Spring Break
Popular collector's item getting out of hand
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On the day that everyone says is evil, Friday the 13th, I walked into a 7-Eleven, plunked down $3.49 for a pack of baseball cards and pulled a card that was so rare, it commanded a price tag of quadruple figures —- a card that contains a piece of a check signed by legendary pitcher Walter Johnson.
I posted the Johnson card on eBay, the world’s most popular auction site. It sold for $3,605.
You like that? A piece of cardboard with a slice of a check in it sold for more than $3,600.
I still can’t believe that a card with a signature implanted in it would command such a premium.
Upper Deck, one of the most popular card companies, now uses the slogan “Still bringing you as close to the game as we can get you.”
Companies are purchasing bats that were originally used by Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle and Joe DiMaggio and have chopped them up and inserted them into cards, and people are going crazy trying to get a piece of the action.
Jerseys, autographs, bats, balls, helmets, cleats, shoes and gloves — the hobby has been distorted by one word: money.
These pieces of memorabilia have been cut up into little 1-inch by 1-inch squares or minuscule rectangles and placed between two 2-inch by 3-inch pieces of cardboard to create what is the hottest ticket in card collecting today: the game-used card.
I don’t remember the hobby being like this.
When I pulled the aforementioned card, I was happy and still am, but it hit me that anything can happen.
Anything is possible in the sports card world. I don’t know, however, if that’s a good thing.
I still remember the early days of collecting.
As a child, I, just like everyone else, enjoyed some sort of hobby.
Some kids liked to build models or card houses, but I preferred collecting sports cards.
Yes, I know this is a “childish” hobby, but I still find it fun.
It used to be that you could go down to a supermarket or stop the ice cream man and purchase a pack of baseball cards.
You put the 30 to 55 cents on the counter, grabbed the pack and ran to the curb to rip it open.
After placing that stick of gum in your mouth, you thumbed through the stack of cardboard, eagerly seeking your favorite player’s face, and if you didn’t find him, the cards were stuck in your back pocket to be used later in the spokes of your bicycle.
But my, oh my, how things have changed.
In the late ’80s and early ’90s, card manufacturers mass-produced cards and aimed their product toward children and others who were in the hobby to collect different players and teams.
During that period, however, the companies were careless, letting errors slip, and by doing so it created a frenzy for these “rare” cards.
In many cases the cards were not corrected, but in 1989 there was one card that set the sports-card world on fire.
No, it wasn’t that Ken Griffey Jr. Upper Deck rookie card that everyone loves so much; it was the Billy Ripken error.
Some of you might know where I’m going with this, but for those who don’t, this is what happened: The Fleer Company produced a card of Billy Ripken, younger brother of Baltimore Orioles shortstop and future Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr.
Apparently, someone didn’t like the younger Ripken or wanted to get a rise out of him. The culprit, who was never revealed, took a black marker and scrawled the words “Fuck Face” on the knob of the bat.
Oops, I guess Fleer’s editors must have been too busy to catch those two words. Perhaps it was a scheme — a gimmick to gain attention and boost sales.
Nonetheless, the market went crazy, opening up the floodgates for future moneymaking “projects.”
Eventually, collectors caught onto this gimmick and ditched it.
With today’s gimmick in place and controversy arising about the authenticity of these memorabilia cards, I can only wonder what items they will be chopping up next. Perhaps a jockstrap card.
Ben Aguirre Jr. is the Spartan
Daily Sports Editor.
“Annoyed” appears Fridays.
