Addie Joss Jersey card on Ebay

[thatkidfromjerrymaguire]

Interesting topic. I was curious as to what most hard core vintage collectors thought of "memorabilia cards" of pre-war players. I definitely can understand the viewpoint that they are basically destroying important artifacts in order to produce these cards.

But personally, I like them...because I think they allow me to experience a connection to these players that I otherwise could not.

I don't own many vintage cards, and I don't own many memorabilia cards. However I do own a modern card (2001) that has a piece of Babe Ruth's bat....and I love it. My logic breaks down like this:

1. I think pretty much 100% of us could agree that we prefer authenticate vintage cards to reprints, right? An authentic 1933 Goudey card of Babe Ruth provides more value and joy to me as a collector than a reprint of that same card...even though it has the exact same picture. Why? Because a 1933 Goudey card was created and pulled out of a pack of gum during the exact same time that Babe Ruth himself was playing. There is a "connection" there to the Babe, the time, the place. That's cool.

2. So to me, the same thing applies to a card that has a small piece of his bat. That card contains an actual piece of lumber that Babe used to swing and maybe hit home runs with. That bat card provides me a "connection" to the Babe, the time, the place.

Would I prefer to have an actual bat instead of just a piece? Obviously. But a Ruth bat would cost me $100,000. The bat card? i got it for about $100 bucks. I keep it in a magnetic holder so I can easily take it out, and touch the bat piece.

These memorabilia cards allow us to physically interact with the uniforms and equipment of our favorite old players without spending the big bucks necessary to buy a full item, and often times the price is a fraction of what even an authentic vintage card would be...and to me, that's pretty cool.

I know most of you don't like shiny new cards, but I'm gonna put a picture of it here anyway

ruth front.JPG

ruthback.JPG

[packs]

Every single one of these cards should come with provenance from how it was acquired. There is no doubt that the card companies create these cards for chase purposes, otherwise why would a box be advertised as having them in it? Therefore, since the sale is predicated on the memorabilia being authentic, the card companies should include purchase information for the authenticity of the materials.

[steve B]

Originally Posted by packs

Every single one of these cards should come with provenance from how it was acquired. There is no doubt that the card companies create these cards for chase purposes, otherwise why would a box be advertised as having them in it? Therefore, since the sale is predicated on the memorabilia being authentic, the card companies should include purchase information for the authenticity of the materials.

The newer Topps ones are loaded with disclaimers. They basically say that the stuff may be tangentially related to the player or event pictured. Or not.

[thatkidfromjerrymaguire]

Originally Posted by packs

Every single one of these cards should come with provenance from how it was acquired. There is no doubt that the card companies create these cards for chase purposes, otherwise why would a box be advertised as having them in it? Therefore, since the sale is predicated on the memorabilia being authentic, the card companies should include purchase information for the authenticity of the materials.

Yes, I agree with you. That would make it a lot less nebulous. Some of the early cards (such as the one in the picture) at least come with a statement of authenticity of what the item is and that it was used in an MLB game, and some even included pictures of the whole item on the back of the card. Obviously still not a sure thing because it's easy to just claim something is authentic, but it's something.

Then there was definitely a shady period where the statements of authenticity vanished, and the cards only stated that they included a piece of memorabilia...but didn't confirm WHAT it was or how it was used. People assumed bats and jerseys, but in reality the wood could come from stadium seats, benches, etc. and the cloth could come from any type of material.

Having serial numbers and a website where you can go to look up the provenance of the memorabilia would be awesome. Many of the new modern cards have just that for current players...they are authenticated by MLB Authentics, and allow you to look up the specific player and game the piece was from. But I've not seen anything like that for vintage pieces.

[Leon]

I am against cutting up Ruth bats, due to the history I feel we lose, but I can't blame anyone for collecting them. Although, if no one bought them there wouldn't be a market. So there is that. I do like the aesthetics of that Ruth chippings card.

Originally Posted by thatkidfromjerrymaguire

Interesting topic. I was curious as to what most hard core vintage collectors thought of "memorabilia cards" of pre-war players. I definitely can understand the viewpoint that they are basically destroying important artifacts in order to produce these cards.

But personally, I like them...because I think they allow me to experience a connection to these players that I otherwise could not.

I don't own many vintage cards, and I don't own many memorabilia cards. However I do own a modern card (2001) that has a piece of Babe Ruth's bat....and I love it. My logic breaks down like this:

1. I think pretty much 100% of us could agree that we prefer authenticate vintage cards to reprints, right? An authentic 1933 Goudey card of Babe Ruth provides more value and joy to me as a collector than a reprint of that same card...even though it has the exact same picture. Why? Because a 1933 Goudey card was created and pulled out of a pack of gum during the exact same time that Babe Ruth himself was playing. There is a "connection" there to the Babe, the time, the place. That's cool.

2. So to me, the same thing applies to a card that has a small piece of his bat. That card contains an actual piece of lumber that Babe used to swing and maybe hit home runs with. That bat card provides me a "connection" to the Babe, the time, the place.

Would I prefer to have an actual bat instead of just a piece? Obviously. But a Ruth bat would cost me $100,000. The bat card? i got it for about $100 bucks. I keep it in a magnetic holder so I can easily take it out, and touch the bat piece.

These memorabilia cards allow us to physically interact with the uniforms and equipment of our favorite old players without spending the big bucks necessary to buy a full item, and often times the price is a fraction of what even an authentic vintage card would be...and to me, that's pretty cool.

I know most of you don't like shiny new cards, but I'm gonna put a picture of it here anyway

Attachment 346487

Attachment 346488