I have NEVER understood why MODERN cards do this!!!
 

This is a Topps Sterling card. They cut out Jackie Robinson's auto and you are basically looking at a card with a picture of his crotch. And this is a HIGH END PRODUCT with a price tag north of $800!!!! I wonder who gave the OK for this?? Rant over.

https://imgsrv.sellersourcebook.com/...jpg?1610723936

Also annoying that it's more important his torso is vertical than it is to preserve the autograph. If they had made the autograph horizontal and let his body be diagonal the whole autograph would've fit in the window instead of ruining it.

I agree.
A total asinine decision from Topps.

Look at what Topps did to a Release/Transfer document with Christy Mathewson's signature. It was a beautiful document and they cut it so that they could fit it in their card/holder. Crap, they should have made the card a redemption card and provided the full original document with a cert from what ever card company sold the chase card.

It's just sad to see these companies do this.

https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1610727185

That is appalling!

I absolutely hate it. It's taking priceless vintage artifacts and cutting them up in a way just to make more of a buck off of them. I know there's this one set of products that actually cuts down a letter from Ty Cobb or Babe Ruth and then sells the cut up pieces in boxes, and you have to hope the box you buy contains the cut signature. It's a disgrace.

And the sig is cut off. :rolleyes:

There is another thread about a "Thurman Mun" card...

This was posted in the autograph section of the board. This went for $7995 in a recent Goldin auction and half of the signature is cut off. Here's the link:
https://goldinauctions.com/LotDetail...entoryid=71142


Sorry Doug, I guess we were typing in the info at the same time.

Easy to understand why the card companies do this stuff.
What's impossible for us to understand is why anyone buys this stuff.

No worries, that might be my favorite modern card

As I posted in the other thread :

Conversation overheard in Topps office :

Person in charge of One of One cards : Let's do a Munson.

Person tasked with finding an autograph to use : I can't find one small enough to fit on the card.

Person in charge : So what, people who buy this shit will buy anything, just cut off the end.

Doug "oops, I cut off my end" Good

How about a chance for a signed picture of Harmon Killebrew's elbows.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/2014-Leaf-C...sAAOSwlxFfwm2v

Or Will Smith's Shoulder. https://www.ebay.com/itm/2018-Leaf-E...8AAOSwVFNf~1rn

I don't get why they would bother doing cut signatures of living people. Why not just have them sign an actual card.

Wow, that actually makes me physically ill to see it chopped up to fit into a card. Infuriating!

They'll never get my signed Shag Shaughnessy letter!!

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...69099874_b.jpg

I agree, that's garbage!

And the prices of the unopened boxes are crazy expensive. I keep wondering who would buy a card with a cut of a letter such as "some time" from a Cobb penned letter. Destructive practice. It no different than looting of archaeological sites. An item is found, sold into private hands and disappears from history. Only difference is now these wonderful, personal fragments of our pastime's heroes are ruthlessly destroyed for a huge profit. Angry Craig. Breathe.... Namaste...

And the prices of the unopened boxes are crazy expensive. I keep wondering who would buy a card with a cut of a letter such as "some time" from a Cobb penned letter. Destructive practice. It no different than looting of archaeological sites. An item is found, sold into private hands and disappears from history. Only difference is now these wonderful, personal fragments of our pastime's heroes are ruthlessly destroyed for a huge profit. Angry Craig. Breathe.... Namaste...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/324453091507

Junkie Robinson

Stuff like this one of the myriad reasons why I got out of modern stuff. There's no need to chop up an autograph like that. Hell, put a redemption thing in there where Topps sends you the full photo/document or something. No need to chop it up, especially when it just looks ugly as sin in those "holders" anyway.

I hate this so much. As well as relics of vintage players. Like there are a finite number of game-used jerseys/bats from these players, and you cut up a piece of history just so people can have a little sliver of bat or a tiny piece of jersey??? Breaks my heart.

I won’t live to see it, but many years from now the value of a contract will be 100 times the value of that card. I think it is idiotic, but
That said, de gustibus non disbutsndum est, concerning taste, no arguing is.

At least most of the signature is in the card :rolleyes:

These modern cards are AWESOME. It adds value to the autographs and they look great. Kinda like PSA grading, some just don't get it.:D

Another view:

Some can't afford the actual full jersey etc. I admit Ive been tempted on some, like a Mel Ott "jersey card".

But, in the end, the sacrilege of cutting up a "supposed game used" jersey of Mel Ott or anyone of major name value, FAR OUTWEIGHS getting a little piece of a jersey.

Not to mention, the GIGANTIC (Grand Canyon like) leap of faith to believe that actually is from a game used jersey. What topps or Panini or anyone says means nothing to me.

As far as the autograph thing, the Cut off Munson is a TRAVESTY. There is no excuse for that.

Finally, the "one word" from a Cobb letter or whatever is RIDICULOUS

RANT OVER:p

Another view:

Some can't afford the actual full jersey etc. I admit Ive been tempted on some, like a Mel Ott "jersey card".

But, in the end, the sacrilege of cutting up a "supposed game used" jersey of Mel Ott or anyone of major name value, FAR OUTWEIGHS getting a little piece of a jersey.

Not to mention, the GIGANTIC (Grand Canyon like) leap of faith to believe that actually is from a game used jersey. What topps or Panini or anyone says means nothing to me.

As far as the autograph thing, the Cut off Munson is a TRAVESTY. There is no excuse for that.

Finally, the "one word" from a Cobb letter or whatever is RIDICULOUS

RANT OVER:p

I recall seeing auctions where the offering was individual words clipped from documents handwritten by George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. If memory serves me right, in these cases the documents were surveyors' and legal documents that, in and of themselves, were not historically significant.

In those instances I didn't see anything wrong with it, because "no historical documents were harmed in making this movie," as it were, and it allowed collectors on smaller budgets the opportunity to own something in Washington's and Lincoln's handwriting.

I've never been shocked or outraged by a cut card. If done nicely, an autograph card or jersey can be a great addition to your collection. I met Eric Idle once and had him sign the back of my business card. I then commissioned it to be turned into a card and I am really pleased with the outcome:

https://photos.imageevent.com/exhibi...le_%20Eric.jpg

Seems to me that the card should be tailored to the signature, not vice versa.

As for wardrobe cards, I do appreciate the 'democratizing' effect of them. I don't take pleasure knowing that some rich guy has a piece of clothing in his den: honestly, who cares? I know I will never, ever own a Bruce Lee 'gamer' so I was pleased to get something I could actually own:

https://photos.imageevent.com/exhibi...ruce%20Lee.JPG

I also bought one of those Lefty O'Doul jersey booklet cards that Panini made. I get to have a piece of a Lefty O'Doul uniform that I would never otherwise own.

Unfortunately, most of the cut cards the manufacturer makes are lazy efforts to cram a cut into a misshapen opening. They rarely work out as well as they should.

I bought a Kluzsewski booklet, auto and bat relic. It is nice. They display well. But for every good one, it seems there is also a poorly made one. I just always imagined these would be handmade with pride. But with every bad one, it appears there made without pride.

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This has been done with relics for much longer. Religious, fossil, meteorite, and plenty of other historical artifacts like flags, uniforms and documents. Preservation has always been secondary to maximizing revenue. This isn't going away and will likely only get worse.

I hadn't considered that, but now that you mention it, that is correct. Relics of the Buddha and Christ are supposedly divided up between multiple locations. My college had a single page of an authentic Guttenberg Bible. I must say though, I haven't thought about fossils divided like that. Are you just talking about large fossil plates divided up and sold to maximize value. Or are you talking about famous individual finds - like a single T-rex?

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That makes sense. I'm a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (aka Mormon) and the first 1830 edition of the Book of Mormon is one of America's most expensive books - selling for around 80K last I checked. A couple years ago an independent seller
bought a copy for around 40K and was selling 530ish individual pages for $200/per. I'm not sure how it went but sadly a common practice among all interests. Pages with "key passages" were sold anywhere from $500-1500.

Pulling apart stuff is a long-established rule. Pierce Egan's Boxiana books from the first part of the 19th century included copper plate engravings of notable boxers. They have been broken down for the engravings for a long time. The engravings are rag paper and do not suffer the same acid damage that pulp paper does; the book bindings are organic glues and often deteriorate first. This is an engraving of HOFer Dick Curtis from the 1820 original edition:

https://photos.imageevent.com/exhibi...a%20Curtis.jpg

Pretty nice for 200 years old.

In 1840 Egan issued a compilation volume of prints, entitled Boxiana or Sketches of Ancient & Modern Pugilism. I bought and pulled apart a wrecked 1840 edition to get my collection of HOFers with no contemporaneous cards and photos from their careers.

https://photos.imageevent.com/exhibi...iana%20Sam.JPGhttps://photos.imageevent.com/exhibi...%20Belcher.JPG

What I dislike the most about the Robinson card is the fact that they used a signed photo to make the card. It was a nice piece and I don’t see why someone would feel the need to cut it. On the other hand, I have no problem with using a signed index card to make a card. You take a bland item to make it more appealing.

This!!! I don't mind that either. The Robinson card is hideous though.

I'm familiar with these type of cards, and with Hollywood actors like Nic Cage fighting over skeletons.
https://www.comc.com/Cards/Non-Sport...ons,sr,ot,i100
Topps and Upper Deck have both created sets using embedded dinosaur bones.

https://img.comc.com/i/Baseball/2017...&size=original
2017 Topps Allen & Ginter's - Gems and Ancient Fossils Framed Minis #GAF-DB - Dinosaur Bone /10
Courtesy of COMC.com