FOUND MY 29 YEAR WHITE WHALE! And the Reason for my Username!

[mouschi]

I wrote this a while ago, but @Rich Klein requested I post it here

To say I'm stoked, is a MASSIVE understatement. A VERY interesting story comes along with this whole thing too! To put it simply in one statement:

I found it.
My precious.
My reason for collecting.
The reason for my username.

THE card I've been searching for ever since I read about it in Beckett back in the 1980's. If you lived in the Huntsville area of Alabama in the 1980's, you might remember the now-defunct grocery store chain "Mouschi's" ... (It is what I base my username after.) This is probably a familiar sight for you Alabamans:



They were quite active with the minor league team the Huntsville Stars, and have had numerous signings with several of the players in the 80's like Luis Polonia, Terry Steinbach and Mark McGwire. They even made baseball cards.

The one signing that eluded them, however, was Jose Canseco. They had promoted it in their weekly ads, but it never materialized due to Jose being called up. Here is a pic of one of the ads that I got my hands on years back - it states there were 25 made:



The whole thing was mismanaged, because according to Beckett years ago, they actually produced the cards before getting the agreement! The idea was to bring the newspaper ad in, ask the cashier for the Canseco baseball card (limited to 25 copies). The card acted as a voucher that you could bring to be signed on September 2nd, 1985 at the store.

I had never seen one, until yesterday. Heck, I'm not sure if anyone else has seen this card in the past 30 years or so, either! Here it is:



and the back ...



MY LIFE IS COMPLETE!!!!

But it actually gets much, much more interesting...

The previous owner of the card was upset, because the signing never happened. He wrote a rather scathing letter to Mouschi's grocery store, and received a response (I was able to keep this letter as well for my collection!!!):



If you don't want to read it, it basically says Jose ain't comin' back to Huntsville. He's a star now. The other copies of the card have been destroyed (I HAVE A 1 OF 1!?!?!?!?!?) but you are welcome to bring the "worthless" card back for a "valuable" voucher of Terry Steinbach who will be signing. In addition to this, they would get a $25 gift certificate to the store.

The previous owner noted that he snubbed them and didn't want Steinbach. He wanted Canseco. He mentioned that it was bizarre that representatives from Mouschi's would continually call him over a period of 3 months, even after the Steinbach signing to get the card back. They offered substantially more money for it, as well. This ultimately subsided, and they began getting disturbing calls and hang-ups at all hours of the night. Finally, it all ended.

If you look at the letter he received, notice how Mr. Buttersworth (what a ridiculous name!) explicitly mentioned that the Canseco card has no value. The back story of this is that the whole chain went belly-up due to a legal altercation with Burger King. The fast food giant crushed the local grocery store chain, and it was no more.

The card front looks eerily close to a card that Burger King produced around the same time period:



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[mouschi]

I have a version of this card autographed, and have taken a picture of it next to the Mouschi's card:



Why did Mouschi's make such a concerted effort to get the only card in existence back? Could this card be the link to the downfall of the entire grocery chain? That is one theory, anyway.

Another theory perhaps, might fit as well:

What if that whole thing was a hoax???

What if someone else had taken the Burger King card, and took out the logo in the background?



What if they had just slapped Jose's pic on the front of it?



And made the background a painting along with putting a bottom graphic?



And made Jose a painting as well?



That is all well and good, but what about the advertisement? It clearly states from Mouschi's that there IS a signing:



Or does it????



Was Mr. Buttersworth's letter a real thing? Look at all the ink stains, wrinkles and rips. Heck, a real signature from ol' Edmund himself.



Or was it intentionally aged after being printed?



Hmmm, strange. Stranger still, the Mouschi's grocery store. A grungy looking picture from the 80's ...



What if that had been intentionally aged as well?



And if it weren't a "Mouschi's" at all?



But what if there never even was a Mouschi's Grocery Store? That wouldn't make sense though - I mean, I still recall their theme song "Everything's Better at Mouschi's..."

What if the logo was just made yesterday by some dude with too much time on his hands yesterday evening?





Curious. Surely, no one would go through all this trouble of doing various copies, only to write up something that everyone else could enjoy!



And even make a rounded corner version to mimic unlicensed 1980's cards, while using a plastic baggie from a Mother's Cookies card to give it an authentic look!



I'm sure that there are a number of theories out there. I guess we will never know the truth!

[jb67]

Wow!! What a story. Very interesting and thanks for sharing and congrats.

[JoeDfan]

That was an awesome story.

[Chicosbailbonds]

Great read.

[mouschi]

Thank you guys - much appreciated

[Leon]

I copied this from the correct post war forum because it's such a great story more collectors should read/see it.

And congrats on your white whale!!

[sayhey24]

Great read, but aren't you one day early on this?!

Greg

[autograf]

Or not............

Rod Serling is mumbling something in the background of this thread.........I can't quite hear it...........

[timzcardz]

Nicely done!

[kkkkandp]

Facts or fantasy?

Either way - very entertaining!

[scooter729]

Did Mouschi's ever issue a proof of a T206 Joe Jackson as well? Southern League, Alabama - just wondering....

[iowadoc77]

This is why this is such a great hobby. 29 year search. I get impatient with 2.9 weeks. Haha. Awesome story and congrats on the pick-up. I could almost see you dropping the microphone as you walked off-stage.

[MVSNYC]

Very interesting!

[mouschi]

Thanks guys, I appreciate the comments

[doug.goodman]

Shouldn't this have been posted tomorrow?

[GregMitch34]

I think it's a hoax because if real the Canseco card would have burst right through the plastic wrapper once he started on steroids...

[bn2cardz]

I love the post because the replies are evident of who doesn't read an entire post before replying and who does.

I too would have thought you posted a day early, if your original post wasn't on Aug 27th at the other boards.

[slidekellyslide]

Ah....you should have let this marinate before letting us in on the gag. I was enthralled with the first post. Enough so that I was getting ready to google up Mouschi's Canseco.

[mouschi]

Originally Posted by slidekellyslide

Ah....you should have let this marinate before letting us in on the gag. I was enthralled with the first post. Enough so that I was getting ready to google up Mouschi's Canseco.

Haha - I did this with a few other posts in the past, and some people got reallllly angry. So I figured I'd be a little more obvious this time

[Rich Klein]

It's my fault

It was such a well-done read that I asked him to post the story.

If I had been thinking, I would have asked for that to be done on 4.1

Yes, it's a "hoax" but a great one.

Rich

P.S. -- Ask Lew Lipset sometimes about the Arsenal Gum story BHN once ran. I'm still looking for those WW2 cards 30 years later

[bn2cardz]

Originally Posted by slidekellyslide

Ah....you should have let this marinate before letting us in on the gag. I was enthralled with the first post. Enough so that I was getting ready to google up Mouschi's Canseco.

Don't worry, some people didn't read long enough to know that it was a gag. Even with posts pointing it out as such I am sure people will keep posting it as otherwise.

I do believe this is a great post showing the cautions of fantasy pieces.

[The Nasty Nati]

What. Is. Happening?

[mouschi]

Custom card making has become a true love of mine due to making up fun stories like this. They almost become "real" to me - heck, to this day, I have Mr. Buttersworth's letter framed and in my office!

A note to anyone who may want to do this as well: Please never do something like this to intentionally mislead people. You have no idea how much of a tailspin you can put someone in for hours, days, months or years chasing after something that isn't even real!

[darwinbulldog]

Yeah, just look at what happened with Slow Joe Doyle.

But seriously, the original post is a masterpiece.

[shernan30]

A good read!!

[GregMitch34]

That post was actually more believable than David Ortiz saying he never did PEDs...

[bbcard1]

Thanks for sharing! Would read again!

[Joshchisox08]

Pretty crazy story!

[GasHouseGang]

You had me totally convinced. If you had offered it for sale I wonder what offers you would have gotten?

[h2oya311]

I remember reading this a few months ago on another forum... I was a little disappointed to learn that it was a "hoax". this is the type of thing that would soon show up on Wikipedia as "fact". It's incredible what people can do to make a custom card! I love it though!

Super write-up. I hope you will do another story like this one in the future. You'd have to change your username though!!

[j_cook]

I was actually in awe but then was very disappointed. Is it already April 1st somewhere in the Eastern hemisphere?

[AMBST95]

Congrats on getting your BLACK MINNOW!!
Good read. I immediately thought the store looked too modern when you posted the photo. Thanks for confirming later in the message.

[Jay Wolt]

That was a fun read, Thanks!

[botport]

You are now officially on their watch list....
Seriously, nice work.

[ibuysportsephemera]

Great read...Well Done!

Jeff

[EldoEsq]

I read the whole thing...enjoyed it immensely...then I thought I was a complete idiot after reading the responses to it.

I re-read it again, enjoyed it immensely again...confirmed that this was a great piece of fiction...

[slidekellyslide]

Originally Posted by mouschi

Haha - I did this with a few other posts in the past, and some people got reallllly angry. So I figured I'd be a little more obvious this time

That's too bad, I don't think you would have gotten that reception here.

[bbeck]

I knew it was a gag from the get go. Forget the card, you simply can't sell catfish nuggets for $1.69 a pound. There would be a stampede at that price, wiping out the world's entire catfish nugget inventory.

[D. Bergin]

Ha! Brilliant! George Plimpton would have been proud.


The letter really had me. I'm looking at my computer cursing at the screen under my breath, because unkind management fired some poor cashier because of a missing baseball card.

[clydepepper]

That was lots of fun...

reminds of a time, years ago, when a skilled writer pulled me into his hoax:

CURIOUSLY, it also involved a Baseball player and the story had so many real-life details interwoven in it, that a naïve young man was completely taken in...

in that CASE, it was the rocket-armed mystical pitcher shown below:


sidd finch4.jpg

[CW]

Had me hook, line, and sinker! The only things that seemed odd were the name of the store (in Alabama??) and the "disturbing calls and hang-ups", but, in the end, that just added to the humor factor.

I realize that many are checking the forums on phones, so that's why they likely missed it, but I had to laugh at some of the follow-up comments congratulating you on the great score, despite the fact you gave up the gag immediately.

Well done!

[Luke]

Awesome! Yeah the store looks current, but really well done other than that. I noticed it, but kind of forgot as I got wrapped up in the story.

[BaseballYakker]

This baseball card exists in an alternate universe where Moonlight Graham is history's greatest player ever in a sport created by Abner Doubleday.

Seriously, I feel like I've fallen through some sort of vortex.

[Cozumeleno]

Brilliant - I have no words.

[jefferyepayne]

Very, very well done. Got me hook line and sinker. In hindsight, I probably should have questioned the storefront as I agree it looks too modern.

The only thing that struck me funny the first time through was that the letter started "Dear valued customer". I would have expected this to be personalized since it was not a mass mailing. But I thought maybe Mr. Buttersworth just wasn't very customer oriented! Maybe the "disturbing phone calls and hangups" was a bit over the top as well but I passed it off as possibly a bit of elaboration by the original owner.

Great job.

jeff

[DHogan]

I've seen your topic on another forum. The story gets better every time. Thanks !

[Theo_450]

I will be waiting for the cashier to come forward...

[KCRfan1]

Best story I have read in a long time! Congrats on the card!!!!!!

[Blunder19]

GREAT STORY!! thanks for sharing!