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Exit Interview: I'm Retiring from Collecting Canseco and Selling Out

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bigalbert

Active member
Aug 7, 2008
1,324
3
My remark above about your newest acquisition was in recognition of all the extra time you’ve gained. I hope you get pure enjoyment out of your latest move in your life! I have a player collection myself that I enjoyed putting together and still do! My wife collects shoes and I collect Ironman cards. I recently added several cards from Rob who is buying a house! The thrill is still alive and well for me, but I imagine there will come a day when it isn’t. My kids can decide what they want to do with it after I’m gone. It really has been a wonderful stress reliever in my life.


Sent from my iPhone using Freedom Card Board mobile app
 

mouschi

Featured Contributor, Bridging the Gap, Senior Mem
May 18, 2012
3,105
170
Day two picked up where day one left off: shipping out LOTS of cardboard. I have to say, a part of me is having a lot of fun filling people's want lists. Whether it is the stack of Pinnacle Museum cards going out to a collector in Sweden, or several blank back cards to a collector of errors. Heck, even those who were just starting their collecting journey and decided to pick up some cards that more advanced collectors wouldn't think twice about. I guess you can say that I'm happy so far that everything seems to be going to places where they will be thoroughly enjoyed.

Almost as much so as my dogs enjoyed my favorite hat :(

20180703_101754-e1530670209254.jpg


Seriously, y'all. I have NO idea where the rest of the hat went. The bill is all I could find. #customtime

A few fellow collectors sent over $20 and instructed me to send them a surprise card just so they could have something in their collection from mine. Others requested autographs and a paper with my picture stating their purchases came from my collection. I honestly can't type all that without smiling - that's the greatest feeling ever that people care that much about a fellow collector to have something of mine as a part of their collection. It makes this whole experience truly special to me.

A collector by the name of Dan picked up the beauty below: A 2000 Fleer Legacy Showcase Collection #/20. Dan asked me if I had any backstory on it, because he loved hearing the history of the cards. I am exactly the same way, as might you be. I love any story that may come with them. I told him I don't recall where I got it from, but I did recall having it displayed on my desk the day I picked it up. I turned off the lights to leave the office, and caught a glimpse of Jose GLOWING from the light coming out of the window. It looked like it was on fire ... so beautiful.

20180703_143531-e1530670736575.jpg


Canseco supercollector Andrew picked up this card, along with many others, but before letting it go, I had to tell him about its story as well:

060685.jpg


I remember a guy who built this entire set and was selling it on eBay. I was with my family at Wal-Mart and saw it pop, because, you know - it's a perfectly natural thing to check eBay on your phone while walking through the frozen pizza aisle, right? The hefty price tag of the set was awe-inspiring and surely he wouldn't break up the set ... but ... ya gotta try. If memory serves, I believe it took a few days, but he decided to break up the set and also sell me the Canseco! After talking to him more, it turned out he was a supercollector of that set and his accomplishments landed him in the pages of Beckett Monthly.

Man, that was cool to hear. It made it so much more desirable just because of its back story.

Fellow Cansecbro Rodney ended up picking up my entire run of Broders and Star sets/promos. They are some of the most difficult things to catalog from the 80s and 90s, but with me, it was a labor of love and was happy to be able to put together the most complete visual checklist of Broder and Star cards for Canseco on the interwebs. The box below shows them together, plus a few other goodies. It marks the largest purchase volume wise so far, knocking out over 600 cards in one shot, which is over 10% of the size of my entire collection.

20180703_122023-e1530670626309.jpg


That was just the tip of the iceberg for today, though. Here is a pic of what went out.
20180703_145753-e1530670776508.jpg


This gave me a flashback to when I was a kid, wheeling and dealing cardboard through Prodigy. We had a ledge just like this where numerous packages would sit, ready to be sent all over America. Man, those were fun times.

After a few days of selling, I can safely say it has not been painful to let go. Selling has given me a way to make more memories in this hobby as they go from my collection to others.

 
 
Tanner,
A well written farewell to an interesting journey. I may have, over the years, sent you a note or two regarding some Canseco's I had. I am a long time Cub collector but it has not turned into an obsession. I am glad you are reaching out to anyone who might need help shaking the addiction, any addiction. I came to the same end of a similar journey last year and haven't regretted it (sometimes wonder) but never regretted. I used to collected everything baseball, Cubs were #1 priority but baseball it was. About 9 years ago I decided to sell off all my non-Cub star singles and some dup sets. I ended up taking dup sets from 1981 up and around 15,000 "star" cards to auction. This is after i traded a lot off for Cubs I needed. Last year, we had a minor flood in the basement, I only lost one old baseball game but it got me thinking. Maybe this was a sign I needed to change direction. As I was cleaning up I had to move everything out of the room dedicated to my baseball collection. I decided it was no longer necessary to collect baseball, just Cubs. I ended up taking 33 banker boxes, about another 100 or so sets, a couple bat boxes, four big boxes of baseball games and three big boxes of magazines to auction. The interesting thing is I don't miss them. I have a few non-Cub items left but I can now see and enjoy what I have. I appreciate you telling your story and maybe it will encourage a few others who have an addiction to change and let their collecting become a joy. Good luck in your future endeavor whatever it may be and where ever it may lead you.
Jim
 

mouschi

Featured Contributor, Bridging the Gap, Senior Mem
May 18, 2012
3,105
170
Tanner,
A well written farewell to an interesting journey. I may have, over the years, sent you a note or two regarding some Canseco's I had. I am a long time Cub collector but it has not turned into an obsession. I am glad you are reaching out to anyone who might need help shaking the addiction, any addiction. I came to the same end of a similar journey last year and haven't regretted it (sometimes wonder) but never regretted. I used to collected everything baseball, Cubs were #1 priority but baseball it was. About 9 years ago I decided to sell off all my non-Cub star singles and some dup sets. I ended up taking dup sets from 1981 up and around 15,000 "star" cards to auction. This is after i traded a lot off for Cubs I needed. Last year, we had a minor flood in the basement, I only lost one old baseball game but it got me thinking. Maybe this was a sign I needed to change direction. As I was cleaning up I had to move everything out of the room dedicated to my baseball collection. I decided it was no longer necessary to collect baseball, just Cubs. I ended up taking 33 banker boxes, about another 100 or so sets, a couple bat boxes, four big boxes of baseball games and three big boxes of magazines to auction. The interesting thing is I don't miss them. I have a few non-Cub items left but I can now see and enjoy what I have. I appreciate you telling your story and maybe it will encourage a few others who have an addiction to change and let their collecting become a joy. Good luck in your future endeavor whatever it may be and where ever it may lead you.
Jim

Thanks for sharing your story - that is a testament to others who are wondering if they can survive a purge of some sort!
 

nosterbor

Well-known member
Jun 20, 2010
6,099
431
Sunny Florida
I started a purge of my Juan Gonzalez collection in 2012. Sold off a lot of the rare hard to find cards. 2 years later did I ever regret it. Like the song goes.
" You go back Jack do it again " To each their own I guess. Good luck to you.
 

mrmopar

Member
Jan 19, 2010
6,187
4,087
There is always some level of collectible premium placed on an item that came from a collection that may have had some level of exposure or prominence within an industry, mostly where it is labeled or marked as such. Some of the grading companies have labeled items as coming from such and such collection (Dmitri Young, McAllister, Burdick, etc) and this will often bring in a premium.

It is possible, considering your online exposure, that you might have been able to send off items for PSA, SGC or Beckett to encapsulate with the label indicating it was your collection. In the day of instant short term online stardom for some via various avenues like You Tube, Twitter, etc, it would not be a surprise for the grading companies to use this as a means of gaining additional revenue (I assume it would cost a little more to certify an item comes from a certain collection). Some labels might live on forever in infamy, where some may leave folks scratching their heads years from now trying to figure out who the heck so and so is and why their item was encapsulated specially.

Aside from the Commodore computer game, I don't think Garvey and Caseco shared much real estate on collectibles together. If you do have any unusual items that feature Garvey on them, please let me know though as I may be a buyer.

A few fellow collectors sent over $20 and instructed me to send them a surprise card just so they could have something in their collection from mine. Others requested autographs and a paper with my picture stating their purchases came from my collection. I honestly can't type all that without smiling - that's the greatest feeling ever that people care that much about a fellow collector to have something of mine as a part of their collection. It makes this whole experience truly special to me.

*
 

mouschi

Featured Contributor, Bridging the Gap, Senior Mem
May 18, 2012
3,105
170
There is always some level of collectible premium placed on an item that came from a collection that may have had some level of exposure or prominence within an industry, mostly where it is labeled or marked as such. Some of the grading companies have labeled items as coming from such and such collection (Dmitri Young, McAllister, Burdick, etc) and this will often bring in a premium.

It is possible, considering your online exposure, that you might have been able to send off items for PSA, SGC or Beckett to encapsulate with the label indicating it was your collection. In the day of instant short term online stardom for some via various avenues like You Tube, Twitter, etc, it would not be a surprise for the grading companies to use this as a means of gaining additional revenue (I assume it would cost a little more to certify an item comes from a certain collection). Some labels might live on forever in infamy, where some may leave folks scratching their heads years from now trying to figure out who the heck so and so is and why their item was encapsulated specially.

Aside from the Commodore computer game, I don't think Garvey and Caseco shared much real estate on collectibles together. If you do have any unusual items that feature Garvey on them, please let me know though as I may be a buyer.

I actually have a game used bat of Dmitri Young in this collection I picked up a short while ago. It is funny you mention him, because being a cardboard dude, I first thought of him as a collector who played baseball instead of a baseball player who collected :)
 

mrmopar

Member
Jan 19, 2010
6,187
4,087
I gotta say, anyone watching that interview all the way through proves you certainly have a fan base. I'm not sure I would watch an interview that dealt with Steve Garvey at almost 1.5 hours length! Yikes!
 

mouschi

Featured Contributor, Bridging the Gap, Senior Mem
May 18, 2012
3,105
170
I gotta say, anyone watching that interview all the way through proves you certainly have a fan base. I'm not sure I would watch an interview that dealt with Steve Garvey at almost 1.5 hours length! Yikes!

Yeah, it is a long one for sure! I can definitely say without a doubt my mom has watched it all the way through ... at least she has claimed to :)
 

mouschi

Featured Contributor, Bridging the Gap, Senior Mem
May 18, 2012
3,105
170
Thank you [MENTION=6333]chadgwynn[/MENTION] and [MENTION=2375]finestkind[/MENTION] !
 

rsmath

Active member
Nov 8, 2008
6,086
1
Collecting podcast has Tanner's Canseco news in it.

The takes from the podcast that I thought was funny (and probably intended to be funny takes instead of serious criticism):

- God tells collector to sell his Canseco collection
- Collector quits collecting Canseco.... 20 years after everyone else did!
 

mouschi

Featured Contributor, Bridging the Gap, Senior Mem
May 18, 2012
3,105
170
Collecting podcast has Tanner's Canseco news in it.

The takes from the podcast that I thought was funny (and probably intended to be funny takes instead of serious criticism):

- God tells collector to sell his Canseco collection
- Collector quits collecting Canseco.... 20 years after everyone else did!

I figured I'd follow up this as well. The whole podcast was not flattering, to say the least. "collector quits collecting Canseco ..... 20 years after everyone else did!" was hilarious though :D The rest of it had a lot of misinformation. Now, with that said, I was able to respond on their facebook page and I ended up having a decent conversation with the guy, which, based upon the podcast, I didn't think was going to happen. For those of you who want to check it out, scroll down on their page at https://www.facebook.com/SportsCardRadio/ to read the comments. I'm glad the conversation afterward happened!
 

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