This is disgusting and sad

[esd10]

http://m.ebay.com/itm/JOHN-MCGRAW-20...558?nav=SEARCH
I found this on ebay and I'm so very disgusted that these card companies cut up a john mcgraw jersey to sell this junk.

[Bruinsfan94]

Honestly as someone who used to collect newer stuff, I have little to no faith that these are authentic game jerseys of these players. I wouldn't trust any of of the old timers being the real deal.

[ooo-ribay]

That card is a) ridiculous and b) probably fake.

[mrmopar]

I'm sure this has been discussed in detail, but there are some positives to doing this, along with the obvious negatives. Assuming it is a real jersey, the number one plus is it can give the average budget collector a chance at getting a piece of history. Of course, once it is pulled, then you have to have the big bucks to buy the premium pieces, but nothing near what a full uniform would cost.

I have what I would considered at this point to be a small collection of GU cards. Aside from the handful I have pulled from packs, I bought a number of them (usually fairly cheaply) of favorite or better players, mostly Dodgers or stars, at one time trying to get as many unique players as I could. This was not a primary goal, so I never got too far on the project.

Except for a few cooler looking pieces and my Garveys, which are part of the large collection, I don't really hold them in high regard. They have become so commonplace that many can't help but question their authenticity yet the more unique the object (especially premium items like patches, barrels, buttons) and uncommon players from the old days bring big money from collectors who are going after those bragging rights to have the only (or one of a half dozen or less) McGraw button card or similar.

To each their own I guess, but I would never shell out that kind of money for a button, regardless of who's uniform it came from.

[Nashvol]

What mrmopar said. Hard to judge without knowing the story on the uniform/jersey. Perhaps it IS genuine but its quality is "disgusting and sad" and this brings new life to it in this way.

The same argument has been made about cutting up Reach and Spaulding guides and selling off the images; maybe the quality of the publication was not so good.

Another point: what one collects is usually determined by whether someone wants it and by what he/she will pay, and not always by whether the item is genuine or not nor whether there is opportunity to salvage its existence.

In many cases, a button would fall into a budget better than a full uniform...

[esd10]

The problem if real john mcgraw uniforms are not a dime a dozen like say clemente jerseys and these card companies are destroying history to sell a product.

[khkco4bls]

If they are real there is no upside in any way you look at it. It makes me sick that they would even think of cutting up something like that

[UnVme7]

Originally Posted by esd10

The problem if real john mcgraw uniforms are not a dime a dozen like say clemente jerseys and these card companies are destroying history to sell a product.

I think I know what you mean, but Clemente's aren't exactly hanging in every collectors closet.

[bnorth]

For me the worst part of the game used stuff is most of a jersey(or any item) they cut up is just a plain 1 color item. Even if real to begin with, scammers pull out that plain piece and replace it with a multi colored piece from something that was definitely not from that player. Single color pieces sell but those cool looking multi color pieces pull a big premium.

[WillowGrove]

I don't know anything about modern cards but two things come to mind. Is there any news/PR done by the company producing the card announcing their acquisition of the McGraw uniform? Is there video of them cutting it up?

If I ran a card company and had a real McGraw uniform that I was including in packs, I'd want to build up the anticipation and the back story as much as possible.


Side question...is there a past sale (s) on this uniform from the big AH's? Where did it come from?

Thanks for any thoughts.

[RichardSimon]

I don't recall who does it but there is a company (individual?) that buys historic letters and then cuts them up, a few words at a time and sells the words. Ooooo,,, I have two words that Abraham Lincoln wrote,,,,
That is equally as disgusting as cutting up a historical uniform.

[Snapolit1]

To each his or her own. I don't get the "I enjoy having a card with a couple of threads from a supposed jersey or a tiny piece of wood from something . . . .: Not a cell in my brain understands it. I'd rather have a bat that the worst third string catcher in baseball hit a foul ball with last year than a three hundred dollar card with some teeny tiny piece of wood that Babe Ruth supposedly touched. Just meaningless to me.

[vintagesportscollector]

So it's a "One-of-One", so where are the other 3 buttons? The jersey would have had at least 4 buttons. Peter F. raised a good question about not having any info on where these 'relics' came from. I find these pieces sad and absurd as well, but at least having some info about the original piece ( in this case what year McGraw jersey? Home or away?, etc..) may add some credibility and meaning to these pieces.

[esd10]

If this is a true mcgraw jersey where did it come from? I have been looking through auction sights and I have not seen any auctions of john mcgraw jerseys. If this was sold through a auction I would think they would make a huge deal of it with being a main focal point of the sale.

[Tripredacus]

Is there enough info to determine which jersey was used? I am going to presume that only 1 jersey was cut to make these. Here is what the other parts look like:

This is a patch piece:

[hcv123]

Originally Posted by esd10

The problem if real john mcgraw uniforms are not a dime a dozen like say clemente jerseys and these card companies are destroying history to sell a product.

Can you find me a dozen Clemente jersey's? Okay, Okay - I'll double it - 2 dimes

[Ron]

Instead of cutting up a jersey why not print up cards to add to packs that you can pull that gives you a 1 in 300 or whatever chance of winning the actual jersey. If you pull one of these cards you have to send it into the card company and at a certain time they add all the 300 cards to a drum and spin the drum to mix all cards and then a neutral party closes eyes and pulls one card from drum and that is the winner of the jersey or bat or ?? I would rather have a small chance of a jersey or bat than a small piece of a jersey or bat. I do not collect cards so maybe they have done this in the past

[esd10]

Originally Posted by Ron

Instead of cutting up a jersey why not print up cards to add to packs that you can pull that gives you a 1 in 300 or whatever chance of winning the actual jersey. If you pull one of these cards you have to send it into the card company and at a certain time they add all the 300 cards to a drum and spin the drum to mix all cards and then a neutral party closes eyes and pulls one card from drum and that is the winner of the jersey or bat or ?? I would rather have a small chance of a jersey or bat than a small piece of a jersey or bat. I do not collect cards so maybe they have done this in the past

That is a great idea and they could do the same with the cut signature instead of cutting up a letter, contract and checks send the whole thing as a redemption.

[esd10]

Originally Posted by hcv123

Can you find me a dozen Clemente jersey's? Okay, Okay - I'll double it - 2 dimes

What I meant was compared to a john mcgraw jersey roberto clemente is a lot more common to be had.

[esd10]

Originally Posted by Tripredacus

Is there enough info to determine which jersey was used? I am going to presume that only 1 jersey was cut to make these. Here is what the other parts look like:

This is a patch piece:

They look to be from 2 separate jerseys

[mrmopar]

UD did that a few years back. Wonder where that stuff ended up? Presumably it was won by average budget collectors who either won the lottery of a lifetime for their collection or they flipped it for some big cash to a deep pocketed collector.

Originally Posted by Ron

Instead of cutting up a jersey why not print up cards to add to packs that you can pull that gives you a 1 in 300 or whatever chance of winning the actual jersey. If you pull one of these cards you have to send it into the card company and at a certain time they add all the 300 cards to a drum and spin the drum to mix all cards and then a neutral party closes eyes and pulls one card from drum and that is the winner of the jersey or bat or ?? I would rather have a small chance of a jersey or bat than a small piece of a jersey or bat. I do not collect cards so maybe they have done this in the past

[Jantz]

Originally Posted by mrmopar

UD did that a few years back. Wonder where that stuff ended up? Presumably it was won by average budget collectors who either won the lottery of a lifetime for their collection or they flipped it for some big cash to a deep pocketed collector.

Bob Feller ended up buying Ruth's bat from the contest winner and putting it in his museum.

[mrmopar]

That is cool. The museum closed though, didn't it. Now where does that stuff end up?

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by mrmopar

That is cool. The museum closed though, didn't it. Now where does that stuff end up?

Yes it closed not much after I was lucky enough to visit it. Didn't know it was about to close but now it makes sense why the lady working there was trying to give me several items for free. In the BST section there is a post trying to sell his high school ring, I think there is a link with more information in that thread.