Is there too much hate in the hobby?
Hate for flippers.
Hate for sticker autos.
And hate for athletes signing cards.
Wait - I thought we wanted athletes to sign cards? I'm confused.
Recently Knicks player Immanuel Quickly posted pictures of new cards to his Instagram. The images had cards laid out on a table from different upcoming sets. It's one of the most common ways card companies get autographs from athletes - they box the cards up, send them to the athlete for signing and they send them back.
For some superstars, card companies might make a special trip e.g. Kobe used to sign his cards in a hotel room and rookies are easy to get in person when the rookie photo shoot takes place.
It's not new to send cards out and it's probably been relied on more as a result of measures in place because of the virus.
But some of the comments that came through about Quickley's post were extremely negative:
'Great, these cards are all ruined now'
'Look how he's handling them.'
Remember, these cards are handled in the factory, boxed up, sent out, handled and signed by the athlete, boxed up again, sent back then placed in products and sent out to hobby stores before they even get to a collector.
Is it realistic to expect every hand signed card to come out of the box as a PSA 10?
Of course not.
Should there be a higher standard for cards that come straight from the factory to the hobby shop like base cards, inserts etc?
Absolutely - and when they can manufacturers will often replace miscut, misprinted or defective cards.
But holding on card autos to that same standard isn't realistic.
If you got something signed in person would you care very much how it was handled by the athlete? No - you'd be thrilled.
And we should be thrilled to see more athletes posting about signing - it shows they're getting into cards and seeing the importance of them to fans.
Watch the full clip below from the Cherry Podcast and read other card culture blogs like Why are Sports Card prices dropping? and The Junk Slab Era.
