A few days ago I posted
this about how manufacturers might get collectors excited about relic cards again. Chris from
Stale Gum correctly noted that one of the cards I mentioned, the Scott Rolen E/X Wall of Fame card, didn't actually contain a piece of wall from the Vet in Philly. It was a piece from Milwaukee County Stadium. I later found another card from that same release, Jim Edmonds of the Angels, with the same blue piece of wall. I forgot to scan it, but it looks just like the piece from the Rolen card. While I appreciate knowing which stadium the wall piece is from, I don't like the way they used it for other players from other teams. A generic piece of wall, with no connection whatsoever to the player on the card just doesn't make sense to me. It would be like using a Matt Kemp bat to make bat "relics" of any player you want. Sure, it's game used, but not attached to anyone but Matt Kemp.
It reminds me of all the ridiculous relics that show a player with one team and the jersey piece is from a former team.
Here is another example of a card that shows where the relic originated.
This is a 2001 Leaf Limited Todd Helton Lumberjacks bat card, #354/500.
They show the actual bat the ultra small piece of bat came from and I think they could have gotten 1000 or more bat pieces this size out of that bat. At least with the photo, I know they had access to a Todd Helton bat to get this piece. Still, I'd like to know a little about the bat like when it was used.
The card manufacturers have to do something to give some value to the "hits" they put in the products. Knowing more about the hits we pull is one way to do that.
what a tiny piece of bat.
ReplyDeleteAnyways, I believe Leaf always did relics right. Actually, aside from (early '00s base design)their later releases, Leaf did just about everything to my liking...those who despise foil, however, may disagree with their inserts.
I don't think a piece of wall (or base) has any connection to a player at all. I think those cards are kind of ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteMy main problem with the Game Used cards is that there's usually no design concept at all. It's just whatever picture with whatever piece in whatever blank space. This card actually has some design plan to it, plus knowing where it came form is very nice as well.
ReplyDelete