My Letter To Topps.
Last week I was sorting through and checking out my Game-Used Andre Dawson baseball cards. I do this act quite often, especially when I have picked up something new for the collection.
This time, for some reason, I was stopped by a card I have picked up over the last two months. It was part of my ‘Dawson Haul’ from Ebay. And for some reason, this card stopped me dead in my tracks – although I have passed by it at least a dozen times since buying it.
Without taking you through each and every thought I had about the card, I thought I would just let you see the letter that I sent Topps about it.
Yep, I emailed Topps this morning, and here is that note:
To Whom It May Concern-
My name is Brian Applebaum and I have been a baseball collector for 25 years. During that time, I have been a very big supporter of the Topps brand. A little more than two years ago, I took my collecting habits online with the creation of my blog ’30-Year Old Cardboard’. And while my favorite style of collecting is vintage cards, I have to applaud you for continuing to churn out product that gives a vintage collector a link to the modern hobby. I especially like when I find the players that I collect in your modern issues – keep up the great work!!
My favorite baseball player, and player to collect, is new Hall of Famer Andre Dawson. And again, you have done a great job in including ‘The Hawk’ in several of your modern sets. And I speak for many collectors when I thank you for keeping older players relevant.
The reason for my writing is to ask for your help. I have attached 2 scans to this email. I purchased this card on Ebay, and while it is not a direct purchase from your company, the card was made by Topps in 2005. As part of the ‘Legendary Sacks’ set, the card is a relic card that features Andre Dawson. Serial numbered to 300 issues, both the front and back of the card state that the card includes a piece of Game-Used jersey. After receiving this card and adding it to my Dawson collection, I quickly noticed that there is not a piece of jersey in the spot that is cut out to hold it. And while the card does not appear to be tampered in any way, I am very puzzled by what I have here. I emailed the person that I bought it from and he was unable to provide a solid answer for me. I can tell you that when I touch the card in the area that is supposed to contain a piece of jersey, there is a tacky feeling to the cardboard – like an adhesive or something like that. And as you can tell from my scans, the card appears to not have been altered.
I am really hoping you can help me with this. Is this an error card? I have never seen one of these before – and that is why I jumped at the chance to own it!!!
Thank you for your time,
Brian Applebaum ’30-Year Old Cardboard’ – www.bapple2286@hotmail.com
I figured why not let you guys in on this and see what/if anything comes out of it. After clicking send, I was immediately acknowledged by an auto-response saying that someone would get back to me in 48 hours.
Oh, and here are the scans I sent them as well. If any of you have knowledge of these cards, please share that info to!
Front
Back
I’ll let you know if I hear anything!!!! Stay tuned.
This may very well be a piece of a base.
Obviously, he did not wear a white jersey at the All-Star Game. And since the card is titled “Legendary Sacks,” it leads me to believe that it is a base.
Chris-
I would not be shocked if that was the case, but I am puzzled as to why they would state ‘jersey’ on both the front and back of the card if that were true. Sacks = Base and that makes a lot of sense, but their presentation of that is extremely questionable.
My guess is they just forgot to add the swatch.
moe.
Im sure this happens all the time.
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