The Can Stash! ( Kodak Mail Aways)

Can you guys feel the tides changing a bit?MLB seems to be starting to ease up on the bad boys of summer .These last few years or so we've seen guys like McGwire , Bonds and Pete Rose(yes,PETE ROSE !)make somewhat of a resurgence In Major League Baseball. McGwire has found himself a job with the Padres as their bench coach,Bonds ,though recently fired,was the Marlins hitting coach for about a year or so and Pete Rose has been brought on by FOX to  do color commentary as a guest analyst.And now It seems that Jose Canseco ,the quintessential bad boy of baseball, will be doing some pre game analysis with the Oakland A's this season.I don't know about you,but I'm glad MLB has ,If only half way,dismounted their sanctimonious high horse  in an effort let our child hood heroes back In the game.To the cards...


This set I found on ebay while searching out Canseco oddballs.The price tag says 8 bucks but I only paid 5 and some change ,including shipping.What got me about these cards were the obvious signs of these being from Cansecos early years.There are no date stamps on the set of 10 cards but those are definitely 86/87 duds he's wearing.If anyone has anymore info on this card set ,please let me know In the comments below. 


                                           The card fronts have a vintage filtered look to them.

The backs all have the same advertisement.An offer for an 8" x 10" glossy color photo(on Kodak paper) hand signed by Jose Canseco.

I've never seen these before and who knows,they could be reproductions.It still wouldn't bother me one bit.The shots of Canseco are original and candid as they come.  

Ya see?Canseco had the fundies down-pat!

Are those California Redwoods back there?

Another nice addition to my growing Canseco collection.

The Can Stash (Mother's Cookies Edition)

As a kid ,my local card shop dealer knew me by name.The Hot Stove League was a quaint little card shop ,20 minutes walking distance from where I lived at the time, ran by the sweetest little elderly couple.The owner,slightly balding with a white handle bar mustache ,always had a stack of Canseco cards ready for me to sort through.Most were oddballs that I would  pass up In favor of the encased,more mainstream Canseco cards.The oddballs consisted mostly of All Star inserts,sticker cards and Mother's Cookies.I remember me and my friends chuckling at the name brand "Mother's Cookies" ,lol! WTF?Of all  the generic looking  oddball cards of our favorite players,Mother's Cookies was always the laughing stock.They were the butt of all jokes,the cards in our spokes and frankly,the name  "Mother's Cookies" was just a l-i-t-t-l-e  creepy.Very Norman Bates-esque.Well, It's taken me nearly 30 years to realize how attractive these cards really are.Maybe It's the "no frills" adult In me that can appreciate the simplicity, now, much more than I could have as a kid.



You can't tell from the pictures but these are glossy cards.In fact ,they don't even feel like cards at all.They are more like personal pictures someone took and had developed.Something you'd find In a photo album.The more I gaze at them,the more I like them.Let's face It ,today's cards   bamboozle and perplex us  with the amount of flash and flamboyancy put Into them.With this product,you get a more personal look at your favorite baseball player.The pictures really make It seem as If you were down on the field with the players during the photo shoot.The player names and teams are discreetly placed at the corners ,letting the pictures do all the talking.

1987 Mother's Cookies

This Is my first card of  Jose and Reggie .Strangely, this may be the only card featuring the both of them together.I could be wrong,though.

You would think more of them existed.

1988 Mother's Cookies

1989 Mother's Cookies

1990 Mother's Cookies

1991 Mother's Cookies

The backs are very plain Jane with a designated space for the players autograph. 

The following four Mother's Cookies cards were part of a 1989 set . 

Singles Only

Although this Is supposed to be  an NFL exclusive Singles Only  post,I snuck  Moncada In there last minute since It was the only baseball single I've picked up In a while.On to the cards...


Remember  a while back ,I set out to try and pull a 2016 Donruss Ezekiel Elliott by way of pack ripping ?Well I failed miserably at that and have had this card (and others like It)In my ebay watch list forever It seems .Every time I'd go to bid on this, It would jump up beyond the 10 dollar range,a price I wasn't willing to pay for a card that I could possibly still   pull in a pack.Luckily,I was able to snag this one up for about  $5 and some change shipped.I actually liked the base over the Optic,but I can't complain.

Shortly after winning the Optic auction,I stumbled upon this Panini Rookies and Stars listing. I think there were but seconds left when I entered my $2 winning bid.Not bad considering most of his rookie cards are selling for $5 and up.So that brings my Elliott card total to three now, including his Leaf Draft card that I picked up around Super Bowl time,when Zekes and Dak mania was running rampant.

Moncada might as well be an NFLer .He sure looks like one. Apparently he's  off to a good start in the White Sox minor league system,AAA I believe. Moncada projects to be a bigger version of Jose Jose  Altuve. Only time will tell.