Oh and to answer your other question, i don't collect these as in constantly adding them to my collection or actively looking to add more, but i do own several game used jersey cards of Mickey Mantle, Babe Ruth, Roger Maris, Lou Gehrig and other vintage legends. I bought these cards many years ago back in about 2004 or so. I bought these cards and wanted them for my collection because it is the closest i will ever get to owning a game used item of theirs. I am not filthy rich where i can drop $50K buying an entire game worn jersey, but these cards allow to me to own a piece of a game used item for a fraction of the price. Even if it is a small 1 inch swatch on a card i can still look at the item and know it was worn by Babe Ruth or Mickey Mantle in an era before i was born and it gets me as "close" as i can get to that time in history and to those particular players.
I do agree that i wouldn't want to see, say the last of a particular item get cut up or something that is on display in the HOF. But i will say that i am thankful to the card companies for giving the "average Joe' like me a chance to own a piece of history like this that i might never get to see in person, hold and own. I personally think that it is a lot better for say several hundred collectors to be able to own a piece of a Mantle uniform instead of one really rich guy, whose wife makes him "display" his Mantle jersey in his basement and it never sees the light of day again.
|