Here is the end result. The front and back:
and the inside:
I am very happy with how it turned out!
As for the hobby we love so dearly, things have been quite active as well. Thanks to Topps releasing cards with both guns-a-blazin', I have been able to pick up some amazing cards over the past few weeks.
Collectors were treated to a whirlwind of new cardboardy goodness over the past few weeks leading up to Christmas. This can be construed as a good or bad thing. Bad for collectors who may have had limited funds to pickup what they wanted due to Christmas shopping and good for collectors to give Santa a much longer wishlist.
Unless you have been living under a rock, you have likely had visions of Topps Archives Signature Series & Dynasty dancing in your head. As I mentioned in my previous writing, I had hit a bit of a dry spell in terms of not finding anything I needed on eBay or anywhere else for a while. Once Archives hit, I was hooked, and hard. I picked up as many as I could find for my collection. A number of VERY low numbered cards came onto the market ... 1/4, 1/3, 1/2 and 1/1's. As days went on, I decided I was going to be more selective of what I was going to pick up due to the sheer volume of them. (That hasn't worked too terribly well yet, but I'll let you know when it does!)
The condition on some of these cards irks me a bit, but in a way, it *almost* adds to the charm of the whole buyback idea itself - the fact that these were already pulled and previously owned in other collections in the past for 1-30+ years, and re-purposed into a new card again...almost. I still don't like seeing some uber-cool buybacks having condition issues. Instead of buying anything and everything, I really have decided to cool my jets a bit. For example, the 1988 Topps Canseco is numbered to 17 or similar. Last week, a 1988 O-Pee-Chee Canseco showed up ... as a 1/1. It was off center and in rough condition. I figured I'd go ahead and pass on that one.
Here is my Buyback collection so far. None of them are serial numbered higher than 23. 15 of these are serial numbered to 4 or less, with 5 of them being 1/1's: (Have any you don't see? Message me - I'm interested!)
Here is my favorite out of the whole bunch which is a 1/1:
Amid a flurry of emotions of pure excitement of picking up so many low numbered Canseco cards and frustration due to there being so many to chase (I have counted over 30 already), Topps dropped another bomb.
Dynasty.
Admittedly, I didn't pay much attention to last year's release because my guy wasn't in it, but this year was different. Though it is a completely different product than Archives, there are a few similarities. Namely, there is no complete checklist of how many variations there are, and they come from Topps in a one touch holder sealed with a sticker. Archives doesn't tempt you to break the sticker seal, though, while Dynasty almost calls you to do so. With a monster patch just begging to be pet, you would be better off sealing it off in a team bag to avoid any additional temptation to do so.
This is truly a game changer for many collectors, because frankly, there are some of us player collectors who have simply not been subjected to an ultra high-end product like this before, and this is quite possibly the best that Topps has ever put out...ever.
Amid a flurry of re-hashed, been-there-done-that "retro" releases in recent years, Dynasty is Topps' attempt and doing something new. In addition to going against the norm by having the players sign in black ink, they decided to use single color tones of blue, green and red instead of going the sepia route. You won't find any foil borders outlining the patch area. Instead, you will find a raised intricate design fit for high-end art framing some of the sickest patches you have ever seen. With a pearlescent finish, this release feels luxurious. Heck, even the box the card comes in looks like something you would keep.
For me, the jury is still out as to whether I'm going to be chasing one of each of the (known) five parallel poses that are #/10 and #/5. As for now though, I think I've picked up some ridiculously amazing Dynasty cards. Here they are ...
#/10 - the blue version features a very nice patch. There have been several that have hit eBay that seem a tad on the boring side. With lots of various color breaks, this is anything but.
#/5 - the green version features chaos. This patch is loud, and is quite possibly my second favorite one that has ever been released. Simply put, I don't think Jose has ever had a card with a patch this crazy before ... I love it!
#/1 - Well, except for this. The red 1/1 version actually goes a step further.
One of the above 2 would have probably been my favorite patch card of him ever, but this one showed up.
As a Canseco collector who spends way too much time tracking down cards I don't have and drooling over cards in other people's collections that I can't find available, this is the best patch card I've seen of his, anywhere, ever. I'm very happy to have been able to have landed it! I went back and forth with the seller, and it was a struggle until the very end, but ultimately I was the winner!
I believe there are 5 1/1's for Dynasty, and they are already now all locked up in collections within about ONE WEEK of Dynasty being released. How crazy is that? So happy I was able to get what I believe to be the best one out of the bunch!
A few other notable pickups recently as well...
First, some odd-ball stuff. Remember the Broder cards from the 1980's? I *think* I have all of them, but some color variations (green, blue and sepia) came up for sale from a guy who has had them since 1987. I grabbed them, along with a few other players. I've never seen them before - they are cool!
I picked up this 1/1 last month. This card has significance to me because 2013 Panini marks the first time in years that Jose was included in a regular set with a jersey card. Having the 1/1 that started it back up again is great.
Plus, it helps that I have the others!
The most recent one however, is this beauty. A 2015 Topps Tribute Red 1/1 Canseco auto. I saw it online and bought it as quickly as I could. Unfortunately, I had someone try and get the seller to break his deal with me by offering more than what I paid. Fortunately for me, the seller stayed true to his word. It arrived a few days ago!
It looks great with the others, too! (BTW: I need the one that is #/25 with a clean auto if you have it ... let me know!)
While I can't promise I'll keep quiet for the rest of the year, I think that this just might be my last posting of 2015. However, with that said, I've had to eat my words before, and my own writings are proof.
Like the time I sold off my entire Canseco collection at the end of 2013 which took 24 years to accumulate (mostly doubles, none worth more than $10).
And when I said I would take those funds from the collection to see how many cool cards I could get by staying within the budget of what I got from the previous collection.
Then this mostly all happened in the past year: (No doubles at all.)
Or in 2013 when I said this:
"I dreamed that one day, my Canseco collection would propel me into the pages of my most beloved magazine.
That dream came to a screeching halt.
Enter: AJ...After checking out his stuff, and realizing that he already had been in Beckett, I realized that I will never be magazine worthy."
I thought that was very ironic ... in a good way, of course! Speaking of irony, check this out.
Remember this board game that my wife and son made me in 2014?
Take a closer look at the top picture. In my previous blog posting in June of 2014, I said "Check out the property cards – one w/me and Canseco. Yeah, he probably should not see this or he will think I’m a stalker. "
It is important to note that this game was made nearly a year before the thought of going to his house was even going to be a possibility! Not to mention the fact that they equipped me with a handlebar moustache on the board game a year before I had one.
Okay, I'll shut up now. Merry (just a tad late) Christmas everyone and Happy New Year! Thanks eversomuch for reading, as always.