The Rise and Fall of the Hank Greenberg cut autograph

Zan · Mar 5, 2015

Wrote this piece today on my day off on the topic of Hank's cut auto cards throughout the years. I think this story is applicable to any deceased player, and is indicative of where the cut auto card is in our hobby.

Enjoy, and let me know what you think. I'd like to start a discussion.

http://theherowhodidntwanttobe.blogspot.com/2015/03/the-rise-and-fall-of-hank-greenberg-cut.html

Brian

RStadlerASU22 · Mar 5, 2015

Nice read and sad to see. Yeah the one you just got , ehh , the one w the cut off H, wtf. It's crazy how some are so well done and some are so poor. It's also sad because as player collectors we want everything , sometimes even if it looks like crap. I'm trying to veer away from that , it's hard to do though. Love your collection

Ryan

A_Pharis · Mar 5, 2015

Great writeup, Zan!
I 100% agree. Cuts have gone from "Let's innovate" to "Let's hurry and slab an index card in this frame."

Zan · Mar 5, 2015

RStadlerASU22 said:
Nice read and sad to see. Yeah the one you just got , ehh , the one w the cut off H, wtf. It's crazy how some are so well done and some are so poor. It's also sad because as player collectors we want everything , sometimes even if it looks like crap. I'm trying to veer away from that , it's hard to do though. Love your collection

Ryan

A_Pharis said:
Great writeup, Zan!
I 100% agree. Cuts have gone from "Let's innovate" to "Let's hurry and slab an index card in this frame."

Thanks guys for the kind words. Do we think there is any reason behind the laziness of card companies to not produce beautiful cuts like in years past?

Brewer Andy · Mar 5, 2015

Zan said:
Thanks guys for the kind words. Do we think there is any reason behind the laziness of card companies to not produce beautiful cuts like in years past?

The monopoly hasn't helped. Beyond that the people running these companies were (in large part) never collectors themselves

rsmath · Mar 5, 2015

Brewer Andy said:
The monopoly hasn't helped. Beyond that the people running these companies were (in large part) never collectors themselves

I also wonder about the personnel making the cards. Has Topps always used non-sport-loving Grandmas to assemble their cards or is that only fairly recent development? Has UD and Donruss had the same policy with who can make the cards or have those two let attention-to-detail sports fans work on a cut auto card that they would be proud to own if they were ever able to obtain it?

michaelstepper · Mar 5, 2015

I don't think there's a serious want or commitment to taking the time and doing cuts right. It's pretty hack job now days.. why I stick to 2007 and before

WCTYSON · Mar 5, 2015

Do not card companies have to buy the rights to player images from family estates?

A_Pharis · Mar 5, 2015

WCTYSON said:
Do not card companies have to buy the rights to player images from family estates?

Depends on the player... but - yeah. A good portion of older players have rights to be secured for use.

RStadlerASU22 · Mar 6, 2015

IMO it's just using the wrong people to design / create / procure stock / and assemble cards.

Overall laziness / no editing and looking over ideas.

I don't even know if it's a money issue. If so it's minimal when talking about 1/1 type cards that should creat buzz around a product.

Even if they for some reason can't obtain a picture of a player , there are still ways not to make them suck.

So to sum it up , to make a cut nice

1st - obtain items that look nice . No streaking . Clean as you can find items. Items where the auto is the standout, basically items wo a crappy background

2nd - Design nice looking border, images , etc

3rd - when assembling , make sure the entire auto is showing. As centered in the window as possible

4th - look at customs done by some members here , how does yours look compared to theirs? If yours (Topps) looks like a 1st grade art project , redo

Ryan

rsmath · Mar 6, 2015

WCTYSON said:
Do not card companies have to buy the rights to player images from family estates?

I was thinking about that (seeing some of the examples in the blog article of textual but no image cut auto cards), but I ASSume that if Topps was able to license the use of his name from his estate or marketing firm, the right to use an image on that same card would likely exist since the name and image are probably linked together for licensing purposes.

I also think if money were an issue (say, license fee for using Getty Archive images), I bet you could get an Conlon image license for not that much compared to Getty, but I have to concur with another post that money should be no problem in making a great looking 1/1, so spend what is needed to not have a hack job.

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The Rise and Fall of the Hank Greenberg cut autograph

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