Are signed Perez Steele postcards the coolest thing ever?
 

Are signed Perez Steele postcards the coolest thing ever?

Who likes them? Who collects them?

Pros and Cons of collecting them?

Initially, I did not like the Perez-Steele post cards. I was working on a display for Mazeroski and thought his Perez-Steele post card was a good fit. Now I have 30 plus of the cards signed. All that is left for me is Brett and if hell freezes over Koufax. I kick myself for not getting on the Perez-Steele train sooner. I missed out on getting a bunch of players on their Perez-Steele cards (Mantle, Williams, DiMaggio), preferring to have a ball signed instead.

Pros -

Nice simple collectible. Smaller than an 8x10. Limited to 10,000, which to me is not really limited.

I have yet to have a signature fade like the signature on a baseball.

Reasonably priced on Ebay, although I have yet to purchase a post card I did not get signed in person.


Cons -

No longer produced.

Limited number of living players (20).

I dislike Perez' artwork. He has never mastered Caucasian flesh tones. White players are constantly portrayed with blotchy skin, making them look like they have rosacea or a chronic drinking problem.

It's always been fascinating how much some of the early deaths go for due to limited window of opportunity to sign. Hmm, should I get the pristine Lloyd Waner 3X5 for $10, or drop $12K on the Perez Steele?

The base set is OK, but the others do less than nothing for me. Never liked any Perez Steele product enough to be bothered buying a ton. I just pick up the odd valuable name for resale here and there, but haven't in years.

Well, I have an interesting story I think.

A few months ago I purchased a large collection of autographs. I didn't see all the items in the collection when I bought it because it was an on line auction. Several unique items in the collection, but when I received it and started sorting through it I found some very interesting cards. They were the Perez Steele submission form cards that one fills out and subscribes to a particular set that guarantees the submitter they will receive each set of that particular serialized set.

Well, the cards were completed by the Hall of Fame players themselves! How crazy is that. There were several.

I did some research and came across an interesting Youtube video about this particular subject, by the handle Legends Never Die. It was a 2 part youtube series detailing these particular submission cards, how they are all 1/1, etc., etc., Part II was an actual interview with Dick Perez.

To shorten the story, I submitted all of mine (15 or so) to PSA and they all came back authentic. Picture attached so you can see what I'm talking about.

I'm not really a Perez Steele collector but I think the set is pretty cool.

Check out the attached and let me know what you think. The home address on the card is also pretty cool.

Agreed, which is why initially I was not sold on the Perez-Steele base post cards. Perez is not Graig Kreindler or even the late Bill Purdom. But after getting one signed, I got on a roll and lamented the fact I went the signed baseball route and not Perez-Steele. The signatures on some of my signed baseballs have faded into oblivion. I also picked up the Ron Lewis Negro league cards which are well done. I have about 25 of those signed. Nice sets.

I like them.

I subscribed to them from the start, after seeing Bill Madden's Sporting News column about them; and I still have my set. I am very disappointed that the set was discontinued.

I thought long and hard about getting them signed, but decided against it, especially after seeing how some of the big show promoters would handle them through the mail. Basically, a collector would send their card to the show promoter to be signed, but they wouldn't necessarily get the same #'d card back; which would degrade their set, as it would no longer have all cards with the same matching serial number.

I do have several players' signed cards, from the different Perez-Steele series', all PSA/DNA graded, in addition to my main unsigned set.

Steve

I’ll do you one better, how about a card signed by Perez himself?

Mr. Perez signs for free TTM, so it was awesome to get this back!

Pretty cool. Awhile back, the signed cards like the one pictured were discussed on a different thread.

This. I don’t collect his Donruss puzzle pieces either.

Perez also uses gray for areas of white players' skin, resulting in the appearance of deceased tissue. At least that's how I interpret it when I see it. I fail to understand how a different artist couldn't have been found at the time. This was pretty simple sports portraiture for the most part.

Also, in instances where Perez employed backgrounds, they all feel so cookie cutter and forgettable, even when certain unique stadium aspects may be depicted. One gets the impression that Perez isn't concerned with the backgrounds, only painting them due to obligation. For a lot of people, the background is just as important, as we revere the long-lost ballparks and their architecture just as much as we do the players. All of it put together encompasses the total experience.

As someone else mentioned, yes, Graig's style is much more to my liking, but I don't know how great it would have translated to the Perez Steele model. For the later sets, such as Great Moments, it would have been fine, but perhaps not for the base set. So much of the beauty in Graig's work can be found in the backgrounds, and to eliminate that in favor of a white background for autograph purposes might not have worked well. Also, a big part of Graig's personal style is his use of much darker lighting and shading. While it works for what he does, it probably wouldn't have been beneficial in this hypothetical scenario.

Backgrounds worked for the Ron Lewis, Negro League postcards. I am sure Graig would make awesome post cards. The licensing is the huge costly hurdle.

I actually look at this as a 'Pro' for the same reason that I like signed Sports Illustrated magazines. Unlike glossy photos or baseballs (or junk wax cards), they are not produced in unlimited numbers; their production is tied to a specific time. And I would venture that P/S postcards have one of the highest percentages of authentic signatures of any available medium excluding legal documents.

I realize that Dick Perez is not the same painter as Graig or others, but that is not his style. I just appreciate his works for what they are.

Just my two cents.

Never really cared for the watercolor style vs. the richer/deeper oil-based paints that Graig uses. I do like Dick Perez' earlier work, but his more recent pieces look rather cheap and washed out.

With that said, I do have two original Perez Perezes. :eek:

The latter is the original painting used to make his Perez-Steele Postcard.

The originals are really cool and present well. I have his original Billy Herman "Greatest Moments", sorry I don't have a photo handy.

I believe there is going to be a documentary film on Dick Perez released late this year. It should be an interesting view.

Very good discussion here! Let’s keep it going!

Super Cool to collect!

No. His works are blah. He's no Graig Kreindler...