Does anyone actually have any interest in something like this?

[ctownboy]

Exhibitman,

Wasn't Burdick's cards once privately held? Weren't they in HIS home and enjoyed mostly only by HIM? What would have happened if he would have decided to throw his cards away or decided to cut them into small pieces and give them away or sell them? They would NOT have ever been donated to the museum for ALL to look at, study and enjoy.

The Ty Cobb bat could have been disposed of in a similiar manner; a wealthy guy buys it for his PERSONAL collection and displays it IN HIS HOME. Then, when he is older and finds out his children have NO INTEREST in baseball and that there ARE museums who would be HAPPY to have a bat like that to display, he COULD have donated it for the public trust.

But now, the bat is cut up into small pieces it can NEVER be put back together and displayed as a complete bat and thus EVERYONE who is interested in seeing such a thing and who can not afford it will NEVER get the chance to.

The SAME goes for YOUR collection. I don't know who you are, where you live or what is in your collection. I may never know any of it. Thus, I would have no clue what I missed out on if you decided to cut your collecton up into small pieces and sell it. However, as long as your collection is NOT cut up into small pieces there IS a chance that you would sell a piece or pieces of your collection and OTHERs could then have a chance to own and enjoy THAT piece. Also, there is a chance that YOUR COLLECTION is one day donated to a museum.

But THAT will NEVER happen if it is cut up into small pieces and dispersed.

David

[teetwoohsix]

James made a great point,something I also have wondered about-a good majority of the time,how do you really even know the difference between a game used jersey/bat/chunk of base/whatever as opposed to Joe Blow's shirt sleeve/stadium wooden plank seat/etc.,etc.??

Who is really going to know what it is (the relic)?

Something is to be said about that-and if there was a positive about this Ty Cobb relic bat card,at least it does have the Ty Cobb brand in the piece.

I am still against destroying a Ty Cobb bat for modern day card purposes,but to each his/her own.............

[ctownboy]

Exhibitman,

In the world of automobile collecting there is a saying that goes, "a car is only original once". That is why original, numbes matching cars sell for more than unoriginal cars.

As far as strip cards and the Mona Lisa go, I say yes. The values might be different but the concept is the same; cutting them up NOW just for monetary gain is wrong.

Back in the 1920's, strip cards weren't worth anything and kids back then cut them up as they were supposed to be cut up. Ninety years later when few, if any, original strips are left and people want to know WHO made these cards and how they were distributed, it would be NICE to have an ORIGINAL strip of cards to look at and study.

Look at how much time and effort Tedzan has put into studying T 206 cards and how they were made, when they were made and how they were distributed. Just think how much easier it would be to research these cards if somebody in the tobacco company would have saved information pertaining to these cards or somebody at American Litho Company would have saved an uncut sheet or two. Just think if that info or those sheets would have been saved by a collector and then donated to a museum?

So yes, again, I think cutting up strip cards NOW for monetary gain is equal to cutting up the Mona Lisa--original information is permanantly lost that future humans might like to know, learn about and study.

We don't know as much about the Maya or Aztec civilizations NOW because the priests accompanying the Spanish sailors ordered their books to be burned. Also, the Spanish sailors took the gold and silver artifacts so that they could be melted down and used for other things. Look at all that was lost because of that and all the question we NOW have?

Just because destroying something NOW seems like a good idea (especially for monetary gain) in the future it might not be looked upon as a good idea.

Also, destroying items in one area could lead down a slippery slope where items are destroyed in other areas JUST BECAUSE a precedent has been established.

David

[Leon]

I am just waiting for the ole "my sliver is better than your sliver" argument, about now!!

[quinnsryche]

Comparing the collective loss of an entire civilization to cutting up 1 baseball bat is hardly worth the time in arguing about it. That comparison is wholly ridiculous. If as previously stated one can cull approx. 2000 useable pieces from 1 bat, then we are talking about ONE BAT being destroyed for the enjoyment of 2000 people as opposed to ONE BAT being stored away for the enjoyment of one person. Let's be completely honest here, unless EXTREMELY wealthy, no one is going to donate a Ty Cobb bat anywhere! The said children of the owner will sell that bat in a hot minute, pocket the cash and the bat will then be sequestered away for another 50 years until the offspring of another millionaire decides to dump it again. My suggestion to all who are indignant over this issue is to stay away from the modern card market because as Dr. Zaius told Taylor "Don't look for it because you may not like what you find!"

[barrysloate]

I can't speak for everyone, but I wasn't trying to suggest that destroying a Ty Cobb bat was a sign of the Apocalypse. And I respect Adam's distinction between privately and publicly held relics. But I do think it is a cheesy marketing ploy, and it's disheartening to think that 2000 collectors would actually enjoy owning a splinter from the bat.

The next time they dismantle a vintage Mercedes SL350 with the gull wings, I got first dibs on the lug nuts. I know the enjoyment I will get owning that.

[Peter_Spaeth]

It's a Splendid Splinter.

[JP]

I was trying to one-up that...but I got stuck on "Chip off the old block" and then realized if it was a Ruth bat that "Babe in the Wood(s)" worked better....I got nothin'....too tired.

[barrysloate]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

It's a Splendid Splinter.

Now why didn't I think of that?

[glynparson]

Just add it to the list of questionable decesions made by the modern card investors.

[glynparson]

I would rather have all the bats kept whole and in private collections where I never see any of them. Then getting to see a little piece of wood. To me that's all it is once it has been cut up. It is no longer a bat or broken bat it is know just a splinter of wood. I don't think this practice should be illegal but that doesn't mean I have to think it is the right thing to do.