Autographed Index Cards -- A New Look
 

I think these are reasonably cool. A company takes an old signed index card and builds a baseball card around the signature. Pretty neat -- though I probably won't ever own one. Here's an example. You can click the seller's other auctions to see additional examples.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Frankie-Frisch-s...3%3A1|294%3A50

Hmmm - I actually think the card looks really nice. I would be so worried, however, that the printing gets misaligned and prints over the signatures. Also, it seems somewhat unfortunate that the printing is not reversible.

Yet another way to ruin a perfectly appealing 3X5. They can be kept in an album or framed with the image of your choice. Why must people keep finding ways to destroy them?

Very imaginative
 

As a custom card guy, I really like what this guy has done. It turns a very mundane collectible into striking presentation.

My hat is off.

I think...
 

...it reflects the hobby's (continually) growing interest in autographed baseball cards, which do a lot better than signed index cards on the market. But I agree that it is really no better than Upper Deck cutting this up and inserting it into a baseball card. As a collector of signed pre-war cards, I am still not biting on these, but I just thought they were interesting and, for what they are, well done.

I would much rather see a card made into something like that than some of the horrible "cut" signatures companies are putting out today.

Jon - nothing to worry about: "The upmost care is practiced so as to never “enhance”, embellish, darken, or print over the original signature in any way."
they take the "upmost" care...

Paul,

Agreed. These, as well as cut cards, also might serve to introduce young kids/collectors of shiny stuff to classic baseball and the men who played it. I hate seeing 3X5s destroyed for such a purpose, though. Let's hope the bad will eventually be outweighed by the future good for the hobby. I must confess that I might become physically ill the first time I encounter a Jesse Burkett GPC that has been molested in the same fashion, however.

Whether or not one finds it pretty, its an impressive and original design.

Scarcity Matters
 

I think you raise an excellent point. I suspect these things help the value of the dime-a-dozen signed GPCs, but would significantly diminish the value of the once-in-a-lifetime signed GPCs.

I wonder if there are people out there who equate these things to a computerized version of a Sosnak ball w/player signature(s). Another thing to consider is that this process could also be used in an improper way in the future, a la a Ted Williams ball which has a portrait painted on it in order to cover up staining/other signatures. Just keep that in mind. I could easily see this process being done to, say, the fly leaf of "My Favorite Summer: 1956", thereby covering up the printed title and also, perhaps, the signature of ghostwriter Phil Pepe. Voila! A custom Mantle 3X5 sheet.

What difference if one Frankie Frisch signed (boring) index card gets busted up for the sake of art and using it creatively. There are still tens of thousands out there for you to enjoy, sans the creativity. This is much better than half the card missing so it can sell for twenty times what it should from some pack.

Dan

3x5
 

There is a guy in Canada who has been doing custom cards like this for pre-war hockey autographs for quite some time. I always thought they looked pretty cool, there are some examples on the net54 hockey forum I believe.

New to n54 but have been making my own designs using vintage autographs for quite awhile now which anyone that visits CU once in awhile are probably already familiar with. First time I've seen those particular designs on ebay.

Here are some of mine..

http://www.grantfuhr.com/dimaggiofront.jpg

http://www.signaturecuts.com/LouGehrig.jpg

http://www.signaturecuts.com/ruth.jpg

http://www.grantfuhr.com/post/dec2008/MickeyMantle.jpg

http://www.grantfuhr.com/post/dec200...Ruth2front.jpg

http://www.grantfuhr.com/post/dec2008/BabeRuth2back.jpg

http://www.grantfuhr.com/post/dec200...ieRobinson.jpg

http://www.grantfuhr.com/post/dec2008/TedWilliams.jpg

http://www.grantfuhr.com/post/dec2008/TrisSpeaker.jpg

- Garret