After (im)patiently waiting through a 3 day delay, santa claus dressed up in brown shorts knocked on my door last night with a trolley full of goodies.
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
...And even more of the haul
Sunday, December 8, 2013
11,500+ Packs of Baseball Cards ... want some? (Buying Binge - part 2)
So, this has been the 4th year in a row that I bought out a boat load of boxes and cases. The box total is up over 600. While I didn't actually buy any loose packs, if you count them up from the boxes and cases, they total up to over 11,500! This is the biggest wax acquisition I have ever made!
Why do I do this?
I have found out that I can have a blast opening a ton of wax while making a few bucks selling some boxes. These should last me throughout the year. I hope to be done with all of them by the end of the year though.
Would you like some? Check out my deals page for a list of everything I have, as well as pictures below. Here are a few details you may like to know:
Why do I do this?
I have found out that I can have a blast opening a ton of wax while making a few bucks selling some boxes. These should last me throughout the year. I hope to be done with all of them by the end of the year though.
Would you like some? Check out my deals page for a list of everything I have, as well as pictures below. Here are a few details you may like to know:
- I can and will trade packs, boxes and cases for your singles, collections, etc.
- I frequently sell pack lots if you are unsure of what box you want to buy. It is a great way to get a bunch of packs for cheap that cover a number of different types of cards
- Everything comes from sealed boxes and cases
- I also frequently do box breaks for people on you tube. If you want to buy a box, but don't want to pay shipping on the commons, you pay me for a box, I open it for you on video, and you choose a certain # of cards you want. This is super fun - if you haven't tried it before, you should!
- Coming soon: This year, I plan on doing my first group break!
Please contact me tanmanbaseballfan@gmail.com if you are interested in some cheap wax!
Here are some pictures - this isn't nearly everything at all, but you get the idea :)
Sunday, December 1, 2013
A Buying Binge: Part One
It feels like I have been complaining about not having any cards for a few months. Work has been heating up recently, so that has kept my mind off of the dreaded cardboard deficiency. Over the past month, I have had a guy that sells me new card lots bring me cards, which I flipped pretty quickly. Aside from that, I have not been able to roll up my sleeves and dig in.
The past few weeks have changed quite a bit. I am not sure if I had mentioned this before, but ever since selling the last of my cards (which was my Canseco collection) I started asking the question: "What if I could build up a fantastic Canseco collection using the money I got from my old collection?"
I have decided to just step back and enjoy collecting Canseco cards again. It has been a long, long time. I have been so business minded for baseball cards, that I have not been actively seeking any Canseco cards forever. The majority of my old collection was just throw-ins from other collections, and stuff I would find from bulk lots. There was no rhyme or reason to it. I would imagine my highest dollar card was worth $10, and that was probably a good clip higher than any of the other better cards.
As I started looking around and researching Canseco cards, I noticed something: A LOT of the cards out there - inserts, parallels, etc. never showed up in the millions of cards I have been through over the past several years. That is what I decided to focus on. From die cuts to gold signatures to refractors, etc. I simply didn't have many of these at all! For example - I would have the 1991 Topps Canseco (who doesn't?) but not the Tiffany or the Desert Shield. I would have the 90's Donruss cards, but not the fractal matrix versions. I had 11or so game used cards, but not a single certified pack pulled auto.
Why?
I guess there is something to be said about the Canseco collectors out there. When they find one of his cards, they don't let go. If they don't have it, they will pay dearly for it! I'm assuming his fan based is a lot like me. A male in his 30's with some money that grew up living on every swing of his bat, hoping to hear the crack that sends the ball over the fence for yet another home run.
I have been fortunate enough to grab about 300 or so of his cards from various places online. While the pictures below do not show all of them, they are my favorites. I have decided not to focus on the base cards, because those are so easy to come by, it takes no work at all!
So, while the collection I have now probably represents the same or more re-sell value of what I got from my old collection, I have spent about $200 less than what I got for my old collection, and have so, so, so many more cards that I am proud of - and that I have never had before! They are truly exciting for me to own. There are no BIG money cards ... that isn't my interest for now. I think the highest dollar one is probably the 1993 Finest refractor that I got on the cheap because someone spelled his name wrong :)
Without further adieu, here are some of my favorites:
There are probably 200 or so more that are gold signatures, tiffany's, press proofs, etc. I am very much so looking forward to the card show at the end of January so I can pick up more Canseco goodness!
While I was cruising the internet, I found something else interesting. A guy was selling 1,500 Canseco cards - mainly base. It was cheap enough for me to take out the ones that I need (which is probably 1 of each, as I don't hardly have anything base at the moment!) and sell the rest for profit. The cool thing is, I checked what else this guy had. Here is what else I picked up:
700 Mark McGwire
550 Mike Piazza
800 Craig Biggio
800 Jeff Bagwell
1100 Frank Thomas
1300 Cal Ripken Jr.
An absolute incredible power house mega lot of super stars! They, by the way, are all for sale.
Stay tuned, as I will be making another post about the unopened box bonanza that I went on over the weekend - I promise you - the purchase dwarfs this post! Won't you join me while I have a heart attack re-living how much I spent!? It should be good fun.
The past few weeks have changed quite a bit. I am not sure if I had mentioned this before, but ever since selling the last of my cards (which was my Canseco collection) I started asking the question: "What if I could build up a fantastic Canseco collection using the money I got from my old collection?"
I have decided to just step back and enjoy collecting Canseco cards again. It has been a long, long time. I have been so business minded for baseball cards, that I have not been actively seeking any Canseco cards forever. The majority of my old collection was just throw-ins from other collections, and stuff I would find from bulk lots. There was no rhyme or reason to it. I would imagine my highest dollar card was worth $10, and that was probably a good clip higher than any of the other better cards.
As I started looking around and researching Canseco cards, I noticed something: A LOT of the cards out there - inserts, parallels, etc. never showed up in the millions of cards I have been through over the past several years. That is what I decided to focus on. From die cuts to gold signatures to refractors, etc. I simply didn't have many of these at all! For example - I would have the 1991 Topps Canseco (who doesn't?) but not the Tiffany or the Desert Shield. I would have the 90's Donruss cards, but not the fractal matrix versions. I had 11or so game used cards, but not a single certified pack pulled auto.
Why?
I guess there is something to be said about the Canseco collectors out there. When they find one of his cards, they don't let go. If they don't have it, they will pay dearly for it! I'm assuming his fan based is a lot like me. A male in his 30's with some money that grew up living on every swing of his bat, hoping to hear the crack that sends the ball over the fence for yet another home run.
I have been fortunate enough to grab about 300 or so of his cards from various places online. While the pictures below do not show all of them, they are my favorites. I have decided not to focus on the base cards, because those are so easy to come by, it takes no work at all!
So, while the collection I have now probably represents the same or more re-sell value of what I got from my old collection, I have spent about $200 less than what I got for my old collection, and have so, so, so many more cards that I am proud of - and that I have never had before! They are truly exciting for me to own. There are no BIG money cards ... that isn't my interest for now. I think the highest dollar one is probably the 1993 Finest refractor that I got on the cheap because someone spelled his name wrong :)
Without further adieu, here are some of my favorites:
 |
| A nice bowman chrome / international chrome refractor run |
 |
| 28 jersey / bat cards and 1 certified autograph buy-back |
 |
| I always loved the 91 Elite. So impossible to pull. The 2 91's are Desert Shield, the upper right is a wood card, the bottom left was the most expensive card in my previous collection. I love the looks of the others! |
 |
| I am just a flat out sucker for shiny parallels and die cuts, etc. These all look gorgeous to me. |
 |
| I am a fan of runs / rainbows / etc. These are all die cuts, serial # or both! |
 |
| A nice run of Topps Chrome refractors |
 |
| Beautiful run of Finest refractors - my favorites are the 93, 94 and 95 gold! |
 |
| Gorgeous run of bowman's best refractors and atomic refractors. I loev the '94 most. |
 |
| His minor league cards from 1983, 1984, 1985 and maybe 1986. 3 of these cards I had from my old collection, which I kept. My favorites are the 1983 and the 1985 Burger King autograph. |
While I was cruising the internet, I found something else interesting. A guy was selling 1,500 Canseco cards - mainly base. It was cheap enough for me to take out the ones that I need (which is probably 1 of each, as I don't hardly have anything base at the moment!) and sell the rest for profit. The cool thing is, I checked what else this guy had. Here is what else I picked up:
700 Mark McGwire
550 Mike Piazza
800 Craig Biggio
800 Jeff Bagwell
1100 Frank Thomas
1300 Cal Ripken Jr.
An absolute incredible power house mega lot of super stars! They, by the way, are all for sale.
Stay tuned, as I will be making another post about the unopened box bonanza that I went on over the weekend - I promise you - the purchase dwarfs this post! Won't you join me while I have a heart attack re-living how much I spent!? It should be good fun.
Friday, November 15, 2013
Jose Canseco PC 2.0
Over the past few years, I've gone from being an enjoyer and collector of cards, to a hardcore hustler of cardboard crack. Anything I could get my hands on, I would flip for profit. Not that there is anything wrong with that - we all have to make money somehow, and it might as well be doing something we love!
I have always kept aside the Canseco cards. The collection had gone from going to card shows as a child and buying single Canseco cards that I didn't have, to, mindlessly tossing anything that had Canseco's name on it in a separate pile from collections I bought.
It is funny how times change! I remember vividly standing at a baseball card show at the age of 12, going through a big pile of Canseco cards. An older lady and man who, in my memory, seemed to be in their 60's (they were probably in their 40's!) were carefully watching me go through the cards. I put the pile of my carefully picked Canseco into their hands.
"Would you accept $9 for these?"
The lady snorted and turned to her male counterpart "Did you hear that Rob? He is asking if we'd sell these for $9." She then preceeded to laugh, so I walked away with my tail between my legs, and not a single Canseco richer.
I'm not saying that was the turning point of when I stopped putting thought into the collection. Heck, there was a good 12 years or so between the time I was a kid to being an adult who got back into cards. I even remember when the big hurricane hit over here. There was no electricity, and I ran out of things to do. So for the first time in years, I pulled out my Canseco collection and started sorting. What fun!
I kind of envisioned myself in my golden years of retirement sorting baseball cards for fun, with the Canseco collection first on the list. Well, after I sold out of pretty much everything, I sold the Canseco collection, as it was really not anything that I had put too terribly much thought, effort or investment into.
Then, one day, it bit me ... hard. I wanted to get back into collecting Canseco! I thought to myself "what kind of collection could I come up with, within the budget that I had sold the collection for?"
This idea is very intriguing to me, so I've been speaking with a few folks who are Canseco fans. If it is one thing I know now, it is that while I used to almost apolegetically tell people I was a Canseco collector, there are fans who will pay BIG money for some of his rarer cards. As a matter of fact, one Canseco card marked as a 1/1 with a normal bat piece in the card went for over $450 ... with 18 or so bids! This was no fluke! The card didn't look all that impressive, either.
So sure, I have my work cut out for me. Perhaps I'll focus on cards I enjoy looking at, instead of ultra mega rare cards of him. I think my wallet will thank me. I've decided to focus more on the rarer lower dollar cards though (for now, anyway ... ain't no way I'm gonna drop $500 or so on a 1/1 regular looking bat card!). As I still have about 3,000,000 cards to go in my deal with my friend, I'm anticipating replenishing 75-85% or so of my existing Canseco collection for free.
Growing up, I was an avid reader of Beckett monthly. The articles would soothe me throughout the long, cold off-season. I would see articles of people who are "super collectors" of a certain player.
I remember seeing one kid who had 9 1989 Upper Deck Griffey rookies, and thought to myself "how the heck does that happen???" 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. Check his site out at www.cansecoking.com - he boasts something called the "Perfection Collection". Why? Because it is, well, pretty much perfect. After checking out his stuff, and realizing that he already had been in Beckett, I realized that I will never be magazine worthy. That's ok though, it is great to be able to enjoy looking through his collection online. Whenever you have a custom license plate AND a tattoo dawning Canseco's #33, you deserve the title.
I have always kept aside the Canseco cards. The collection had gone from going to card shows as a child and buying single Canseco cards that I didn't have, to, mindlessly tossing anything that had Canseco's name on it in a separate pile from collections I bought.
It is funny how times change! I remember vividly standing at a baseball card show at the age of 12, going through a big pile of Canseco cards. An older lady and man who, in my memory, seemed to be in their 60's (they were probably in their 40's!) were carefully watching me go through the cards. I put the pile of my carefully picked Canseco into their hands.
"Would you accept $9 for these?"
The lady snorted and turned to her male counterpart "Did you hear that Rob? He is asking if we'd sell these for $9." She then preceeded to laugh, so I walked away with my tail between my legs, and not a single Canseco richer.
I'm not saying that was the turning point of when I stopped putting thought into the collection. Heck, there was a good 12 years or so between the time I was a kid to being an adult who got back into cards. I even remember when the big hurricane hit over here. There was no electricity, and I ran out of things to do. So for the first time in years, I pulled out my Canseco collection and started sorting. What fun!
I kind of envisioned myself in my golden years of retirement sorting baseball cards for fun, with the Canseco collection first on the list. Well, after I sold out of pretty much everything, I sold the Canseco collection, as it was really not anything that I had put too terribly much thought, effort or investment into.
Then, one day, it bit me ... hard. I wanted to get back into collecting Canseco! I thought to myself "what kind of collection could I come up with, within the budget that I had sold the collection for?"
This idea is very intriguing to me, so I've been speaking with a few folks who are Canseco fans. If it is one thing I know now, it is that while I used to almost apolegetically tell people I was a Canseco collector, there are fans who will pay BIG money for some of his rarer cards. As a matter of fact, one Canseco card marked as a 1/1 with a normal bat piece in the card went for over $450 ... with 18 or so bids! This was no fluke! The card didn't look all that impressive, either.
So sure, I have my work cut out for me. Perhaps I'll focus on cards I enjoy looking at, instead of ultra mega rare cards of him. I think my wallet will thank me. I've decided to focus more on the rarer lower dollar cards though (for now, anyway ... ain't no way I'm gonna drop $500 or so on a 1/1 regular looking bat card!). As I still have about 3,000,000 cards to go in my deal with my friend, I'm anticipating replenishing 75-85% or so of my existing Canseco collection for free.
Growing up, I was an avid reader of Beckett monthly. The articles would soothe me throughout the long, cold off-season. I would see articles of people who are "super collectors" of a certain player.
I remember seeing one kid who had 9 1989 Upper Deck Griffey rookies, and thought to myself "how the heck does that happen???" 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. Check his site out at www.cansecoking.com - he boasts something called the "Perfection Collection". Why? Because it is, well, pretty much perfect. After checking out his stuff, and realizing that he already had been in Beckett, I realized that I will never be magazine worthy. That's ok though, it is great to be able to enjoy looking through his collection online. Whenever you have a custom license plate AND a tattoo dawning Canseco's #33, you deserve the title.
Thursday, October 24, 2013
Bagwell & Biggio Rare 90's Mirror Cards! - The Boomerang Effect
Less than a month ago, I picked up a large collection of rare 90's inserts. I sold them off very quickly, and found the buyer reselling some of the cards that I liked out of the collection, so what did I do? I bought them back!
They are real beauties. 1997 Pinnacle Certified Mirror Red / Blue / Gold Jeff Bagwell and Craig Biggio's - They are all for sale, and, cheaper than what you will find them for on ebay, so if you are interested, let me know!
Here is the eye candy ...
They are real beauties. 1997 Pinnacle Certified Mirror Red / Blue / Gold Jeff Bagwell and Craig Biggio's - They are all for sale, and, cheaper than what you will find them for on ebay, so if you are interested, let me know!
Here is the eye candy ...
Wednesday, October 9, 2013
Selling My Childhood...
The past few months have been quite a whirlwind. I've sold everything. Then I bought a collection of cards, and sold it. Then I bought another collection of comics and ...and sold it.
Right now, any and all lingering cards from deals and purchases are gone! If his name isn't Canseco, I don't have a card of him right now, aside from a few cards I'm holding for someone until this weekend.
The past few weeks alone, I scored a killer card collection and a killer comic collection that I had written about. Each was a HUGE rush to get, but now they are gone. Sure, I have plenty of other stuff to sell, but as far as cards, there is basically one thing left: my Canseco collection.
I don't know why I get like this, but if I don't have any sports stuff to sell, I start selling pictures on my walls...anything! The blaring thing that sticks out right now is the Canseco collection. The collection I have worked on for the better part of 25 years.
There are about 3,000 cards, several autographed 8x10's, a few autographed baseballs, game used cards, etc. All of which is for sale. I spent an hour or two today taking pictures, doing some videos, etc.
I have put in a small cubby in the hutch of my desk the picture I took with Canseco, the ball he personalized for me, and a few of my favorite cards I have of him. On the wall next to me is the autographed bat my wife got me, and a few autographed 8x10's of him.
Here are a few pictures of what I'm keeping:
Hopefully this makes me look more like a fan, and less like a serial stalker! (Seriously, y'all - it was getting out of hand. Too much Canseco stuff on my walls.)
Oh, and in case you were wondering, the collection I have up for sale is at $999.33 obo on ebay with $40.40 shipping. Pictures and videos of everything are there as well: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=271294755208&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT
Feel free to make an offer!
Right now, any and all lingering cards from deals and purchases are gone! If his name isn't Canseco, I don't have a card of him right now, aside from a few cards I'm holding for someone until this weekend.
The past few weeks alone, I scored a killer card collection and a killer comic collection that I had written about. Each was a HUGE rush to get, but now they are gone. Sure, I have plenty of other stuff to sell, but as far as cards, there is basically one thing left: my Canseco collection.
I don't know why I get like this, but if I don't have any sports stuff to sell, I start selling pictures on my walls...anything! The blaring thing that sticks out right now is the Canseco collection. The collection I have worked on for the better part of 25 years.
There are about 3,000 cards, several autographed 8x10's, a few autographed baseballs, game used cards, etc. All of which is for sale. I spent an hour or two today taking pictures, doing some videos, etc.
I have put in a small cubby in the hutch of my desk the picture I took with Canseco, the ball he personalized for me, and a few of my favorite cards I have of him. On the wall next to me is the autographed bat my wife got me, and a few autographed 8x10's of him.
Here are a few pictures of what I'm keeping:
Hopefully this makes me look more like a fan, and less like a serial stalker! (Seriously, y'all - it was getting out of hand. Too much Canseco stuff on my walls.)
Oh, and in case you were wondering, the collection I have up for sale is at $999.33 obo on ebay with $40.40 shipping. Pictures and videos of everything are there as well: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=271294755208&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT
Feel free to make an offer!
Friday, September 27, 2013
Mining for Gold ... Literally
A few days ago, someone emailed me a list of their baseball cards that they wanted to sell. I took a look over the list, and saw a few cards I was interested in. I called up the seller to ask what he wanted. He mentioned the collection was valued at $20,000 and he was looking for 40 cents on the dollar.
I let him know that no one would pay him 40 cents on the dollar, but I would love to take a look at the cards. He seemed a little stand-offish and said he would call me on Friday so we can setup something. I figured I wouldn't hear from him because he had that kind of "don't call me, I'll call you" tone.
To my surprise, I heard back, and we ended up meeting in a restaurant parking lot. He pulled off into the grass, and opened the back of his truck. After we introduced ourselves to each other what he said next dropped my jaw...
"I must apologize, because I forgot that I had sold a number of the better cards to a dealer about a year ago."
WHAT?!?!? I was NOT happy. Sure enough, the cards that were nowhere to be found were the ones I wanted most. One of which was a Mariano Rivera autograph. URGH!!!!
After I told him that I wished I would have known that before making plans for an hour round trip, I dug into the cards. I mentioned I probably wouldn't be able to pay the prices he wanted for everything based upon our conversation...especially since lots of the good cards were gone, and I would hope to find some cards I could buy from him to make the trip worth it.
He wasn't buying it.
He said he wanted them all, all, all gone. To my surprise, we were able to make a deal with fairly painless negotiating. Aside from the multiple mosquito bites, I was happy as a clam to load everything up into the cardboard-mobile and drive off.
Today, I was able to process through everything, and post everything up for sale that I didn't want to immediately keep...to separate the wheat from the chaff, so to speak. The chaff looks like it is going to easily cover my expenses for everything, and then some. I love when that happens! I'll love it even more when someone actually buys said chaff.
So, with all that said, I wanted to take some time to show off some of the treasures - I made a 3 row box of cards in holders that I'll either list as singles, or sell as bulk. Here are some of the treasures from the box:
There are tons more, but those are my favorites. I was super happy with all the 90's inserts! Included in the collection were rookies of OJ Simpson, Steve Garvey, Ozzie Smith, Rickey Henderson and a 1969 Topps Hank Aaron, not to mention a complete set of 1996 Certified Red ... and 94 autographed from 1996 Leaf!.
I let him know that no one would pay him 40 cents on the dollar, but I would love to take a look at the cards. He seemed a little stand-offish and said he would call me on Friday so we can setup something. I figured I wouldn't hear from him because he had that kind of "don't call me, I'll call you" tone.
To my surprise, I heard back, and we ended up meeting in a restaurant parking lot. He pulled off into the grass, and opened the back of his truck. After we introduced ourselves to each other what he said next dropped my jaw...
"I must apologize, because I forgot that I had sold a number of the better cards to a dealer about a year ago."
WHAT?!?!? I was NOT happy. Sure enough, the cards that were nowhere to be found were the ones I wanted most. One of which was a Mariano Rivera autograph. URGH!!!!
After I told him that I wished I would have known that before making plans for an hour round trip, I dug into the cards. I mentioned I probably wouldn't be able to pay the prices he wanted for everything based upon our conversation...especially since lots of the good cards were gone, and I would hope to find some cards I could buy from him to make the trip worth it.
He wasn't buying it.
He said he wanted them all, all, all gone. To my surprise, we were able to make a deal with fairly painless negotiating. Aside from the multiple mosquito bites, I was happy as a clam to load everything up into the cardboard-mobile and drive off.
Today, I was able to process through everything, and post everything up for sale that I didn't want to immediately keep...to separate the wheat from the chaff, so to speak. The chaff looks like it is going to easily cover my expenses for everything, and then some. I love when that happens! I'll love it even more when someone actually buys said chaff.
So, with all that said, I wanted to take some time to show off some of the treasures - I made a 3 row box of cards in holders that I'll either list as singles, or sell as bulk. Here are some of the treasures from the box:
Bagwell and Williams - The Williams has an actual diamond on it, and the Bagwell has actual gold in it! A Mo Vaughn card similar to Bagwell just sold for $100.
Old school double rainbow all the way! Certified Mirror Blue, Red & Gold Biggios....
and Bagwells...
and more Bagwells
Correction and Error inserts. The Jeters go for about $50 a pop.
Flair Showcase Row 0 Jeter Ripken Griffey
The Zenith Jeter is an Artist Proof
Certified Blue Jeter Thomas & Chipper
Certified Blue Griffeys
Blue McGwire, Mirror Blue Ripken, nice rare Thomas die-cut
Gold Team Jeters Bonds & Ripken
The 2 Jeters go for about $50 or so each
4 nice David Arias (Ortiz) rookie inserts from 1997 - I didn't even know these existed!
Artist Proofs and rare Silver Griffey
Artist Proofs and Rare Thomas
There are tons more, but those are my favorites. I was super happy with all the 90's inserts! Included in the collection were rookies of OJ Simpson, Steve Garvey, Ozzie Smith, Rickey Henderson and a 1969 Topps Hank Aaron, not to mention a complete set of 1996 Certified Red ... and 94 autographed from 1996 Leaf!.
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