How to Scan your Cards BEAUTIFULLY

You may remember my animated gif tutorial on getting your high end cards to sparkle: https://tanmanbaseballfan.com/2017/03/making-high-end-cards-sparkle-online-animated-gif-tutorial.html That may be a lot of work for some folks, so here is what I consider the next best thing.  Want to get beautiful scans of your card each and every time? Consider not scanning. Let's take a look at a few examples:  2017 Donruss Signature Series Autograph Blue #/99.  Beautiful card, right?  (As an aside, EVERY '17 Sig Series Canseco card I've seen looks like someone sneezed on the printing plates - what gives?!) Gorgeous card!  It doesn't look like a uniform scan.  Okay, no problem. 

Vacation Wrap Up

This past month, Mrs. Mouschi and I celebrated 16 years of wedded bliss.  We have been together 18 years and are rapidly approaching that magical time when we will have known each other longer than we haven't.  I still remember her loving words to me many years ago: "Sometimes I wish I were you, so I could be married to such a wonderful person like me."  She is so eloquent! Work has really had me burning the candle at both ends, so for the big 16...we hit Denny's. And we got this: Yes, friends.  This tall glass of water came

How to Avoid Damaged Mail from Postal Workers

For this article, the neighborhood mechanic is my office, the waiting table is my desk and my phone serves as my typing apparatus.  Pictured below, you can see the nose of my cardboard mobile through the door. I've had some time to think - about yesterday's mail, in particular.   I was happy to get in a piece of mail that contained both a 1985 and 1986 Topps Achievement award brochures.   Let me give you some history on them. From 1959 to 2004 (to my knowledge) Topps would hold a banquet for Topps all star rookie cup winners.   These are neat, because

Canseco Super Collector Top 10 Cards of the 1980s

Jose Canseco Top Cards of the Junk Wax Era This page has been modified to fit the junk wax era - we didn't quite make it to 10, but nevertheless, here they are! When you think of the junk wax era, you may think of the baseball card boom that started in the mid 80's and ended in the early 90's.  Many believe that this time period is worthless when it comes to collecting, but believe it or not, some of the most valuable, rarest baseball cards have come out of this time period.  The cards shown below are the

I made a GIF of Jose Canseco Swinging from my Baseball Cards

"Do you pronounce it GIF or JIF?" Out of all of the questions I post on facebook for debate, that one was quite possible the most hotly contested.  On one side, you have the folks pronouncing it with a hard G, and the others with a soft G (or...J).  The hard G's mock their adversaries by using lines from a pretty hilarious parody video of someone debating this while asking if they received a jift for the birthday jirl, etc.  Whereas the soft G's point out that the creator of the animated gif said it should be pronounced JIF. No matter which

Making Your High End Cards SPARKLE Online – Animated Gif Tutorial

In my last article, I had a bunch of people asking "How did you do that?" If you are one of those people, then this is for you. Why do this? Sharing our collection with others on the web has become as big a part of collecting as the actual collecting. The last thing we want is to show off our favorite cards, and have them look lackluster. Scanning, pictures, etc. can all yield different results. I always spend a good amount of time figuring out how to get the perfect light (ESPECIALLY when it comes to refractive cards). Take

ESPN Tweeted My Link!

So 2 nights ago, Darren Rovell of ESPN tweeted out my website... So, this is what happened with the traffic: Cool stuff! Also, as a thank you to Darren for tweeting out my link, I created a digital edition card for him commemorating his 89 Fleer Rick Face story. (Black box version used for obvious reasons!) Oh, and finally, to commemorate Rogue One Day, a family pic w/ticket relic:

Digital Download Cards Sell for HUNDREDS of Dollars

"Excuse me sir, what are you doing?" I was caught red-handed. A well dressed young man of about 20 years was looking over my shoulder as I was admiring my collection of baseball cards from my website on my phone while waiting for my cinnamon crunch bagel at Panera.  Yeah, I'm REAL cool.  All kinds of people at the restaurant on their phones doing millennial things - texting, facebooking, tweeting.  And me?  I'm looking at pictures of my baseball cards.  Slowing going through my favorite patch cards, then swiping feverishly through a large rainbow to get a fun effect of

2016 Topps Archives Signature Series: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

On the forums, I've spoken ad nauseum (satire & otherwise) about the problems I have had with Topps coming out with their 2016 rendition of Archives Signature Series Buybacks.  I have gone back and forth, and decided to do a "blog only exclusive" article here to share my final thoughts. THE GOOD You can get copies of buybacks that weren't previously available in 2015 New for 2016 are buyback jersey/relic cards (sweet!) THE BAD There is (again) NO checklist They were released a mere 9 months or so after the last release They look VERY similar to the 2015's.  Very

Radicards Interviewed Me … Video Inside!

38 minutes of baseball card talk goodness awaits you with the click of the youtube video below!  If you are interested in learning more about Radicards, check them out at www.radicards.com