Ruined Ted Williams Check

[callou2131]

Wow. Just awful.

[Mr. Zipper]

Thanks goodness there is only one like this.

Beyond belief.

[39special]

I hate when the card companies do this.What a waste!

[drcy]

For all we know, the signature is Charlie Williams.

[Lordstan]

Too bad.
With the e on the end, it could've been a beautiful "Theodore" Williams. We'll never know.

[SikSyko]

They look nice if they are done right, but that one is garbage.

[7nohitter]

WTF?

That sucks!

[RichardSimon]

F--- you Topps, and whoever did this at your stinking company really sux.
And my name is here on the post, why not write back to me to explain crap like this.

[callou2131]

This isn't the first time they have done this. They already made an "Eodore William" cut card.
Also let us Not Forget 2010s Fake Ruth and Gherig 1/1 and the 2009 Fake Ruth Book. I vow I will never purchase another topps product made after 1980.

[mighty bombjack]

Ack! Makes me wanna puke.

[mighty bombjack]

Originally Posted by SikSyko

They look nice if they are done right, but that one is garbage.

Agreed. I like the cut cards when they are done aesthetically and with care about the overall appearance of the auto. This and many others made by Topps and Upper Deck definitively do not do that. A real shame.

[Mr. Zipper]

It really is stunning that Topps can destroy signed memorabilia in this manner and there is not a great hue and cry from the card collecting community.

[callou2131]

That's cause new collectors want shiny garbage. I sent them a nasty email. Not that it will do any good but maybe if they get a few hundred nasty emails it will. This should have been a redemption for a full check, framed with the topps logo or something. They could have done this real nice.

[7nohitter]

Is it possible the rest of the check is under the card itself? If one were to try to 'rescue' the cut, I mean, would the whole thing be under there?

[GrayGhost]

if its just cut like that, its disgusting and is a disturbing thing. All in the name of greed, just like all these "chase cards"

looking for numbered cards or things with purported pieces of bat or jersey. I see kids buy a pack, if they don't get the "hit" they toss the cards away , or whatever.

Legalized gambling and the adults are jut as bad who go after this artificially worthless crap.

RANT OVER

[Runscott]

I personally hate these things, but if they are going to do it, it would make more sense for them to cut 'Theodore' and 'Williams' separately, then place one above the other. It would look a lot nicer.

[RichardSimon]

Originally Posted by 7nohitter

Is it possible the rest of the check is under the card itself? If one were to try to 'rescue' the cut, I mean, would the whole thing be under there?

I really could not say for certain, but I have never heard of that. I would doubt it very much.

[bbcard1]

Maybe I'm alone, but I don't see a cancelled check to the gas company as a priceless connection to a baseball icon. Done well, these have a much more productive life as part of a card, in my opinion...that said, the one shown in the op was not done well.

[packs]

I've said this before but before you condemn the card company I think you need to know that this check wasn't cut before they bought it and put it on a card. I see all kinds of things on eBay, from people who cut the two parts of someone's signature up into 2 signatures to people who cut up entire letters and sell them one word at a time. I think until someone finds the source document complete and in tact and can tie it to a mangled card, there might not be any history being destroyed by the card company.

[callou2131]

Originally Posted by packs

I've said this before but before you condemn the card company I think you need to know that this check wasn't cut before they bought it and put it on a card. I see all kinds of things on eBay, from people who cut the two parts of someone's signature up into 2 signatures to people who cut up entire letters and sell them one word at a time. I think until someone finds the source document complete and in tact and can tie it to a mangled card, there might not be any history being destroyed by the card company.

That would be even worse as there would be no real way to authenticate it if purchased that way. Also WHY would they purchase it this way? If they purchased it like that then they knew in advance they would be making a piece of crap card.

[packs]

I have no idea why, but I would think if you're going to cut it up anyway whoever buys these things for them might be looking for something like this.

[mighty bombjack]

Originally Posted by bbcard1

Maybe I'm alone, but I don't see a cancelled check to the gas company as a priceless connection to a baseball icon. Done well, these have a much more productive life as part of a card, in my opinion...that said, the one shown in the op was not done well.

You are not alone, as I agree with you and think you have stated it nicely (including the "not well done" part). I like baseball cards and I like when they incorporate an auto of a deceased player. Int his instance, this autograph should NOT have been used for this card.

[GrayGhost]

There is no excusing desecration of a great autograph for this. These cards can be nice if done right, this is a travesty and a disgrace

[Gary Dunaier]

Originally Posted by bbcard1

Maybe I'm alone, but I don't see a cancelled check to the gas company as a priceless connection to a baseball icon. Done well, these have a much more productive life as part of a card, in my opinion...that said, the one shown in the op was not done well.

You may not be alone, but a cancelled check IS a connection to the person who wrote it... maybe not a "priceless" one in the case of a check to the gas company, but still, it's a complete document signed by the person in question. I collect checks signed by celebrities and I'm repulsed when I see ANY check cut up and used as a "cut" signature.

The only exception MIGHT be in cases when the checks are "damaged" by the family before going out. The only Bowie Kuhn checks I recall seeing are those where only the right half exists, maybe the family tore them to protect sensitive information (addresses, routing numbers). If a cut signature comes from a check that is known to have been already "damaged," then using it as part of a card might be acceptable.

[Gary Dunaier]

Originally Posted by packs

I see all kinds of things on eBay, from people who cut the two parts of someone's signature up into 2 signatures to people who cut up entire letters and sell them one word at a time.

I've seen those, from names like George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. To the best of my knowledge such items come from documents that have been verified to have no historical significance, such as surveryor's papers or mundane legal documents. Yes, in an ideal world even documents like these wouldn't be cut, but they do allow the true collector an opportunity to own an example of handwriting from a historical figure for a contextually low price.