Early Weekend Cardshow Haul and Contest Winnings: Two Autographed Manufactured Patch Cards

In fact, these are my first two. The letter patches are probably my least favorite of the manufactured patch cards, though I do like the more original ones like this one. Yet, I do like the autographed letter patch cards especially when the letter is a meaningful one. Now, I agree that the autographs themselves can come out poorly, and that is an important negative.

Let's take a look at my first two autograph patch cards and examine the highlights and lowlights of each.

The first, which I received first, was a carryout from BA Benny's Baseball Card Buffet. Thanks very much to Mike for a fun, though grueling, contest. I was really excited to win and scored this wonderful Jemile Weeks card.


Jemile Weeks is posting a very respectable .859 OPS in AA this season so it would be awesome to see him make it to the majors eventually.

The cool thing about this card: the autograph is legible and nicely signed on two separate lines. Less cool is the fact that is an "S." Does anyone out there really collect each letter of an autographed patch? I can see the fun in collecting non autographed ones, that is doable and would look good in a binder, but five autographed patches seem like overkill to me.

So, let's take a look at the one I got at the card show today: a Jon Niese.


I like Niese. He is on the DL for the second time in two years, but it is not an arm issue. When he has pitched he has shown promise, and this Met fan hopes he can develop even further and perhaps top out as a good number two starter or great number three starter.

The cool part of this card is that it is an "N," this makes sense as it is the first letter in his name. What would I want with an "I" or an "S"? I wouldn't have bought it unless it was an "N." The not so cool part of this card is that the actual autograph is less than stellar (to be kind).

Despite the ups and downs of each card, I am really glad to have both in my collection. I'll be rooting hard for both players!

For those of you in the Illinois area I got the Niese card at a card show that ran from today through Sunday at the Hawthorne mall in Vernon Hills IL. I was a bit worried at first since there were only two underwhelming tables on the bottom floor, but the show got a lot better on the second floor. As luck would have it the last table I visited was the best. Michael, a White Sox fan, from Field of Cards in Richton Park IL and I had a fun talk about prospects and he gave me a sweet deal on some Mets Finest and Bowman stuff. He also gave me a couple of prospects' card to go after. He was awesome and ensured that I left the show with a smile.

Also, it is nice to go to a card show in a city other than the one your team plays in. I got several Mets cards for a good price that I wouldn't have been able to touch had the show been in New York. That includes the Niese which I scored for a very reasonable $5.

I'll probably get around to posting some of the others in the next few days.

Card of the Week: Glavine 300 Win Patch Card

2008 Upper Deck Premier Stitchings
Tom Glavine
Materials: Card Stock and Thread/Patch

The Player:
Yes, I am a Met fan posting a Tom Glavine card. I do not hate Glavine for the final game of the Mets' regular season in 2007. While I rationally understand his comments subsequent to the game as being true, I do think they were in bad taste. I also think that a HOF pitcher needs to do better than Glavine did on that infamous day in Mets history. Nevertheless, I respect Glavine as the HOF pitcher that he is and simply do not consider him a Met. This is of note because though Pedro will always be known as a Red Sox player I still consider him a Met. Pedro may be the Red Sox fans' first, but the Mets fans have a certain claim on him too. The Braves can have Glavine in his entirety as far as I'm concerned as a result of that game (I am happy, though, that it was not Glavine's final game).

The Card:
Ah yes, the manufactured patch card perhaps the most debated: is it overpriced filler, interesting innovation, or ambivalent insert? I tend to like manufactured patch cards outside the letterman stuff. However, I do actively dislike the letterman patches which are single letters from the team or player's name. Additionally, some patches are boring like the simple team logos. Yet, I REALLY like some of the patches from Upper Deck's Premier Stitchings Set. This, along with the others commemorating specific events are probably my favorites. I scored this beauty at a card show for $3 and I was genuinely surprised at the low price (it probably did not hurt that the market for Glavine cards in suburban IL is probably not what it is in Atlanta). Out of the many manufactured patch cards I have seen, this has got to be up there as one of my favorites. It has the team colors, a player image, and an indication of the event to be commemorated and, for me, these are the key ingredients of a very cool manufactured patch card.

The Materials:
I like to think that textiles in baseball cards gained popularity as a return to more traditional materials after the use/experimentation with more modern materials like acetate during the 90s. Acetate and other plastic cards remain relatively rare in the hobby while more traditional materials such as patches, silk, and even game used jerseys have become familiar staples. How true this whole assessment is I am not sure, but one could write an interesting sociological/anthropological commentary on the whole issue were it true.

One of the things I like about the manufactured patch cards is how different the process of creating them must be compared to creating a normal or even plastic baseball card. I imagine it to be like one of those machines that customizes hats at Lids, and for some reason find the thought of these particular patches being created in that way especially interesting. Maybe it is just me...

Anyway, if you have any interesting manufactured patch cards up for trade drop me an email, whether or not they are Mets (as long as they aren't yankees).