Custom Cards from Condition Poor: A MUST SEE Post

A while back I noticed than Sean of Condition Poor took a boring relic and made it into an awesome relic for a fellow blogger (click that second link if you never saw it - it really is quite impressive). In return Sean got some cards. This enticed me: cards for customs ay? Might have to try that sometime. So that thought went to the back of my mind.

Flash forward a few weeks and I get a relic in the mail as part of a trade. The relic, sadly, was falling apart, and I finally ripped the thing open just to see what the inside of a card looked like. Predictably pretty boring:
But then an idea hit me. Why not ask Sean if he would make me a few custom cards of players who needed cards, including one with this relic piece, in return for goodies. He agreed to, and a few weeks later a package was in my mailbox. Now there was a lot in this package since Sean hid the customs inside sandwiches of non-customs, but I'll start with the five customs that have now become five of my favorite cards in my collection. They're all bordered minis (Sean's idea - the pictures available for these guys are few and far between and many look terrible at normal size so keeping the pictures smaller makes them clearer) and I think that makes them even better!

1. Kywin Supernaw:
If you've followed this blog for a while, you know I have a weird appreciation for Kywin Supernaw.  He never had a trading card since he was just a defensive back, so this marks the only card of Kywin that has EVER EXISTED! Cool right? I think it looks so awesome. I never noticed the camo pants on the guy on the sideline. And yes that is Cris Carter catching a touchdown over Supernaw's outstretched hand...but hey you get what you get for an image I suppose.

Here's the back of Supernaw's card:
I think Sean did a tremendous job with the backs. Not only are they well designed, but he also did little write ups for each guy even though I didn't give him any information on any of these guys and they're all pretty obscure. I was glad Kywin's card back mentioned his time at IU as well since I currently attend school there! All in all a terrific start...but they're all so good!


2. Clarence Love:
A little while back I posted Chad Johnson's Ultra card with a lurking Clarence Love. Now I have a Clarence Love card with a lurking Ed McCaffrey! Gotta love that look on Love's face! I also will take this moment to mention that I love the first initial, full last name, city format at the bottom. It just looks so damn classy!

The back:
Simple but excellent, and I really like how it mentions his Super Bowl win with the Ravens in 2000.


3. Jose Cortez:
One of the most excellent card fronts of the bunch, with a lonesome Cortez walking back to the bench, possibly after a missed field goal. The red also goes quite well with the 49er colors.
The back might be my favorite, as I was an XFL fan and the write up mentions that Cortez was the MVP of the XFL Championship Game. Keep that in mind for your next trivia night!


4. Earthwind Moreland:
The only horizontal card of the bunch, which works very well for this photo of Moreland trying to tackle Marshall Faulk.
This back is also a favorite since it mentions where Earthwind got his name. I did a little write up on Earthwind back in the day for the GSNHOF but it looks even better on cardboard!


5. Clarence Love JERSEY:
The coup de grace of it all...a Clarence Love jersey card! But wait...where did he get the jersey piece...was it Clarence Love's? Will the back let us know?
You may have to enlarge the image, but long story short...lolololol. Crazy non-specific just like the big wigs who make the "real" cards. I'd much rather have a Melvin Mora relic in a beautifully designed card than an authentic relic in some junk, so I LOVE this card!


And those are the five EXCELLENT custom cards that Sean made for me. Here's a front view of all five together:
And a back view:


And for everyone who made it this far who doesn't like looking at cards of scrub football players, even if they are truly excellent custom cards, here's a few of the other cards that Sean sent in the package:
Not nearly as awesome to me after all the early excellence, but a Red Sox catcher, the card that Love's relic came from, a Wily Mo, a Kila RC, Pokey Reese in a Mariner's uniform (WHATTTTTTT?), and a nice Booty ain't too shabby in my eyes. So thanks for those too Sean!

Mostly though, thanks a bunch for those excellent customs! They're well worth what I sent your way and so I hope you like my offering as much as I liked these customs!