Crazy Relic Cards thoughts
 

To preface, most of you know I mainly collect/sell Vintage memorabilia and such.

I am curious of all of your thoughts on these cards. On the one hand, it is a cheap way to get a supposed game used piece from a player.

In some cases, it is crazy. There are a couple of Addie Joss jersey cards on the Bay right now. First, the sacrilege of cutting up a RARE HISTORIC item like a Joss Jersey is mind boggling.

Second, what leap of faith are you ready to take over some "guarantee" from Panini or whoever. You can't even authenticate them with a professional.

I do NOT lambaste people who collect these cards. That is the great thing of our hobby. Stuff is there for all tastes/interests.

Opinions all? Thx. Scott

This has been debated many times. I for one, think it's beyond stupid to cut up a game used jersey or bat from an early HOF player. People say that way more people get to enjoy it, but who cares. It's the item that counts as a whole. The rarity is in a complete uniform or bat. On the other hand, for newer players I don't feel as strongly about cutting up some of their memorabilia. Most players go through an incredible number of jerseys, shoes, gloves, bats, and so on. It's like the difference between cutting up a 1981 Topps full sheet of cards, versus a complete high number 1952 Topps sheet. One is rare and should be kept as a whole, and the other really isn't ever going to be as valuable or significant. So I don't mind getting a piece of Ozzie's glove, or Kobe's uniform in a card and I've collected a few of those just for fun.

I have very mixed opinions about them.
I think the ones using stuff from current players are fine, a bat used for one at bat, a jersey used for one game or one inning... it's pretty easy to come up with current game used stuff, especially for a deep pocketed license holder.

Older stuff I'm less ok with. In a way it depends on just how bad the item was before it got cut up. I've very occasionally seen some really rough items that I'm mostly ok with a card company cutting them up. Like a portion of a bat, or a jersey of pants with major damage. (The pants cloth and jersey cloth are the same for flannels I think)

But some of the stuff that's been cut up has been in decent condition, and cutting it up is a shame. (Not buying the "it gives everyone a chance at having a small piece" argument.. )

I will note that Pannini is more hypocritical than most, because they don't make those sorts of cards for any of their international products.

I'm generally skeptical that game used cards are from actual game used materials. Game issued, maybe. But maybe also it's just fabric and wood chips. I remember when UD did the first major game used release with the 500 home run club members. Those cards I had faith in because they made a big show purchasing what they were going to insert.

I think it is a sacralige to cut up a jersey, ball, hat, bat, from any of the players from the 1800s to at least somewhere around the late 50s early 60s. There are a finite amount of them in the hobby and cutting them up is blasphemous.

Later years and up to current era, not so much. There is much more available on the whole compared to the earlier years of the game.

my .02 cents.

When they first came out they were neat. Now they are much too common. In modern products you have a greater chance to get a jersey card than an autograph. Also things are different in modern era jersey cards. The ones that are "game used" are different in that a player will wear multiple jerseys during a game so that the card companies can make A LOT of "officially used" cards. This removes the rarity of it.

When it comes to the old stuff, I really just think of the people on this site who love to collect those old items. Once they get chopped up and put into a card, a person cannot have it in the future, or it will never get to be in a museum someplace. The same is true of some cut autographs which will cut things up like magazines, checks, photos, letters, or even IP auto cards to make those.

In the end, the companies are destroying history in order to make a quick buck and the market response has justified the practice. The people have spoken, as it were.

I think there are some great products out there. Others suck. I like the booklets of a single player: auto + oversized relic. I also like the bat ends, buttons, washer tags. They used to make oversized cards as box toppers with extra large swatches of jersey or something. But most of the relics I see now don't float my boat. The commonality of them is off putting.

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But are they is my question. The OP mentioned an Addie Joss jersey card. Who wouldn't love to know where they got that jersey? I guess it's possible some shadow collector sold it to them quietly but wouldn't something like an Addie Joss game used jersey generate some kind of buzz in the hobby were it to be available?

I do not mind when Relic cards are made with modern swatches of a players Jersey, glove, etc. It absolutely kills me when I see vintage relic cards of something like a Lou Gehrig Jersey or a vintage letter by Ty Cobb being butchered for the sake of a card. There's only so many of those in the world, why would you destroy a piece of history to make a card? Money is the answer obviously but still.

I'm sure the companies get the items from all over the place. There was one user here that posted how a GU bat he once owned ended up being cut up into cards. At least with some of these types of items there is a paper trail to follow. I wouldn't be surprised if the card companies are winning auctions. There are some more outspoken people in the industry, like Dr Price who did stuff for In the Game. Maybe there is an interview out there where he or someone else talks about how they acquire items, especially the old stuff.