Wax Heaven

Well, now is your chance with the first ever Wax Heaven challenge! I am giving up my ‘08 Topps Heritage Mickey Mantle ‘Authentic Stadium Seat’ relic to the first person that can find 10 different Ozzie Canseco baseball cards that are not in my collection. You can see my whopping 13 card collection scanned HERE.

I can help you out a bit, if you need it. There is a ‘93 Donruss Boys of Summer and a ‘91 Stadium Club that should be pretty easy to find. The rest of the cards are probably all minor league cards (4 on eBay). To be honest, I don’t think ANYONE is up for this challenge. If everyone fails, I will make the next one a little easier.

You have until the end of April. Good luck!

I always believe that in trades, it’s always best to pay it forward. Once upon a time about two months ago someone sent me a stack of about 15 Jose Canseco cards and 1 Andrew Miller for free. Unfortunately, the only card I needed was the Andrew Miller but since it was a card I didn’t have, I spent the next two hours going through my entire collection pulling every single card of this person’s favorite player. The next week I busted a box of Moments & Milestones and packed all those cards of that player as well. When my wife found out I was sending all these cards out she thought I was making a mistake. She is not a bad person, she just doesn’t understand the comradery that is shared by the Baseball Card Community. We don’t just look out for #1, we also look out for that blogger, this blogger, and yes, even that blogger. Shoot, one time I was completing a trade with someone when I read somewhere they always wanted a printing plate of the set they were building. Aside from the cards in the trade, I wrapped up my Mariano Rivera Allen & Ginter printing plate and kissed it goodbye. I didn’t think twice because I knew sooner or later my good deed would be rewarded. Today, is that day….boy is it ever.

Last week I received an e-mail from “Anonymous Astros Fan” telling me that he just recently got back into the hobby after a long absence and was a daily reader of Wax Heaven and promised that he would send me any Andrew Miller pulls from that night. His case of Triple Threads and Upper Deck Black had just arrived. A few minutes later he sends me a scan of a card he pulled and true to his word, wanted to know my address. It was a signed & numbered U.D Black Game Day Lineup. It’’s a gorgeous and very thick card that I have NEVER seen on eBay and thanks to A.A.F, it was now mine. It didn’t end there, though.

A few minutes later I got another e-mail from a very excited A.A.F braggin’ about his latest pull, an Andrew Miller 3-piece game-used/autograph from ‘07 Topps Triple Threads. I have a similar one, but this one is sooooo much sweeter and was now also mine. At this point I am thinking this is WAY too good to be true….and then the next e-mail came in.

Out of his box of U.D Black, a product I would NEVER touch due to the risk and price, A.A.F pulled an autographed 1/1 printing plate. At this point, I e-mailed A.A.F to let him know that he could get close to $150 or more for these cards and as much as I appreciated the thought, I could not accept them. A.A.F insisted and even gave the “no strings attached” agreement.

Of course, I could not let him go empty-handed. Unfortunately, his favorite player never stays in my collection very long (Hunter Pence) so I asked him who else he likes and he told me a man by the name of ‘Ichiro’. Well, A.A.F, my entire Ichiro collection is now yours along with some Carlos Lee base and two Miguel Tejada game-used. Also, for the rest of the year—you are entitled to every Hunter Pence and Astros player we pull from new products, that includes my two boxes of Finest coming soon. To see the cards he is getting, click HERE.

As if the package he sent wasn’t full enough, A.A.F sent me a 2007 Bowman Andrew Miller autograph completely by surprise! A.A.F, thank you for your generosity. You have single-handedly taken my collection to the next level. I won’t soon forget this day.

Just a few hours before the closing of the 2007 Upper Deck Sweet Spot Andrew Miller (baseball) to complete my set (bat, glove), I have been expelled from eBay by the Infamous Tatiana for a purchase I made at work yesterday. It all happened when I went surfing eBay for new Jose Canseco cards. Unfortunately, I saw something I just couldn’t resist and without even looking at the price, I bought it.

My name is Mario Alejandro, and I have an addiction. Let me just say that Tatiana is not happy right now. Yes, I made a mistake but should I be punished for it? Possibly. I bought a box of chocolates called 40/40 Power Bars produced in 1989. Is it wrong to buy chocolate from 20 years ago even if it features your favorite player of all-time on the wrapper? I’d say so.

You may not like my opinions all the time but it can never be said that I don’t love baseball and baseball cards. I am a collector just like every single one of you except sometimes my common sense gets lost in my childhood excitement. I will do the best to put these power bars to good use. I don’t know how, but I will. Just don’t ask me to eat any.

As for the Miller…I will beg and beg for it. I still have 10 hours on the auction.

Oh man, fresh off Andrew Miller’s awesome performance against the New York Yankees I arrived at my house close to midnight only to find two packages waiting in my mailbox. The first was the Andrew Miller ‘07 Sweet Spot that kind of got me in some trouble a while ago. I am sorry Tatiana but the card is a beauty and the signature is PERFECT. Of course, someone mentioned that they tend to fade but that is something I will deal with down the line. I would sleep on the couch any day of the week to get this card again.

The other card came from Jason Hartigan, a longtime reader of Wax Heaven. About a month ago I began talks with 1st40/40 a Canseco Super Collector, for a possible Canseco trade. I had tons of doubles thanks to the Canseco King and knew 1st40/40 would be a great resource for new Jose cards that I lacked. When he sent me to his website I began to look through the cards he needed when I had a mini-epiphany; I didn’t have the desire or passion left in me to continue my Jose Canseco collection. A few weeks later I posted this blog saying goodbye to Jose. Of course, everything changed a few days later when we bumped into each other. Well, the point was that rather than trade my cards to 1st40/40, I sent a good 50 Jose Canseco doubles to JBob to add to his collection of 200+ and expected nothing back. I knew 1st40/40 would appreciate it as much but to be honest, I didn’t want anything in return.

Of course, JBob shocked the hell out of me because without warning he sent me a small package that contained a few ‘08 cards and one really awesome 2006 Tristar Prospects card! Jason, you read my freakin’ mind. I had been watching this card for about a week now knowing that if I wanted to collect Andrew Miller, I would need to own this baby. Thanks so much for the card and good luck with your growing Canseco collection!!!

To check out my updated Andrew Miller collection CLICK HERE.

Today we went to the Florida Marlins vs. New York Yankees exhibition game. It’s the last two games of Spring Training for the “Fish” so we made sure to attend and wouldn’t you know it, our boy Andrew Miller was pitching. The park wouldn’t allow anyone in till 4 but we got there at 2:30 and I ended up driving into the employee parking lot and saving myself a $10 parking fee. Of course, the “Infamous” one was petrified but what can you do? By the time we were in the stadium it had been a couple of hours in the hot Florida Sun. We had witnessed a big fist fight over cutting in line, and had our ears talked off by what appeared to be a homeless guy with game day tickets. At first both Tatiana and I were nice but when he started going on and on about how illegal aliens should go back to their country for twenty minutes I simply turned my back and ignored him. He may have had a few loose screws but he was also an openly racist jerk-off who hates Hispanics and African Americans.

When the gates opened I ran for a good 10 minutes through the stadium without stopping for rest. By the time I was inside my legs gave out but I continued towards the Yankees. At first the asthma attack came to me and later everything began to turn red and my arms became numb. Unfortunately, by that time I was already near the visitor’s dugout with 200 other fans and could not escape. I felt I needed an ambulance but there was no way out. I was about to pass out when someone noticed and handed me their water bottle. I doused half of it over my head and drank the other half. The lady was a Jeter fan so I gave her Tatiana’s ‘07 Goudey as a thank you and went on my way.

The game itself was amazing! A-Rod homered, Andrew Miller spanked the Yankees, struck out a bunch of them and took home the win, despite being a little shaky at first. Mike Jacobs hit two home runs and boy did it feel awesome beating those arrogant Yankees. During batting practice Jeter and Alex both completely ignored the fans. Neither one of them even waved at us. It was the typical “Barry Bonds” attitude. Come to think of it, the only Yankee who signed that day was Jason Giambi. Hideki, Jeter, Damon, Cano, A-Rod, Tino Martinez, Posada, all of them completely ignored the fans. In the outfield I can say that Bobby Abreu was the nicest of all Yankees. He waved at Tatiana on more than one occasion.

I didn’t go there with any other intentions but to get some nice photos. I don’t expect any Yankee to sign a damn thing but this was pretty ridiculous. Thankfully, Luis Gonzalez, Alexis Gomez, Jason Giambi, and Bobby Abreu were kind enough to make time for the fans. Below are a few of the photos snapped by yours truly. Hope you enjoy!

waiting in the hot sun

sitting in a chair about to faint

Jessica’s other man

the other Jessica’s man

Luis in the outfield

a rare breed among the Yankees

the wind-up

…and the pitch!

This is for my friend Gleb, who I am currently in a heated debate with regarding Jose Canseco and Alex Rodriguez. You can read that argument here. Considering who is on the mound and who is up at the plate, it should be enough of an apology, no?

For the rest, you can expect the photos from the game in a few. I got Jeter, A-Rod, Giambi, and Andrew Miller!

Joey Gathright may run like Mays, but he hits like shit.