PDA

View Full Version : Does an autographed card signed during career mean more than signed in retirement?


80s Showtime
04-07-2014, 08:30 PM
I'm sorry, please bare with me, I'm not sure if I'm phrasing this quite right and then I have multiple questions. :confused:

With more and more autograph cards coming out these days, I was wondering if an inserted autographed card signed during a player's career have a little bit more of a special meaning to it than a card that was signed after the player retired? I don't necessarily mean that an autographed card signed during the player's career should have a premium to it versus those that were signed in retirement, but does it have a little more sentimental value to anyone?

Of course, there are players that were already retired before inserted autographed cards made their debut in the early 1990's so those players really don't apply (like most of the players that I try to collect :(). This is more about players that rarely signed during their playing career (i.e., Patrick Ewing, Karl Malone, Scottie Pippen, and John Stockton) and now are signing more in their retirement years. Would you rather have an autographed insert card signed during their career for your personal collection or would any autographed card be okay?

I asked because I was just reading that apparently Mickey Mantle autographs signed early in his career are in higher demand than ones that were signed after his career was over and I found that kind of interesting :coffee:(The Sign of a True Rookie, RookieBall? and RookieGraph? Documents Rookie Autographs (http://www.psacard.com/Articles/ArticleView/6711/the-sign-of-a-true-rookie-rookieball-and-rookiegraph-documents-rookie-autographs)).

In the card world, since more inserted autograph cards are coming out these days, it seems like the getting the "best" of their autographed Rookie Cards would be the way to go :)!. But most economical option would be to get any autographed card that you like and not necessarily the player's first autographed card.

Which brings me to my last question, is there even a higher demand for a player's first autographed card, if there aren't any autographed RCs, after there's been 3 or more different cards? An recent extreme example of this would be for football's Richard Sherman. Will his first autograph cards hold the values after he has more autograph cards later? (Richard Sherman Autographs Cards Tough to Come By, Fetching Big Prices (http://www.cardboardconnection.com/richard-sherman-autograph-cards)). Damon Lillard would have been a good basketball example of this if Panini hadn't made a late agreement with Leaf to make autographed RCs.

JMarchand1981
04-07-2014, 09:12 PM
If I had my druthers I would rather have the auto while the player was playing. That is just my opinion. I will let others take a stab at answering the other questions.

doctorres112
04-07-2014, 09:58 PM
If I had my druthers I would rather have the auto while the player was playing. That is just my opinion. I will let others take a stab at answering the other questions.

I agree. If, and this is a big if, Duncan does decide to sign after his playing days are over...I think I will personally value his autographics card much more than a newer auto/jersey auto.

-Chris

Rob98
04-07-2014, 10:15 PM
I rather have while they were playing not sure if it makes difference

dave_man79
04-07-2014, 10:39 PM
imo the price and demand of RC year auto > playing years auto > retired years auto.

currycurrycurry
04-07-2014, 10:47 PM
I've never really thought about this but you make a good point. I'd rather have a rookie auto'ed card instead of one that was signed later on. However the difference wouldn't deter me from picking up autos that were signed later.

Vipertron
04-07-2014, 11:01 PM
Nice thread. Looking for a nice Michael Jordan Auto, this thread can help me sort something out.:)

xavieronly1
04-08-2014, 12:03 AM
RC year = 1 year
Playing year = 15+ years
Retired year = 50+ years

And let's not forget card companies will make 50+ products and milk every retired player autos.

80s Showtime
04-08-2014, 12:08 AM
I agree. If, and this is a big if, Duncan does decide to sign after his playing days are over...I think I will personally value his autographics card much more than a newer auto/jersey auto.

-Chris

Personally, I think the Autographics line is awesome :)! I like the look of that one over any while he was signing with Topps.

I rather have while they were playing not sure if it makes difference

I go back and forth on some players. For example, Byron Scott has an Autographics, but not as a Laker. So I prefer his retired Lakers autograph cards instead of his Raptors Autographics.

imo the price and demand of RC year auto > playing years auto > retired years auto.

:)!

I've never really thought about this but you make a good point. I'd rather have a rookie auto'ed card instead of one that was signed later on. However the difference wouldn't deter me from picking up autos that were signed later.

Thank you, it's been floating it the back of my head for a little while but the thing about Mickey Mantle's early autos really made me think of it more today.
I think a good price on an auto is always a good pick-up for the personal collection though :)

Nice thread. Looking for a nice Michael Jordan Auto, this thread can help me sort something out.:)

Thank you for the compliment :)
Michael Jordan's auto cards are interesting. Where would you rank his cards while playing with Washington? And how about his baseball stuff? His recent UNC autos seem very affordable when compared to his Bulls cards. But you have to rank the Bulls first, right? I have to believe the Washington and baseball ones have the lowest supply in the number of autographed cards. For UDA stuff, I heard that he doesn't sign Washington and #45 stuff anymore (not sure if that is true though). But you really can't go wrong with a Michael Jordan auto :)!

byronscott4ever
04-08-2014, 07:00 AM
Byron's Autographics was with the Grizzlies, not the Raptors.

I think the difference in price/value/interest depends on the actual signature. If a player's autograph looks the same from when they first started to the last one they signed, why would it matter when it was signed? You could get the best visual appearing one to you and move on. I think a "vintage" signature has the appeal as the signature usually changes as a player gets older and signs more. And depending on how many times that person signs, it's possible that the older, more complete signatures are less in number as well.

80s Showtime
04-08-2014, 07:29 AM
Byron's Autographics was with the Grizzlies, not the Raptors.

I think the difference in price/value/interest depends on the actual signature. If a player's autograph looks the same from when they first started to the last one they signed, why would it matter when it was signed? You could get the best visual appearing one to you and move on. I think a "vintage" signature has the appeal as the signature usually changes as a player gets older and signs more. And depending on how many times that person signs, it's possible that the older, more complete signatures are less in number as well.

Thank you for the correction:)!, I was picturing the Grizzlies in my head. Don't know why I typed the Raptors though :(