Another one I made recently was this 2016 Finest Superfractor Canseco I missed out on recently. *It is spot on. *The only difference between mine and the real one is mine doesn't have serial numbering on the back and the back explicitly states that it is just a custom card meant for my own collection, and not real.
The guy told me to call him on Friday, because his*cards were at Beckett, and about to be graded, so he would have to drive over there to take a picture for me.* I wasn't quite sure how I was going to make it until Friday, but I made it abundantly clear that I would be on pins & needles waiting for a picture.* As we spoke on the phone, I told him about the deal I had made over the weekend, and he mentioned he may just drive down to make a trade.* To entice him to come down with the mirror red Canseco card, I sent a few pictures, including this one to entice him further:
Great cards, right? *I didn't hear back.* This made me nervous, but I stayed patient.
The Verdict
The very next day, my phone vibrated and dinged. *Every time my phone did anything, him reaching out to me was on my mind.* I had wondered what was going to show up on my screen. *Was it going to be someone else? *Was it going to be the guy answering me?* What would he say?* Would it be an apology - that he didn't actually have the card he was telling me about?
Nope, it was a picture.* A picture with the mirror red!
If you don't think I'm lying or stretching the truth here, then you haven't been paying close enough attention.* I've said it before, and I'll say it again.* How on earth is it possible for me to have a thought in my head to text a guy that I haven't talked to in a few years?* How is it possible that he had any Canseco available that I didn't yet have?* Last but not least, how is it possible that he had *THE* card I was hoping for?* This is absolutely mind boggling.
Here is a pic of the card he sent:
IMPOSSIBLE. *How did this happen???? *I don't know, but guess what?
It gets better.
Infinitely better.
Not only did he have the card I was so upset about being taken down from eBay, but he also had the red base I had held in such high esteem. *And the black base. *And the mirror blue. *And the mirror gold! *NONE of these have ever been seen or even confirmed to exist.
These just came in earlier today, and I am still giddy about even looking at this picture!* Let me tell you what you are looking at:
The Black card is the base card. *It is beautiful and elegant, because it is simple. *Its shiny black and mirror silver surface is definitely a thing of beauty. *It's one thing to own a card that only 30 were to be made of in the first place. *It is quite another to own a card that, if produced like it should have been, may have found its way into nearly every person's collection. *Simply put, it is smoooooth.
The Red card is a parallel of the base, and is the only one I had seen of this run up until a few days ago. *This is the one that I was in love with. *Its stark red contrasts the blue jersey perfectly.
The Mirror Red was a real treat to see on eBay last week. *It was like knowing there was a T-Rex already, but finding out there was something much bigger. *You know, like*Indominus Rex.
The Mirror Blue is drop dead gorgeous, and matches the jersey*color beautifully. *Absolute perfection.
What is better than perfection? *GOOOOLDDD! *While these all theoretically may*have the same rarity, there is something about the gorgeous refractive beauty of gold. *It was meant to be seen as baseball card royalty. *Had this card been released, it would have been on want lists*of pretty much everyone for years and years now.
*VERY FEW* of the black, red and mirror red have ever surfaced of ANYONE, but to my knowledge the mirror blue and gold have never been seen before ... of*anyone.
So here I am presented with an impossible RAINBOW of unicorns that aren't supposed to exist.* In fact, I have the PERFECT t-shirt to represent my new treasures. *(I cropped a funny face pic of myself*wearing this shirt at a party with my friends and family - I promise everyone else is making goofy faces as well!)
The shirt depicts*an astronaut riding a unicorn on a rainbow.* My son bought me this shirt when he was 10 or so, and I still wear it.* Heck, I'm actually wearing it now (not on purpose, either!) *So this shirt is ABSOLUTELY the perfect representation of not only these cards, but how the deal worked out. *I feel like I had to really shoot for the stars to find*the most beautiful rainbow of unicorns I have ever seen.
Prophetic, man.
Cards You've Never Seen, and the Back Story of Them
Before I go any further,
THE CARDS BELOW ARE *NOT* MINE! I only picked up the Canseco cards.
So, now that I have my crazy unbelievable story out of the way, allow me to unlock part of the mystery for you if you ever wondered where some of these crazy runs of unreleased cards have come from. *Here is the story, as the seller has told me:* (along with some pictures that he is allowing me to share with you.)
Several months ago, a former Pinnacle employee came forward with several cards they had for years and years.* They basically had entire set runs of stuff that was not released, but typically only one set, and perhaps a few extra singles.* These cards were in boxes labeled as the "Pinnacle Library".
As the story goes, each Pinnacle employee may have gotten a box of stuff, but only those employees who stayed until the very end. *They knew the owner, so it may not be out of the realm of possibility that those who knew the owner were given some of the "better" stuff. *The seller did mention that the Pinnacle ex-employees threw away several cards because they were "sticky". * How heartbreaking is that? *WHAT DID THEY THROW AWAY???
All of the cards from this deal*were not in sheet form; they were factory cut.
So, are*there 1-2 of these cards out there of each player?* 20?* We may never know, especially given the fact that many of these could have been thrown out and/or lost with time.* We are talking nearly 20 years ago, so who knows? *A 45 year old employee back then would*be in their mid 60s now, and have absolutely no desire to do anything but throw out the stuff they had, if they hadn't yet already done so.
Now that I have purchased this run of Canseco cards from the seller, his sets are all broken. *The funny part about it is that none of this stuff may have ever surfaced (in the near future anyway) if it weren't for me picking up the Canseco cards. *Look for the cards in the pictures above to surface on eBay soon.* He only has one copy each of the vast majority of these, so good luck and may the force be with you!* I'll be watching these auctions with popcorn in hand.
Some of these, such as the blac, red, mirror blue and mirror gold are not even recognized by Beckett, but that is soon to change. *As you can see from the pic above, his pickup wasn't limited to Pinnacle Certified. *There were various other types in there as well. *As a matter of fact, he also has a complete run of 1998 Leaf Rookies & Stars Longevity XX/ Executive Samples, which I was able to pickup the Canseco in it as well. *I'm very curious to see how well these perform when compared to the big boys like the 96 mirror golds, 97 totally certified platinum golds and 98 crusade reds.
With as much as I like the 96 Select Certified Mirror golds, 97 Totally Certified Platinum Golds & 98 Red Crusades, it is quite possible that we are looking at an impossible set that just might trump them all.
http://tanmanbaseballfan.com/2017/10/you-havent-seen-before.html