Does anyone actually have any interest in something like this?

[barrysloate]

The concept of destroying a valuable artifact to make money is deplorable. Period.

[Exhibitman]

Originally Posted by barrysloate

The concept of destroying a valuable artifact to make money is deplorable. Period.

It is hardly unique to this thing of ours. In the Middle Ages there was a thriving market for saints' bones and other holy relics. The relic cards remind me of that.

Now, as far as the card itself goes, although I personally would not pay that to own it, the item is pretty nice looking.

Philosophically, I am less than convinced that the "badness" of making these cards is clear cut. The dichotomy is not between a museum having the piece on display for the public to enjoy and its destruction, it is between an individual owning it and having it in his or her office or home versus having it cut into a lot of little bits that a few dozen people can own. If it really was Cooperstown or the saw mill, I'd clearly recoil at the idea of the relic cards. But when it is really just one guy bogarting the whole bat versus having it cut up, frankly, I don't care if it gets cut up. I won't own it or enjoy it if someone else has it hanging over his bed, so why should I care if it gets cut up and parceled out to a bunch of people who will treasure the collective bits as part of their collections. To me, that's a lot more collective joy from the item than it would give if some dude had it in his private stash.

[T206Collector]

Originally Posted by barrysloate

The concept of destroying a valuable artifact to make money is deplorable.

I found this sentence to be amusing and ironic because of the adjective "valuable."

We ought to be getting a little more philosophical in this thread:

Why is it okay to cut down a tree to make a few bats, but not okay to cut up a bat to make a few cards?

If only 1 person can enjoy the bat, but 10 people can enjoy the splinters, why not make 10 people happy?

If the bat was going to sit in a closet, but the card will be on display at a museum, does it matter?

Is Cobb's bat more important than an unknown player's bat? If so, why?

I have loads of questions about what really makes people tick about this particular "atrocity."

Mostly, I see a card like that and think (a) the price of Cobb bats just went up because there are fewer of them -- good thing I don't collect Cobb bats; and (b) hey, neat card, but I wouldn't pay more than $10 for it.

There is more than enough tragedy and art in the world to mourn the loss of anyone's baseball bat.

[barrysloate]

That's too philosophical for me. My take: leave the bat alone.

[tbob]

Originally Posted by barrysloate

The concept of destroying a valuable artifact to make money is deplorable. Period.

Amen.