Rare Food Issue Chapter Complete ... I think

I had a picture of a nice new shiny rainbow autograph set I was going to post up today, but it will have to wait. Today, I got it a few squares that appear to have completed a neat little oddball chapter in my collection.

Based upon my research, these discs were produced by MSA (Mike Schechter Associates) for various grocery store chains and bakeries. MSA produced several sets of these in the 80's and 90's from Fantastic Sam's to give away for free whenever you got a haircut, to Hostess potato chips, to Iced Tea. You will see what appears to be the exact same disc several times, with different company brands on it.

Most/all (I don't know) came in 3 panel perforated form, and many had an offer to allow you to send in some discs along with money in the mail to receive a promotional press sheet calendar. depicting the entire set, full size These calendars typically had the disc artwork in square form.

As calendars are not too collectible, and difficult to store, many have been cut down to squares, and sold off. Many of the cut square backs have the exact same statistic information on the reverse side, just like the discs. Many try to sell these off as "proofs", but the fact of the matter is that they are highly collectible in cut disc form.

The discs and squares both range from fairly easy to obtain, to extremely tough to get your hands on.

To me, there isn't a mind-blowing story on these that I have uncovered. It is fascinating, nonetheless, to know how the discs were produced & distributed, and what had to happen to get the cut square promos. Here is what I believe to be the entire run of MSA discs/squares of Jose Canseco. If you know of any that I am missing, please let me know! (It looks like a King B disc / square pairing made its way into this evening's showcase as well...whoops!)







These are the ones that I don't believe to have had the calendar offer for, so therefore there are no sister disc squares to match them with. If you know this to be wrong though, let me know!

Ripping Apart More 1 of 1's, plus a Custom Frame and ... a Lego Relic Card?

This week, I had several things going on.  I updated my checklist up to 2014, which took HOURS, but it was worth it.  The only downside I see is how many cards are out there that I will never see.  Did you know that Canseco has over 300 cards that are 1/1's alone?  Crazy!  Hopefully my checklist will assist others when they are digging in their collections to sell me Canseco cards I don't have.

One of the cards that came in this week was a 2015 Gypsy Queen Canseco autographed mini #/10.  Topps never put it in a frame, so I bought a donor GQ card, pulled out the mini relic and wrapped it around my new Canseco mini Auto.  I think it looks MUCH better than just some tiny card floating in a regular sized card holder.



Speaking of frames, I ended up having some fun with the lego theme, and started thinking what if I actually embedded a lego piece IN the card?  It could be a "game used relic".

So...I did.

I think it was good for a laugh at least!  I did have another donor frame come in, though and it was a 2006 Allen & Ginter frame again.  This time, it was to house the mini I had Canseco sign.



I LOVE how it came out.  Red ink, the 1/1 notation.  If you look closely, you will see a mustache.  Jose said "Ahh, I see the mustache...that's old school!"  I don't think he knew that the mustache wasn't his.  Truth be told, it is mine.

Perhaps one of the most anticipated mini customs for me to finish up is the card I made from a piece of the game used bat I chopped up.  It is thicker than a regular mini, so I ended up having to design and make a custom frame for it.  I didn't want something that looked like it was created in celebration of the supreme court's recent decision like the A&G frame, but I also didn't want something as plain as the GQ frame, either.

After several iterations, here is what I came up with:  Oh yeah, Canseco signed his game used bat card, of course!



I love how the refractive qualities of the frame go with the wood of the card & hope a real card company will do something similar with their frames.

I also ended up making a Canseco bat knob card as well.  The cool thing for me about this one is that I was able to use a picture that my wife took of him when we were at his house.



I had him hand number the knob slice, photoshopped the Yankees hat on him, and voila!

That's all for this week, kids.  Don't forget to tune in here next week when I attempt to make a custom Mike Trout 1/1 out of a real fish and some relish!

FREE Card!

There is a guy I know who, by the world's standards is FILTHY rich.  The amount of time and money he gives is negligible, when compared to what he has.

He is the type of guy that, while many look at, think that he is doing alright, and probably a good guy, but if you were to be able to camp out in his brain for a while, you would be amazed with how many thoughts start out with "I", "me" or "my".

I'm embarrassed to say this, but the person I'm talking about is me.  See?  There I go talking about myself again.

I got off the phone with someone a few weeks ago, and he told me something incredibly sad.  He said to me that almost everybody he knows that professes to be a "Born Again Christian" ends up being a liar, thief or back-stabber.  How sad is that?

As a Christian myself, I find myself struggling with that name.  When you think about the Christians you know, are you like my friend and think Christians are self absorbed thieves/liars/backstabbers?  I won't hold it against you, if you do.  I'm honestly curious.  I have a sneaking feeling that it is the case.  Heck, many that I know are ready and willing to draw blood in the heat of a political argument.

According to the Bible, Jesus didn't come to raise up self-righteous hypocrites.  He didn't say "Start a riot when your rights are trampled on."  Plain and simple, He said "Take up your cross, and follow me."

So, what does that mean?  Did Jesus come to form an army of people to bark at the world, telling them that cursing, drinking, smoking and sexual immorality are wrong?  Not once have I read where Jesus snubbed the "sinners".  I'll tell you one thing I have read about Jesus (you know, aside from the whole God thing.)  He was giving, and a healer.  He helped others.  Do Christ followers do that today?  I know I don't.  Not NEARLY as much as I should.

So, what does this have to do with Baseball?  If you are still with me, my whole point here, is to take a breather from "me" and start being a giver, and a healer.  I have enjoyed making customs, and even more, I have enjoyed all kinds of positive feedback from my work, and my writing.

I would like to use my work to help others.  So, here is the deal, if you know of a child who is very sick, has lost a parent, or has gone through something traumatizing,  I'd like to make a baseball card for some kids to help brighten their day a bit.  It won't change their lives, but hopefully will give them something to smile about!

Please PM me with:
The child's name
Their story
Their favorite player
The address to send the card to (yours or theirs, doesn't matter)

Before I wrap up this post, I encourage you to use your time, treasures & talents to reach out and help others as well.  There is just an insane amount of people hurting in the world, and if we won't be there to help, then who will?

I've got to HAND it to Topps ...

Greetings, ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to this evening's edition of mouschipiece theatre ...

Tonight, we feature the forgotten jumbo card. It is forgotten, because it is in my closet, propped up by a wall, and was mostly covered by a 1980's Canseco punch out mask prior to my cleaning kick tonight.

I've got to hand it to Topps here. They did a top notch job on this. The fingerprints of craftsmanship are all over this. It truly has a unique touch.

The card? A mega 12x18 Topps Archives TOUCHED BY GREATNESS.

It is Hand Signed.
It is Hand Numberd.
and most importantly...
It is Hand Printed.



It is truly a great, great card. I normally don't dig oversized things, but Topps really hit is out of the park with this one.

2015 Topps Series 2 Canseco Autographs Incoming!

Uninspired. Generic. No Soul.

That is what I thought of the latest Canseco offering from Topps Tier One. A small picture of Canseco on the right, with a BIG open space for an autograph on the left. I picked up one that was cheap, but it had an autograph at the bottom so I picked up a copy that had his autograph smack dab in the middle.

My thoughts of the new Topps Series 2 Canseco cards continued along in the same vein as Teir One.

1) The first one is an SP and a sticker auto (which, by the way, I don't have an issue with sticker autos, if done correctly ... much like I have no problems w/out team logos if done correctly.)

Here is the picture of it. It is not ugly at all, but not eye popping.



Later that day, I saw the other Topps Series 2 Canseco autograph. This is # to 25.



My gut reaction was that I liked the first one better than the 2nd!

They look like the parents of the 1992 Score Impact Players card.



After a while though, they grew on me. I don't know why or how. Perhaps because they are genuine Topps cards that I have never seen before. I am not sure. A friend of mine said that these are a "necessary evil" - and for super collectors, I think that is a great way of putting it.

I don't think these are ugly designs at all. Upon initial inspection, I just felt like they were generic looking. Thankfully for me though, I have truly fallen in love with them. As a side note, I now think that a modified 1992 Score Impact Players card with an autograph may be a pretty dang good idea!

Both of the latest Topps Canseco cards are incoming, and I cannot wait to have them in hand. The Heart of the Order card has a base card which I have incoming as well.

As always, if you have any rare Canseco - let me know!

Lego / Allen & Ginter Cross-Over

Based upon feedback from some people on the forums from my past post, I do wonder what you, my highly valued reader, think of my passion for collecting Canseco cards.  Perhaps you were wondering some of the following about me:

Is his favorite number 33?

Does mouschi roll out of bed in the morning in his Jose PJ's on, then throw on #33's jersey and head to his office - an office that is plastered with life sized posters?

Does he take virtually any song I sing in his head and replace the lyrics with "Jose Canseco"?

Is it possible that he accidentally calls his wife and son Jose, while quickly trying to correct himself by pretending he was about to say something ABOUT Jose?

Has he put a fridge magnet of the former A's slugger up next to the other magnets of places his family has been to?

Contrary to popular belief, none of these things are true.

Well, most at least ....



But I PROMISE it was my wife's idea to put it there!

As someone who LOVES baseball, collecting, writing and creating customs, Canseco is the right dude that intersects all of these things for me.  He's my favorite player, but as far as people go with J.C. initials, he is a distant 3rd place in my eyes behind Jesus and my son's youth leader.  (Shout out to Chang!)

You probably noticed the legos on the fridge.  While it is obvious what my favorite stop was in our vacation, my wife and son LOVED Legoland.  My son is determined to be an AFOL (Adult Fan of Lego) when he gets older, and my wife .... well, she already is.  I think she got a greater kick out of the place than he did!

It is a pretty amazing place.  (My wife and son walking in.)



My son's favorite was the massive Star Wars setup.  "Dad!  You have to take a picture of EVERYTHING!!!"  So, I pretty much did.  I wouldn't be surprised if there are 50 pictures of Star Wars Legos on my phone.  He plans to use them on his blog at some point.

Of course, you also can't go wrong with a MASSIVE lego dinosaur with an xbox controller!



So as nutty as it sounds, as a baseball fan and a lover of all things cardboard, I thought ... what would it look like if a card company made a lego baseball card?

I know, I know.  It sounds crazy.  Why make a card of a toy?  I guess you'd have to be related to me to understand how much legos are loved here.

I decided to start with an Allen & Ginter style mini.  I love these cards - they are among my favorites to do customs with.

You can guess who my subject is ....  #notobsessed

Here is my Lego / Allen & Ginter Cross-Over.



Strange?  Weird?  Perhaps ... but to me, I *LOVE* it.

Here it is out of the frame:



But that is where this cross-over gets a different dimension.



ALMOST OUT.....



(PLOP!)  There it is ....



Completely free from the mini A&G style card, ready to play.



Ever seen a BLANK A&G style card?  Well, there it is.



It is almost like looking in a mirror!



In case you were wondering if this was Ozzie instead, it truly is Jose.  You can check his right hand with his birth mark.



So, there it is - a true A&G / LEGO Custom Cross-Over.  It crossed over from 2 to 3 dimensions.  The mini figure took forever to figure out, as it took some acetone, sand paper, specialized water-slide paper, etc and more, but I think it turned out pretty good!



As always, thanks for reading!  Now if you don't mind, it is about time for my 3 o'clock Jose Canseco.

#stillnotobsessed...much.

Stolen Card Story Takes an Interesting Turn ...

Last Tuesday, I was writing about how I bought a card off ebay, and the seller refunded the money, then turned around and sold it to someone else who contacted them after I bought it, saying they would pay more for it.

As a quick re-cap, here is the card:



Beautiful, huh?  It was the same day I secured my 1990 Donruss Aqueous, but I was really looking forward to this gorgeous # to 10, dual patch card of Canseco also. 

With this release, Panini broke the several year silence of Canseco jersey cards.  I remember seeing the first "major" jersey card of him in years from this set in 2013, and I was very happy.  Well, last week, when I saw this online, I didn't even know it existed.  The dual patch setup is SWEET!  Heck, how many dual patch cards of one player do you see anyway?  I was sick of seeing cards like this of him being produced:  (Yes, I have this one too and actually.)



As you may recall, I was bummed out like crazy.  (I'm probably preaching to the choir - you surely know my pain for missing out on a card that is "supposed to be" yours.)

I found out it was going to a fellow Canseco collector who is also a friend.  We will call him Harry.  (No, that isn't his real name, and if you guess who it is, I will flatly deny any guesses - right or wrong, so don't try!)  I had my concerns that he was the one who contacted the seller to buy it out from under me, but he calmed those fears.  He ended up calling me and said I was welcome to remotely log into his computer to check his messages, if I had any doubts, but I declined.  That action is something you would expect from an enemy, not a friend.   

In the end, I still didn't have my dual patch card that I had rightfully won - and it was killing me wondering who contacted the seller and convinced him to sell to him instead of just sending the card to me like he should have.

After a few days, I cooled my jets, reminding myself it was just a piece of cardboard.

And a few pieces of fabric.

Dual patch fabric.


SERIAL NUMBERED TO PERFECTION!!!!!!!!! 



Okay, okay, okay - I promise, I was doing better than how I am making it sound.  There are far too many things to be concerned about in the world than this.

(Like finding and hunting down the DOG who did this to me!!!) 



NO!  Not my intent at all.  It really did make me wonder though.  What happens to other cards down the road that I want ... and buy?  Is nothing safe?  Who really did get this from me?  Was it Harry?  Nah, can't be - he offered for me to check his computer.  But then again ... he wouldn't have expected me to get on his computer.  Ugh.


And this, my friends, is where the story takes a turn. 

I got a message from Harry:  "The Canseco card was cancelled per you.  Oops."

I had absolutely ZERO idea what this meant.  Initially, I thought one of two things.  Either:

1)  He cancelled because it should go to me (which I was hoping he would do anyway.)  OR
2)  He thought I had convinced the seller to do the right thing and sell to me instead. 

While I was fine with either one of these options, I was pulling for #1.  I also knew one thing may be possible:  THE CARD WAS BACK ON THE MARKET!!!  Harry's cryptic message put me into action.

Should I keep an eye on ebay?  Should I message the seller that I just neg'ed and reported to ebay?  I opted to message him, and just like that - my hope vanished into thin air.

I asked "Word on the street is that the card may be available.  It isn't fair, but I'd be open to paying full price for it.  Please let me know."  I was on the way to the store with my wife at this point, and was kind of floating through the aisles, full of hope.  The kind of hope you get when your wife is in the mood for picking up some of that delicious salted caramel ice cream.   

DING.

My phone notified me of a response.  It was him!

"Harry told me how much it is worth and how much he would pay. Witch was 50 dollars."



There you have it.  The card was now lost forever.  I was intrigued now though.  What did he mean Harry was lying?  So I asked.

"What do you mean Harry was lying?"  (See?  I told you I asked.)

He went on to explain that after I had purchased the card, Harry contacted him saying he would pay more than I did.  He then said that Harry requested he lie to me saying it wasn't him.  I went back and forth, and the seller was gracious enough to tell me everything he knew. 

My thoughts went two ways:  I was upset that Harry had stabbed me in the back, but I also felt blessed that I was able to find out who did this to me.  

I stewed for this over the next few days, not knowing how to approach Harry with this.  He could, after all, just flatly deny it, and say the seller was lying.  I opted not to say anything until he reached out to me - if he ever tried doing so again.

A few nights later, he did.  

I ended up telling him that I knew everything, and while he tried to skirt around it a few times, he ended up calling.  Not sure if he was going to try and tell me off for not believing him, or what - I decided to pick up.  I'm not big on confrontation, but this needed to be hashed out, no matter which way it was going to go. 

I was pleasantly surprised.  Harry fessed up and apologized profusely for doing so over the course of a few hours.  He said he was horrified that he had acted that way, and that it was me he did it to.  Harry mentioned that he did not know it was me until after he had contacted the seller, and assured me there was no malicious intent toward me.



As it turns out the message from him "The Canseco was cancelled per you.  Oops" was not even meant for me.  He was talking to someone else about an entirely different subject!  It is too funny that this whole thing came out due to a wrong message. 

When all was said and done, we had agreed to do a trade.  So yes, folks!  That means I got the card!  It came in today.  It cost me a very nice Canseco autograph, but one I hope to replace shortly.

I really wished it would not have cost me the autograph, but in the end, it is a small price to pay to retain a friendship.  When it comes to this hobby, I try to live by the motto "people before cardboard".  While I can't guarantee that I will never fail this standard, I would say that it worked today.  In the end, I was able to get the card I wanted, and Harry is happy as well. 

****SUNDAY BONUS RIP-OFF COVERAGE****
This story is running long (as do ALL of the stories I write), but I figured this is worth documenting as well.  A few months back, I sold a small racing lot to someone on the boards for $28.  3 days after I shipped, the seller wrote me in a rather irate manner, stating I packed the cards wrong and they are damaged.

I asked for a picture, which he obliged.  After looking at the pictures, I didn't notice anything too terribly wrong, but regardless, I told him to send them back and he would get a full refund.  He agreed, and for the sake of customer service, I refunded him right away.

Bad move.

As it was a small transaction, I nearly forgot about it.  After a few weeks, I checked in.  Nothing.  A month ... nothing.  Finally, after nearly 2 months (3 days ago) I wrote him via email, and on his ebay account (yes, is selling on ebay while not writing me back!)  I told him I need my cards or money back ASAP - that I was sure it was an over sight, but it needs to be addressed right away.

Three days go bye.  I keep thinking seriously ... who can't take care of their responsibility like this quickly?

I hopped on ebay, and was determined to purchase an item from him in hopes of getting his attention, anddddd.....



What do I want to do next?  WHAT DO I WANT TO DO NEXT????  I want to send this guy to federal prison for 5 years!!!!

Yeah, I know - that is harsh and obviously I wouldn't have wanted that for him.  Hey ... $28.  Not gonna break the bank, but at this point, I knew this guy was trying to take my cards/money and run, and that boils my blood more than his inability to take care of business.

So, I simply wrote him stating he has 24 hours before I file a police report.  Lo and behold .....



No other words were said, but I'm happy to put this chuckle-butt in my rear view mirror. 

Another Dream Come True!

If you haven't heard enough of my enthusiastically chirping about how I was on the front page of the Beckett website, buckle in - because I'm about to say even more.   Last night, I was a bit bummed out because I was taken off the front page.  I knew it had to end at some point, but I was still bummed about it.  It was a mixture of bummed-outness and thankfulness.  I feel so incredibly blessed to have been featured on the website!

Not too long after that, I found out I was going to be in the ACTUAL magazine!  To me, this is a HUGE thing.  I have been reading Beckett Monthly since I was 9 years old.  For those of you keeping score at home, that means the first time I picked up a Beckett was about 26 years ago.

No doubt, I would be in a black and white 4" x 4" page in the very back, but WHO CARES???  I'm gonna be in Beckett!!!  I took a picture of me and my collection *JUST IN CASE* they wanted to show a full color picture of me with my collection.  (Would you believe it? This was the best i could come up with after 10 tries!)



To show you that I've dreamed of being in Beckett for a long time, here is what I wrote this on my blog back in 2013:

=========
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.
=========

I know, I know.  I'm not featured with my collection.  Instead, I'm featured with my favorite player.  I will totally take that instead!

I'm not sure I can emphasize how important the hobby's #1 magazine has been to me.  Keep in mind when I was a child, this was before the days of mobile phones, tablets, ipods, etc.  Whenever I would go somewhere that would require me to exercise patience, I would tote the latest issue of Beckett with me.

Beckett got me into studying the value of things, and was pretty much the only thing I read when I didn't care much for reading.  It also got me through those long, hard baseball-less months from November to April.

Beckett Magazine is not only a magazine, but is also a collectible, for many.  My favorite Beckett of all time has got to be this one:



If there is one thing you should know about me, it is that I'm a BIG dreamer.  Ever since I heard I would be in the magazine, I started day-dreaming.



(Yes, I do have Angry Birds decals on the back of my office door.)  I try my best to temper my big dreaming with very conservative expectations of how it will play out in reality.

It doesn't help my cause being a self-professed photoshop ninja, though.

 Here is what I came up with:



Like I said, I am a BIG dreamer.  I don't know about you, but I think that would make a fine cover!  Heck, this would dethrone my previous favorite all-time Beckett cover!

After coming back down to earth, and thinking more about reality, I came to grips that while I may not be on the cover, I still feel like the luckiest man on the planet to have been able to hang out with Jose for the afternoon, AND be in Beckett ... not matter how small the article would be.

But then ....

I got an email ....



Why would the editor of Beckett be tweeting Jose and me?  (Yeah, I'm nutty enough to be giddy as it is that Beckett was tweeting to me and Canseco.)  It just didn't make sense though.  Things were not computing for me.  So, I clicked on the link ... (embarrassingly enough - slightly shaking) ...



Do you see that?!??!  I'M ON THE COVER!!!   No, no, no - not the dude in the Rangers uni.  Look at the very top!

I have absolutely no idea what is being displayed about me & Canseco on the inside.  Heck, even if there were nothing said about us, it is beyond amazing that we got to be on the cover.  To my knowledge it has been over 20 years since Jose was on the cover of Beckett.  For me, it has been at least that long as well.  :P

With very few card shops around in my area, I may need to hunt around for an issue when it hits the stands, but until then, I think it is going to be very hard to sleep and perhaps even harder to  remove this smile from my face.

Oh, and since I'm all about making fantasy cards that don't exist, I figured why not make a card out of my fantasy Beckett?  (By the way, I think Beckett should totally make cards out of their back issues - those would probably sell really well!)

Just another custom signed from the BEST DAY EVER!

It has been a while so I figured why not update the blog at mid-night with one of the other customs I got signed?

A Piece of History: 40/40 Club



Not only is Jose's John Hancock on it, it also features a piece of the bat I cut up!

How to Achieve your Hobby Goals (and more!)

Last night, I talked over the importance of goal setting with my son.  Being 12 years old (him, not me) it may seem a little young to do this, but that is what my parents did with me.  My son wants to create a video game, but this is very applicable to collecting as well.

The first time I set a goal was when i was 12 years old.  I wanted to buy 25 T-206 tobacco cards.  Using the formula below, I was able to accomplish this - quite a huge accomplishment for a kid!  This formula has stuck with me ever since, and is from Zig Ziglar.  I also use other techniques as well to continue pushing forward toward what I want to accomplish.

Hopefully this will help some of you out in achieving your goals as well!

1)  State the Goal
A goal not written down is not a goal at all ... it is just a dream!  Things get real when you write things down.  There is something psychological that happens once pen is put to paper.  Make sure you are specific about it as well.

For example:

"I want to have an awesome baseball card collection"

is not specific!  Try this:

"I want to have 10 PSA graded gem mint rookies of meaningful players in my collection."

2)  Set a Deadline
Writing down your goal is not enough.  If you want to realize your dream, you must set a deadline, or it likely will never start.

For our 10 PSA graded gem mint rookies, you might put the deadline at the end of Summer - September 22, 2015.

At the writing of this article, the great thing about this is that you can now begin to identify what needs to happen within this time for this to happen!  September 22 means you have about 15 weeks, or 105 days to reach your goal.  It is important to note to NOT be afraid to extend the deadline.  Many get frustrated with this, and shut down if they miss a deadline.  Just keep going!

3)  Identify the Obstacles
"Nothing in life worth having is free".  Your goal is a goal for a reason - there are obstacles to get to what you want!  Don't ignore them - identify them.

For finding your 10 PSA graded gem mint rookies, your obstacles could be:
- Finding them
- Getting the money together for them
- Dealing with your wife when she things you have gone bananas because you want to drop so much money on pieces of cardboard like a nerd.

4) Identify the People, Groups and Organizations who can Assist
There is a saying:  "Travel alone, and you will get there fast.  Travel together, and you will go far."  Sometimes, we all need help on things.  Who / what can help you?  What tools?  What websites?

Ebay and COMC are great places to find cards you want.  The forums are also a great tool, because not only can you buy cards, you can also network with other collectors and share your goal!  Try doing this kind of networking 15 years ago - it would have been insanely difficult.

5)  List the Benefits of Achieving the Goal
Ask:  "What's in it for me?"  Never lose sight of why you are working toward your goal!  If you cannot come up with a compelling list as to what the benefits are, perhaps you need to pull the plug.  Life is short - make the most of your time.

For the 10 PSA graded gem mint cards, you will probably easily be able to write out a laundry list of benefits:

- They will be the center piece of the collection I love so much.
- My friends. family and fellow collectors will be impressed with such fine specimens of cardboard.
- I LOVE showing off new cards on the forums, and would be able to do that with these.
- The chicks will be swarming me because of these cards.

6)  List the Skills you need to Acquire to Obtain this Goal
This isn't too terribly applicable for this goal, but one skill you may need is a good working understanding of the value of what cards you want!  You want your purchases to be smart, so don't just blindly throw $500 on that beautiful 1991 Fleer Ultra Phil Plantier you have your eye on.

7)  Develop a Plan
This is where the rubber meets the road.  You have identified your goal, set a deadline, identified the obstacles and who to work with.  You have listed the benefits of achieving the goal and listed the skills needed to obtain this goal.

You now have all the tools needed to make a plan - write it down!  This is the "HOW".  Setup mini goals / check points for yourself.  In our example goal, we have 15 weeks to get the 10 psa graded cards.  The plan could be to:

- Identify the 10 cards you want (and perhaps 10 alternates if something else catches your eye instead.)
- Determine how much each should cost.
- Develop a plan to get the money needed (or adjust the goal / go for other cards that might be more attainable.)
- Start hitting the online websites and look!

As it has been said before, it is VERY simple, but it may not be easy.  Virtually any goal can be achieved, so put this list to work, and remember - if you don't see success 100%, you will still be a lot further along than if you hadn't tried for it!

A few notes that I feel I should share about this:

1)  Any goal worth going for should not negatively affect anyone.  If it is going to take away precious time with your family, or cause a rift between you and close friends, then consider doing something else.  This should be a positive experience - a change for the better.

2)  Review your goal every morning when you wake up and every night when you go to bed.  Try your hardest to do something ... anything EVERY DAY to make progress.

So, that is it for now!  I'm looking forward to hearing from YOU!  What are your goals?

My Crusade is Finished!

If you recall, I made up a version of a Crusade card, but with Canseco as a Blue Jay.

It took me a few tries ...



and I even played with a dual game used version ...



but decided that was too crowded.

I wanted to play with the colors ...



and even recreate the logo ...



In the end, I came up with this ...



But I wanted to make sure that not only was my name on the front, but also have my face on the back ...



The final looked much more polished, and when Jose got a hold of it, he laid down a NICE red ink signature on it. So, here is the happy ending to this card!



BTW - If you have a purple or red crusade Canseco ... let me know! I still need 'em for my collection.