Where does the value lie? The disappearing ink of 2007 UD Sweet Spot.

[mrmopar]

2007 Upper Deck Sweet Spot

There was a quality issue with many of the cards, but not all, used for this set. Ink bleeding and ultimately disappearing from cards left a lot of collectors pretty mad and feeling cheated, myself included. Steve Garvey had a heathy number of cards in the checklist, several have seen the long term affect of this garbage issue.

So, a discussion on another board and a search for cards lead me to this Reggie Smith card. I didn't collect other autographs for the most part when this set came out, thankfully. I went after all the Garvey cards and he did share a couple with Smith, both of which have faded out over time.

This card is numbered to 8, his jersey number. Garvey had a similar card numbered to 6 for his jersey. Pretty scarce cards and certainly something to have with a nice bold autograph.

What happens when the ball material sucks and the auto fades? Does the card have much value and if so, what should it be? Is the value in the signature? The short printed quantity? Both? What if one is removed (the signature)? Now it is damaged or defective, but still only 8 copies exist.

The seller on ebay is asking $30 for this card. I don't know if that is a fair price or not. The3 signature is still visible, but light. It could fade more over time. Some of my Garvey cards are so blurred and faded, you can't even tell he signed it.

If you collected reggie Smith and didn't have this card, would you buy it? If so, what would you pay? just curious about the fallout from this disaster, as it affected a lot of collectors unfortunately.

 

[tramers]

I have maybe 20 of one player ----unable to get to at this time to check but I do have others fading

 

[banjar]

I would just buy it. Reggie Smith was a damn fine player, and it's still a nice card. $30 isn't a bargain basement price, but it's not outrageous.

Overall, the thing with these faded autos for me is that there are probably not any better examples out there. They're all faded. I like to have a copy of the card just the same.

 

[madbull34]

That card's actually not too bad. I used to have the Kurt Suzuki from that set and it was bad. The auto was almost completely faded away. I gave it away to someone.

 

[swish54_99]

To me, the value is in the auto, so with it being faded away, there would be no value in the card. I wouldn't pay anything for it and if I was selling, would be happy with a buck or two but in reality it would just have to be given away for free if I really wanted to move it.

 

[EtherealSOC]

I lost out on a PC card from this set because the seller wanted $150 for what amounted to a vague grey blob. No regrets.

 

[jmc855]

There are several Clemens for sale on eBay from this problem set, 100% completely faded. Totally invisible. Sellers are asking 20 bucks plus shipping and I don't see the point. His auto can be had on lots of stuff for 25 or 30 all in, why would I pay more than maybe 5 for a blank card where the auto used to be? To me when they are blank they are pointless. That Reggie Smith is far better,so maybe it's worth 20 bucks?

 

[nosterbor]

If it was a Juan Gonzalez card it would not have lasted 5 min. The first Juan collector that saw it would have hit BIN in a heartbeat. My self-included.

 

[Dilferules]

If it was somebody I supercollected I would still have to buy it. For my A's collection I just ignore the base autos in 2007 Sweet Spot like they don't exist, because all of them are wrecked. Luckily UD made several parallels with different inks and materials (at least for regular Sweet Spot, don't know about Classic) so I can still pick up cards of those players from the same set. The wood bat and leather glove cards are generally okay, other than a Classic Glove Carney Lansford I have that is fairly faded. They did gold and silver ink autos on the ball leather as well, and most of those I have seen are still good with the exception of this Gold Rich Harden, which is flaking and looks even worse in person than on the scan:



Examples of gold/silver ball autos that still look great:



And plenty of varieties of bat/glove autos to choose from:





There's also a condition issue across the board for 2004 Sweet Spot autos: the silver foil on the bottom right deteriorates over time. It doesn't affect the autograph but it looks pretty awful.

 

[K34PuckettAddict]

If it was a Juan Gonzalez card it would not have lasted 5 min. The first Juan collector that saw it would have hit BIN in a heartbeat. My self-included.

Puckett fans would have jumped on it quickly. I bought this beauty, it’s a 2005 Sweet Spot leather signature, #/25. I don’t remember how much I paid, but it was probably more than $30. The signature looks about the same as it did then, maybe worse now.




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[jmc855]

Puckett fans would have jumped on it quickly. I bought this beauty, it’s a 2005 Sweet Spot leather signature, #/25. I don’t remember how much I paid, but it was probably more than $30. The signature looks about the same as it did then, maybe worse now.

View attachment 349454


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Between this and the Juan post it sounds like we Clemens guys are either not dedicated or super cheapskates as Supercollectors ! I think it's the latter, as we regularly disappoint the hypesters who approach us seeking huge coin for things many other player collectors pay premiums on.

 

[maestracewslover]

Depends on the player. I think the only one I have left is a Rickie Weeks. Wrong player of course. I can see how more popular players are still sought after. I see no value though without the autograph but that’s me, I don’t collect one specific player. It’s still a really cool looking card. I still have some of the tins these came in somewhere. I wonder if the ones in the unopened are faded?


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[mrmopar]

I forgot to add I was not looking to buy this Smith card. I stumbled upon it looking at Smith autos in general. The price for me was irrelevant. Was not a buyer, even if the ink was solid (unless it was a nice deal).

I am happy that the 1/1s from the set were all on quality leather and have withstood the test of time. I probably have 30 faded autos between Garvey and a few Al Oliver. The most painful though is my Dr Mike Marshall card! That hurts a lot. I was trying to land one when they were new. Missed a few, was waiting on my price. I got a glove card instead of a ball. The balls have held up, the gloves have not.

 

[swish54_99]

Depends on the player. I think the only one I have left is a Rickie Weeks. Wrong player of course. I can see how more popular players are still sought after. I see no value though without the autograph but that’s me, I don’t collect one specific player. It’s still a really cool looking card. I still have some of the tins these came in somewhere. I wonder if the ones in the unopened are faded?


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Jabs Family broke open some unopened of this earlier this summer and they were faded.

It's too bad, it's a cool idea to have signed gloves/balls/bats. They just went the cheap route and got cheap materials and it didn't work.

 

[banjar]

That's interesting. So they degraded all on their own, like the ink just breaking down, without being exposed to any kind of light. Such a bummer, because that really was a cool idea for a set. At least the bat and glove ones have held up. At least the ones in my collection have...

Jabs Family broke open some unopened of this earlier this summer and they were faded.

It's too bad, it's a cool idea to have signed gloves/balls/bats. They just went the cheap route and got cheap materials and it didn't work.

 

[mrmopar]

I believe it was just crap material that absorbed the ink.

 

[jmc855]

I believe it was just crap material that absorbed the ink.

Yeah, seems like the same garbage vinyl like on cheap vinyl baseballs. They drink ink, and suck to practice with cuz you can't grip em right for a proper slider or curve lol. I have a 2000 Subway Series logo ball that Clemens signed. Not totally gone yet, but looks like crap.

 

[Austin]

2007 Upper Deck Sweet Spot

Some of my Garvey cards are so blurred and faded, you can't even tell he signed it.

Garvey is a great and quick signer through the mail. It would be interesting to have him sign one and see how long the ink lasts on it.

 

[mrmopar]

Garvey is a great and quick signer through the mail. It would be interesting to have him sign one and see how long the ink lasts on it.

I have thought about that, but figure they will not hold up either, so really a waste if that is the case.

 

[magicpapa]

havent peeked at this one in years........