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peterpThe Mona Lisa example is not extreme. One of the card companies cut up the only pair of legpads that Terry Sawchuck wore during his entire career.
>>>>>That's a different story. I'm not familiar with Terry Sawchuck, I'm assuming football?
>>>>>The closest example I can think of in baseball was the furor last year when Donruss/Playoff purchased one of three known Ruth home jerseys and began slicing it up to insert into something like 7 years worth of cards.
Taking it fromt he other angle, the Mona Lisa is not the only work of art created by DaVinci, so why not cut it up? There are many other DaVinci artworks out there.
>>>>True, but it's the only Mona Lisa in existence. And while I personally am against it, I guess really there is nothing to stop whoever owns the Mona Lisa from cutting it up.
Or how about tossing a Chippendale chair into a wood chipper and selling off the slivers. I doubt anyone would be lining up to to get a sliver of a Chippendale chair or other piece of expensive furniture.
>>>>Chippendale chairs aren't collectible in the same way baseball cards and memorabilia are.
It would be pretty funny to people your house is decorated in Louis XIV furniture and then show then your collection of slivers hanging on the wall.
Sorry, but destroying something, whether it is art, sports equipment, etc is a bad thing as the context that made the item special is lost once you chop it up into little pieces.
>>>>>As I said before, you make a valid point and it's certianly a reasonable opinion to hold. However, I look at it this way, to a point (excluding 1 of a kind type items). Many critics say that taking a nice Ruth or Gehrig jersey or bat and chopping it up deprives everyone of the pleasure of seeing it. Unless it's in a museum or being passed around from person to person, these jerseys or bats are being held in private collections, or being offered for sale in a dealer's store, or are sitting in storage in the player's estate. At least when a trading card company buys it, they're offering the chance for thousands upon thousands of collectors to get a piece of history, and actually be able to touch it and look at it up close.
>>>>>That's something that can't really even be offered in a museum, when the item is behind protective glass.
>>>>>That said, the card companies are saturating the market even with old-time HOFers memorabilia. I'm not even really intrested in those cars anymore, esp. for modern players. Before getting back into vintage I was going through the cut autograph route. Upper Deck (and now others) are offering cut autographs on cards of decreased players. I managed to pick up a Lloyd Waner, Hank Greenberg, Ray Dandrige, and Johnny Mize. Very expensive, very valuable. Also picked up a Mantle that was signed while he was alive.
>>>>>>Now that's something I think is worth cutting up. It introduces card collectors to the memorabilia market, but keeps the focus on cards (I wouldn't by cut autographs that are just sold as index cards or checks).