sortable online database, but

Trading with a Fellow Super Collector

Today, I mourn the loss of 3 great PC cards. No, I didn't spill milk on them, nor did I accidentally drop them in the toilet, admiring them while peeing. After a week of going back and forth with a fellow Canseco super collector (Razor), I gave up 3 cards and cash in return for 6 cards. I will likely show them when they come in, but a fun little picture back & forth ensued that I thought I would share in the mean time. In true James Bond fashion, he sent me pics to update how my package was

Mantle, Maris and Jackie Robinson – Need I say more?

For reasons I do not wish to get into publicly, this past decade has had many years of pain and agony.  It is funny how when life goes smoothly, each day seems to zip by quickly.  These past few years have been filled with those kinds of days (Thank you Lord - keep 'em coming!) Blogging has been good therapy for me, and has become a fun hobby as well.  It really is great - I have been fortunate enough to have received a ton of flattering feedback, and have been able to use it as a way to chronicle

My Collection Just got Personal

As you read this, there are probably millions of online transactions happening around the globe.  Currently, I have cards incoming from Vermont, North Dakota, Florida, Mississippi, Indiana and New Jersey.  These cards are from people I have known for a while, people I have just met or simply people selling cards from Ebay.  They all have one thing in common though:  None of it would have been possible without the use of the Internet. While online transactions are now as commonplace as air-conditioned houses, it hasn't always been like this.  When I first started collecting in the late 80's, the

Hunting a Card that Doesn’t Exist

When I first started actively looking for, and buying cards for my PC, I wasn't exactly a big spender. Take this card, for example.  I had never seen this card ... ever.  In all my 26 years of collecting.  It was a blank back and up for sale for $4, I believe, and shipping was $3 if I recall correctly. I wasn't too keen on spending $7 on a card like this, so I did what anyone would do in my situation.  I asked the buyer if he would be willing to do $5 including shipping for this card. EPIC

My First Break, The National and Brian Gray

My wife and son have been gone on their mission trip since Thursday afternoon, and I am stuck here all by my lonesome - well, aside from our 2 dogs who are so depressed about their departure, that they don't acknowledge that I'm still here.  (Seriously, dogs - the least you can do is come downstairs when I walk in the door!) This morning, I opted to not let my inner uber-lazy-tv-watching bachelor win and actually got out to do something.  One thing I have been wanting to do is to actually physically see my Beckett on the news stands

Card Revived from the Trash Heap

During my collecting journey, I've made some pretty good friendships with others.  Two of them are very close to Canseco.  One of them pitches to him before games to warm him up and in home run derbies.  At Jose's 51st birthday party, he mentioned the poker cards I made him.  Canseco said "Oh yeah, Tanner made these for me - I love them - they are my favorite!" To hear that your favorite player say something like that about what you made for him AND remember your name (oh yeah, my name is on the back of the cards) -