What's the deal with Strip Cards?

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Posted By: Justin

I see this term thrown around alot, and I don't really know what it means.

I notice that strip cards tend to be held in less esteem than a lot of other issues. Why is that the case? It seems like they get treated as fringe issues.

Can anyone explain?

thanks, Justin

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Posted By: Steve f

The red-haired stepchild of memorabilia. They came several to a strip. The kids would tear or cut them -sometimes evenly along the dotted lines. I like em, well... The R346s not so much.

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Posted By: Mike

I like them as well. I've really never cared what the masses like or dislike. I like them. many are very tuff to find in grade 4 and up. Let alone find at all.

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Posted By: Darren

I tell'ya no respect.

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Posted By: warshawlaw

Strip card is a colloquial term to refer to cards that were sold in multicard strips or sheets, with the intent that the purchaser cut them down into separate cards.

They are held in lower esteem for various reasons:

1. Ugly: Some of the sets are decent looking, but most would be described as having a good personality and a few are just plain baggers. Compared to the other cards from the era, they are dogs, and who wants to spend megabucks on dogs.

2. Inconsistent Grading Treatment: Lots of difficulties and inconsistencies here. PSA, SGC and the others have had differing standards and techniques for grading, seemingly without any rhyme or reason to them. Some of the cards seem to grade no problem and always have, like W517. Others get rejected outright or qualified as "handcut" by PSA. Without consistent grading policies, they are not collected by certain collectors.

3. Damage: Because the cards were meant to be cut out, and kids did the cutting, and many of the sets didn't have cutting lines printed on the cards, a lot of strip cards are found with lousy cuts, which reduces their eye appeal.

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Posted By: Mike

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Posted By: jeffdrum

Nuttin' wrong with that strip card! Foxx is a beauty!

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Posted By: Mike

Thanks Jeff. I found this card laying in some guys items at a show back in the early ninties. Didn't require a degree in medicine to know I had to have it.....it was raw. And yes, I had it entombed much later.

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Posted By: Anonymous

The only strip card in the world cut out by a dexterity-gifted child with razor sharp scissors!

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Posted By: Mike

Whatever that means...

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Posted By: Brian C.

I rarely post in this section of the board, but I thought I'd add my two cents. I don't collect strip cards much, but they are significant in that during their period of issue, kids had fewer options for obtaining cardboard pictures of baseball players. Some strip card issues contain important images, as with the W516-1 card showing Babe Ruth pitching left handed and identifying him as a pitcher for the Yankees. Some strip cards contain cartoonish figures, but others look terrific and have dynamic (even psychadelic) colors, like the W515 set. As with all early baseball issues, it is only a matter of time before the market catches up with them. This is particularly so as compiling complete sets gets more difficult with the passage of time, and other cards get expensive for most collectors.