I am proud to announce the official release of the 2019 C2Cigars TCDB Business Card set. Packs were mailed with a target deliver date of Saturday, 28 September. Thanks to a postal miracle some members have received their’s early. Recipients should be happy to know that each pack of cards is guaranteed at least one “hit” (buyback, Nickname, autograph, relic).
2019 is my 5th anniversary as a TCDB member and my third year of producing TCDB cards. This year’s set is even bigger and better. My first set in 2017 involved 12 members, last year’s 19 members; this year’s 41 members. I chose the 1982 Topps design for its elegant simplicity.
I received a lot of great photos from members. This year I photoshopped only two photos; Corky and CD13/vrooomed’s “Turn Back the Clock”. Vvvergeer “objected” with a resounding tongue-in-cheek “NOOOOOOO!!” to his photoshopped card so I left it out. The number of Meet-up insert cards has doubled since last year’s set; and only two of them are my meet-ups. Last year’s Meet-ups included 7 members, this year 17 members. Unfortunately, photos from three meet-ups weren’t of sufficient quality to produce cards.
Beside “Meet-ups” there are five other insert sets. “2017 NJDevils Sketch Buybacks” makes fun of Topps’ “Buyback” inserts. I literally bought back a set of 2017 C2Cigars TCDB cards from NJDevils. They cost me a whopping $2.00. Do you think he ripped me off? “Nicknames” and “Yankee Trader”come courtesy of two members, jayoneill and Gunny. They wanted to be more involved with the set and offered prize giveaways. Gunny’s "Nicknames" are one-of-a-kind signed artwork done directly on the cards. Jayoneill offered 12 great prizes and we came up with a fun “Yankee Trader” redemption card. Just like last year there are “Autographs”. Two of last year’s award winners have autographed cards, both serial numbered to 15.
My proudest accomplishment though is the “Relics” insert. It took some work, but I was able to create my own memorabilia cards. The journey to their creation was a long one. The idea started with the 2018 set, but never came together. My first step was finding a die cutter or hole punch; one that made a large enough hole. I never found a die cutter with a razor sharp edge, so I turned to hole punches. My biggest obstacle was finding a punch with a deep enough reach. I eventually found a punch with a big enough hole size and reasonable reach, though I would have preferred a larger hole. Once I thought out the production process, I attempted my first test. Success!
I also had some fun with the set. I included some “Easter Eggs”. Some are obvious, others not so, and one near impossible. Who will be the first to find them?
Someday my cards may double in value and then be worth half of what I paid for them.
