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mouschi
Featured Contributor, Bridging the Gap, Senior Mem
- May 18, 2012
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Hey everyone! It has been quite a while since I have posted. I normally hang out on social media these days, but missed writing. I thought I'd write up something having to do with my latest trade.
As a child, nothing got me more excited than baseball cards. I'm not sure what was better - getting a pack of cards to open, or trading cards. As a 9 or 10 year old, I remember having opened some 1989 Topps, and carrying them around in a brown paper lunch bag. The star of the show? "Rock" Raines. It had to be desirable, right? With a name like that, surely it'll appeal enough to one of my friends to trade away one of their Jose Canseco baseball cards!
Trading baseball cards as a child probably helped me as an adult in terms of making deals with others. It isn't necessarily a skill that everyone possesses ... or even wants to possess. Many collectors want to buy the cards they love, and keep them, which of course is fine.
As for me? I love trading. Heck, I even love getting back cards I've dealt away, which I've done a lot of (and incidentally, have gotten a lot of flack for). But in all honesty, getting big cards back a 2nd and 3rd time keeps things exciting. I never tire of it!
Thankfully, my good friend Jon D. is a fan of trading as well - plus, he's a Canseco guy! He had the absolutely most incredible story landing one of, if not the most valuable Jose Canseco baseball card ever, the 1996 Select Certified Mirror Gold.
Guys, it doesn't get much bigger for a Canseco collector. This is a BIG deal of a card. How did Jon find it? In a junk card lot! It literally was amidst several fairly worthless cards. To make it even crazier, Jon had been thinking about this card just the day before. There is a lot more to the story, but that is the gist.
I moved mine a few years prior, so I asked if he wanted to work a deal. We ended up working something out, which included some heavy hitters.
Here is what I had to give up for the 96 Mirror Gold:
I had to send him my beloved handprint - a card that, ten years ago, I was offered, but ended up sending him to someone else, because I wasn't that big into collecting Canseco yet. That card haunted me ever since. I still remember someone saying "This isn't a case hit; it is a pallet hit!" I dunno why, but always thought that was cool.
Eventually, I found one, which apparently was hiding in someone's dad's cabinet for years. (This card stayed with Jon for several months - just enough for his family to high five it, and return it to me in another trade!)
This Topps black superfractor is, I believe, Jose's first and only Black super auto. This had to be sent over for the 96 MG as well. Again, this card returned to me as well in the latest deal, which I'll talk about further down in this article!
Here are some cards I created
Finally, in order to land that gorgeous '96 Mirror Gold, I agreed to send Jon a pile of cash and create these custom cards - all of which have player-worn patches.
This is probably my favorite one, as it has a piece of the green monster!
When it rains, it pours, right?
Months later, ANOTHER '96 Mirror Gold fell into my lap. This time, it is THE copy that came from the CEO of Pinnacle's collection! Honestly, how does it get better than that?
I'm not one to just keep around a dup worth several thousand dollars for nothing, so I knew eventually the other would be dealt away ... btw, I'm not one to keep my cards graded either, but I'm making an exception on this one, given that it helps its provenance.
The time finally came for me to deal it away - to its original owner, Jon! It just made sense - such a cool story of how it was picked up, it felt like a right move to attempt.
After going back and forth for a week, we ended up doing a deal! I won't say what else Jon got, I'll let him mention that if he likes, but here is what we did on my side ...
The cards I got from trading away the '96 Mirror Gold (mostly ... not all of them, but these are the notables!):
A while back, Jon made waves in the Canseco-realm by picking up a record-breaking Dynasty Canseco. I used to have the lion's share of all Dynasty cards of Canseco, and at one point had 2 or 3 of the 1/1s (eek!) but eventually paired it all down to keeping this one. It is a special patch, given that it is a 25th anniversary sleeve patch. Jose probably only has 4-5 cards made with a patch of this, all of which from Dynasty.
Ever since Jon picked his up, I have been trying to see what we could do to do a deal that would send mine to him, and his record breaker to me. Here is his:
If you are a "normal" person, you may be thinking "Why would Tanner ever want to trade these? What's the big deal?" That little tiny bit of extra patch made all the difference in the world. Goofy? Probably. But I am happy! It is my fav
.... CONTINUED ....
As a child, nothing got me more excited than baseball cards. I'm not sure what was better - getting a pack of cards to open, or trading cards. As a 9 or 10 year old, I remember having opened some 1989 Topps, and carrying them around in a brown paper lunch bag. The star of the show? "Rock" Raines. It had to be desirable, right? With a name like that, surely it'll appeal enough to one of my friends to trade away one of their Jose Canseco baseball cards!
Trading baseball cards as a child probably helped me as an adult in terms of making deals with others. It isn't necessarily a skill that everyone possesses ... or even wants to possess. Many collectors want to buy the cards they love, and keep them, which of course is fine.
As for me? I love trading. Heck, I even love getting back cards I've dealt away, which I've done a lot of (and incidentally, have gotten a lot of flack for). But in all honesty, getting big cards back a 2nd and 3rd time keeps things exciting. I never tire of it!
Thankfully, my good friend Jon D. is a fan of trading as well - plus, he's a Canseco guy! He had the absolutely most incredible story landing one of, if not the most valuable Jose Canseco baseball card ever, the 1996 Select Certified Mirror Gold.
Guys, it doesn't get much bigger for a Canseco collector. This is a BIG deal of a card. How did Jon find it? In a junk card lot! It literally was amidst several fairly worthless cards. To make it even crazier, Jon had been thinking about this card just the day before. There is a lot more to the story, but that is the gist.
I moved mine a few years prior, so I asked if he wanted to work a deal. We ended up working something out, which included some heavy hitters.
Here is what I had to give up for the 96 Mirror Gold:
I had to send him my beloved handprint - a card that, ten years ago, I was offered, but ended up sending him to someone else, because I wasn't that big into collecting Canseco yet. That card haunted me ever since. I still remember someone saying "This isn't a case hit; it is a pallet hit!" I dunno why, but always thought that was cool.
Eventually, I found one, which apparently was hiding in someone's dad's cabinet for years. (This card stayed with Jon for several months - just enough for his family to high five it, and return it to me in another trade!)
This Topps black superfractor is, I believe, Jose's first and only Black super auto. This had to be sent over for the 96 MG as well. Again, this card returned to me as well in the latest deal, which I'll talk about further down in this article!
Here are some cards I created
Finally, in order to land that gorgeous '96 Mirror Gold, I agreed to send Jon a pile of cash and create these custom cards - all of which have player-worn patches.
This is probably my favorite one, as it has a piece of the green monster!
When it rains, it pours, right?
Months later, ANOTHER '96 Mirror Gold fell into my lap. This time, it is THE copy that came from the CEO of Pinnacle's collection! Honestly, how does it get better than that?
I'm not one to just keep around a dup worth several thousand dollars for nothing, so I knew eventually the other would be dealt away ... btw, I'm not one to keep my cards graded either, but I'm making an exception on this one, given that it helps its provenance.
The time finally came for me to deal it away - to its original owner, Jon! It just made sense - such a cool story of how it was picked up, it felt like a right move to attempt.
After going back and forth for a week, we ended up doing a deal! I won't say what else Jon got, I'll let him mention that if he likes, but here is what we did on my side ...
The cards I got from trading away the '96 Mirror Gold (mostly ... not all of them, but these are the notables!):
A while back, Jon made waves in the Canseco-realm by picking up a record-breaking Dynasty Canseco. I used to have the lion's share of all Dynasty cards of Canseco, and at one point had 2 or 3 of the 1/1s (eek!) but eventually paired it all down to keeping this one. It is a special patch, given that it is a 25th anniversary sleeve patch. Jose probably only has 4-5 cards made with a patch of this, all of which from Dynasty.
Ever since Jon picked his up, I have been trying to see what we could do to do a deal that would send mine to him, and his record breaker to me. Here is his:
If you are a "normal" person, you may be thinking "Why would Tanner ever want to trade these? What's the big deal?" That little tiny bit of extra patch made all the difference in the world. Goofy? Probably. But I am happy! It is my fav
.... CONTINUED ....
