........
Still, that was ok because it is actually referenced in Beckett on the same page as being a part of their set. I'm very happy it is now in my collection.
I immediately wondered what it would look like as a full sized glossy card ... with a back ... and with a blue border variation as some of the other cards are shown in the set.
So I made them:
See how shiny?
And the complete backs ... describing what they are, along with a picture of the page from Beckett:
Definitely a massive improvement from the "real" one. Hold the phone ... this is like ... some sort of a dichotomy or something, isn't it? <checks online dictionary>...
What I just did was I made a real fake card of a fake real card. Whoa dude ... Mind. Blown.
Anywho, moving forward, the most notable card that has been picked up in 2016 is from a set that is just absolutely drop dead gorgeous.
YES!!! I got "THE" wood 1/1 silver signature 2015 Museum Collection. It completes my rainbow of the /15, /10 and /5. All of them are so gorgeous, but the wood is just so insanely awesome. It is one of those cards that you don't ever think will come to market, because you think that it has found its way into the collection of a Topps employee or in another collection of someone who thought it was awesome, and wouldn't want to let it go.
A forum member Randy tipped me off to this being pulled in a break from Youtube and I was able to track down the guy, then make a deal. Thanks so much Randy!
Hmmmm....I feel like I need some sort of an intermission here for both myself and you who is reading this. BRB ....
Annnnddd we're back. Because everyone needs caffeine at midnight, right?
You may have seen one of these following customs before, but I made some changes and added to them.
Instead of completely redoing some cards, I ended up taking some of my duplicates and swapping out the boring plain swatches for some authentic player-worn patch pieces. I mean heck ... why not? I have a closet full of his jerseys that he wore, after all! I also modified the backs to talk about how the cards were customized, what they were customized with and showed a picture of Jose wearing the new patch pieces that are in the cards.
A boring Sweet Spot with an excited patch equipped Sweet Spot. Abracadabra!
What about a bat / rawlings patch? Bam!
Last but not least (for now) a signed / patch UD Pros & Prospects.
A big thank you to ClarkZac for sending me a game used card for free to do this with! I haven't gotten to it yet, but I promise I will!
Last but not least for *my* collection (the big boppers are coming up after this) inspired by a heartbreaking story of a boy and a company who shall remain nameless that has yet to fulfill their obligation to send him his 2014 Strata Redemption Canseco.
2 years, peeps. 2 years.
So, what do you do while you wait? You make your own! The Stratas are a lot more complicated to make than regular cards, which made it all the more interesting to try out.
This piece is named "Proxy" in the upper left hand corner, as it is a card that is holding the place of the Strata whenever it gets here. In the middle, you see a jumbo piece of a bat that Jose used in a game, and it is signed "88 WS Grand Slam 10/15/88".
I think that is cool and all, but I LOVE patches with the Stratas, so here is an amped up version of the above card with different colors, rivets and wording (see: Player Worn Patch on the left and Athletics at the top).
It is currently on its way to get signed on the clear plastic section in the middle. Before that happens, it will need to go from Canada to Vegas, back to Canada, to me in Texas (long story.) My guess is that it will STILL make it back to me before the REAL card gets here from Topps.
A while back, I was contacted by a collector who told me about his great-great uncle that used to play baseball. Leroy Hermmann. As a minor league player, he had a 20 game winning season, pitched a 10 inning no-hitter and even played alongside some guy named Joe DiMaggio when he played for the Seals.
(Remember this Seals DiMaggio booklet I did recently?)
Anyway, I was sent a signature and a 1935-37 George Burke Photo Stamp to create an oversized card with.
I was also sent some pretty great scans of pictures of Herrmann, which helped the project tremendously. They were all black and white of course, but I was able to colorize some and really make them pop. Here is an example:
Here is the end result:
I'm very happy to have been entrusted with such a personal project like this. Thanks hittinaway - I hope you and your family enjoy it!
While you may not have heard of Leroy Hermmann, you may have heard of this next guy. He went by the name of Mickey Mantle! Last week, I received a package with several high end cards for future projects, but the the only one I have done so far is of the Mick. Here were the pieces to be used:
After working up the design, I came up with this. A jumbo patch sweet spot booklet.
The inside binding actually shows the missing strip of the baseball field right in the middle of the card. I think it turns out great!
Last, but not least is the big daddy. Every collector longs to hold one of these puppies in their hand at some point in their lifetime. I was tasked to cut it up! ... Errr.... build an art card out of it.
Here is what I tweeted out a few weeks back.
BABE RUTH!!!!
The Sultan of Swat
The Great Bambino.
The Caliph of Clout!
(Yeah, I had never heard that last one either.)
Needless to say, I was pretty stoked about being able to do this. Since the signature was so big, I ended up doing a jumbo card which sits nicely in a one touch vertical booklet holder.
After doing the artwork, photoshopping and colorizing the previously black & white pictures, here is what I came up with:
Thinking back about 9 year-old Mouschi writing journals about being excited to go to the baseball card shop, I can't help but wonder what he would have thought if he were told as a grown up, he'd not only still be collecting and writing about collecting, but also making his own cards and destroying others. I've gotta say - I'm really having a lot of fun. What a wild hobby we have!
Some of the most fun I have had in this hobby is just being able to hang out (albeit virtually) with you guys. I have learned a lot, and hopefully have been able to have reciprocated as well. I'm still floored by the generosity of so many people going out of their way to tell me about a card I may need, or flat out just sending me cards for free. Thank you once again, very much - I certainly do appreciate it more than you know!