The card collecting world has long been top-down.
Manufacturers produce the cards, and collectors buy them, hoping to find something that fits their preference. Of course, that’s the norm in most consumer categories — the end-user is not typically consulted in the production of the goods.
But Eric Wagenmaker’s Reclaim Customs challenges that norm in a major way, working with clients to produce unique and well-crafted cards, utilizing autographs and memorabilia sourced from other parts of the hobby.
The end result is a card made exactly to the specifications of the collector, often filling a void left by the incumbent manufacturers with creations such as a Joe DiMaggio booklet complete with a jersey patch and a cut auto or a Walter White screen-used patch card.
The widely beloved creations of Reclaim Customs, named, in part, due to the reclamation process used by Wagenmaker to breathe new life into pieces such as cut autographs by inserting them into trading cards, began around five years ago.
Wagenmaker had been working as a pastor for around a decade, working on various projects on the side, including furniture restoration and nautical artistry, when a friend showed him a custom card.
“I'm a collector. I have been since I was a kid. And he's like, ‘You should try this.’”
Wagenmaker, who already had skills as a graphic designer, watched a tutorial of another custom card maker producing a card of a Little League baseball player.
“My boys were like, ‘Oh my gosh, Dad, you have to make cards of us!’”
The only problem was Wagenmaker lacked the equipment. But he had always been resourceful. “I'm the type of person who will scheme and figure out.”
Borrowing a crafting device from his stepmother and a high-end printer from a friend’s business, Wagenmaker gave it a go. At first, his plan didn’t work, but he went out and bought his own specialized equipment and managed to teach himself the ropes.
His kids were thrilled with the outcome of their own cards. After posting pictures of the cards on social media, Wagenmaker was inundated with comments and messages with requests.
“OK, I need to buckle down and figure this out,” he said. Working with the friend who originally introduced him to custom cards — a memorabilia collector as luck would have it — Wagenmaker was given the green light to experiment with his friend as a bit of a guinea pig. “Let me screw up a few times until I figure it out.”
His friend gave him a Mark Fidrych autograph and an old Detroit Tigers baseball cap and asked him to make a booklet. It took hours each day over the course of a week, admittedly wasting plenty of materials, in order to finally get the detailed cuts and intricate sizing just right.
Wagenmaker found himself forced to answer questions he never anticipated, like the type of card stock best suited to each project. Finally, after a bit of trial by error — he “thrives” on figuring it out on the fly — he produced his first commissioned piece.
In retrospect, especially in comparison to the pieces he creates now along with his small team, it was primitive and crude. But it was a start. And from there, he hasn’t looked back.
A commitment to authenticity
Collectors have long displayed a certain level of disdain for unlicensed cards, valuing them far below their licensed counterparts and hardly considering most to be serious parts or a well-considered collection.
But Reclaim’s approach was so clearly unique and, for lack of a better term, high-end, it has proven to break through that ideal.
One thing that sets Reclaim apart is its commitment to authenticity. Real autographs, real jerseys, real authentication.
“At the end of the day, it’s the integrity of my name,” said Wagenmaker, who explained that any autograph Reclaim uses must have a certificate of authenticity from JSA, PSA, or Beckett.
The commitment extends to the details, as Wagenmaker has gone as far as to form a partnership with G.O.A.T. Authentics, a group specializing in Michael Jordan signatures, which has repeatedly called out autographs it believes to have been incorrectly authenticated by the major companies in the industry, to handle all things Jordan and issue COAs.
Of course, with a business as varied as Reclaim’s, built on the ability to serve customers with totally unique products, standardization is only so easy. Generally, the process looks something like a client approaching Reclaim with an artifact or autograph from an athlete or notable figure, providing a vision for how they want it done, and handing over the keys.
“The whole idea behind that is we're going to reclaim this piece, we're going to salvage it, and we're going to make it into something beautiful,” he said. “I just love the whole idea of redemption and making something out of nothing.”
The echoes of Wagenmaker's days in the ministry clearly play a role in this worldview.
Today, the company has more than 10,000 followers on Instagram, a private Facebook group of nearly 3,000 people and a behind-the-scenes YouTube channel showing the process behind some of the company’s top cards. Evan Longoria is among his multiple current and former professional athlete clients.
Goldin Auctions currently has one of Reclaim’s cards at auction. The card's origins date back to a January 2024 sale of a Topps Definitive Collection Ohtani-Ruth dual-signed card for nearly $115,000. In the aftermath of the sale, one collector decided to work with Reclaim to recreate it. Cracking a Ruth cut signature from a PSA slab and using an Ohtani autograph from a 2020 Panini Donruss card, a "DIY" copy was created. The card has a current bid of more than $10,000.
Surprisingly, card companies haven't lined up outside his door to bring his cult-favorite product in-house. However, when the company issued apparel with a nod to the 1989 Upper Deck Baseball set, UD sent a cease and desist. Though, nothing of the sort has occurred for the cards themselves.
Wagenmaker charges anywhere from $75 to upward of $1,000, depending on the specs of each project. Around 10% of his business are kids' cards, like the ones he made for his sons. As a father, he makes sure those remain the most reasonably priced option.
"It’s important to me for kids and parents to have keepsakes and memories."
Having produced well over 1,000 cards, Wagenmaker has seen the resale value many of his clients have been able to garner on the secondary market, which is more than fine by him.
But he also noticed every time Reclaim posted a new commission on its Instagram, such as a Mickey Mantle-Joe DiMaggio dual booklet, he would inevitably receive messages asking if it was for sale. Sometimes they were able to bring an offer to the owner, but for the most part, there was too much friction.
Plus, very often collectors who attempted to sell the cards on eBay — despite clearly labeling the card as “custom” — would run into issues with the platform's authenticity program, or even disappointed customers expecting a Topps or Panini card.
“So, I'm like, ‘All right, there's a problem’,” Wagenmaker said. “How can we eliminate that?”
His answer was building and hosting Reclaim's own marketplace. “That way people know exactly who made it. They know exactly where it came from, what it is and can connect to others in one hub.”
With that, he got to work building the platform, which is expected to launch this month and will allow Reclaim to act as the trusted middleman. Sellers are required to ship their cards directly to Reclaim, which ensures it’s an authentic card produced by the company, and comes up with a selling price with the consignor. The card then goes on the marketplace for purchase.
A little bit of everything
The breadth of Reclaim’s creations — from “The Office” cards featuring dual autographs of Jim Halpert and Pam Beasley, to a Michael Jordan cut autograph and game-worn Logoman card — are as diverse as it comes.
Being trusted with valuable pieces such as a game-worn Jordan Logoman and tasked with transforming it into a new medium is not something he takes lightly, though, admittedly, he’s become “numb” to all the incredible pieces that come through the Reclaim doors.
But regardless of whether it’s a Honus Wagner autograph or a piece commissioned by Corbin Carroll using his game-used bat as a relic, the same attention to craftsmanship and transparency of authenticity applies.
“I take great pride in giving each product the time it deserves,” Wagenmaker said. “At the end of the day, no matter what people send us, whether it has intrinsic value or sentimental value … it's gonna tell a story on their behalf and on our behalf.”
Will Stern is a reporter and editor for cllct.