T206 Alfred E Newman - A One-of-a-Kind Gift From Shoebox Legends Sr.

I don't typically receive many sports cards-related gifts around the holidays.  This doesn't bother me, as I know it's an odd hobby and certainly a strange thing to pick out as a gift for someone to say the least.  This year though, my Dad created a unique hobby-related Christmas gift for me that I wanted to share here on the blog:

Cool, huh?  This is a one-of-a-kind, custom Alfred E Newman T206 card that my Dad took the time to create and print up for me.  Mad Magazine was around quite frequently when I was a kid growing up in a house with two brothers around my age, and I got a kick out of this the moment I unwrapped it.  The card is based off of the iconic T206 Honus Wagner, but thanks to my Dad's handiwork features the unmistakable, "only a mother could love" face of Mad Magazine's Alfred E Newman.

This thing is even cut to the right dimensions and features the Sweet Caporal T206 back, just like the first authentic T206 card I ever picked up!

To go along with the card, I even received an "uncut strip", which was a great idea.  I think the card looks even better in strip format:

That is just plain awesome.

Even the strip contains the proper card backs, in case I ever want to cut it up for distribution.  I plan on keeping this intact though and storing it as is with my other over-sized cards.

My father even went as far as to track down and fill out a PSA submission form for the cards, which was a hilarious touch and the icing on the cake to tie together a really awesome gift.

In case you're wondering where he got this idea from, he knew that he wanted to give me a unique card for Christmas but wasn't sure what to pick out.  Well, it turns out there was an "authentic" T206 Newman created years ago as a joke for the man who at the time owned the Honus Wagner T206.  My Dad included the above print-out with the gift to clue me in, and I later found the page for the item on the Robert Edward Auctions site. 

Someone actually paid over $1,000 for that one back in 2007 if you can believe that!  The fact that my Dad reads this blog, actually pays attention to what his adult son finds interesting, and took time to make such a fantastic custom gift makes my copy priceless though.  Thanks Dad!!! 

I'm now resisting the urge to scour eBay for a bulk lot of old Mad Magazines...