Rarely a week goes by where a new product is released with yet another new spin on the game used memorabilia fad. These little pieces of history are getting easier to find with each release as the manufacturers attempt to keep us buying their cards. We first started wondering how far these gimmicks would go back in 1997 when game jersey cards were still in their infancy. Now it's starting to get serious as almost nothing is too sacred to be sacrificed to cardboard. Are these hot new memorabilia cards stunning inserts or hobby sacrilege?
Have you ever been to your sport's Hall of Fame? If not then I highly recommend it as you get the opportunity to see uniforms and equipment that was worn and used by the best players to ever play the game as well as priceless artifacts documenting the history of the sport and many of its most famous moments. With that in mind, how would you feel if the Hall of Fame started to cut small pieces off of some of these items and sell them in their gift shop? Did you like seeing that Babe Ruth uniform? Would you like to own a piece of it? Of course this would be met with incredible opposition and never be allowed. The same can't be said for what goes on in the sportscards hobby.
When Fleer released their Greats of the Game this year with pieces of jersey
from Mickey Mantle, Thurman Munson, and Billy Martin, I received a good number
of 
emails from people complaining that it was a travesty to cut up a jersey worn
by any of these legends, especially Mantle. I thought about it at
that time and decided that as long as the item wasn't one of a kind, or have
some other completely unique characteristic (such as Mark McGwire's 70th home
run ball from 1998) then it was not a bad idea to cut it up and allow everyone a
chance to own a piece.
When Upper Deck started cutting up pieces of a Babe Ruth game used bat people screamed and Upper Deck calmly explained that the bat was one of many in existence. The same held true with Greats of the Game as none of the jerseys were one of a kind, but even then you could sense that it was only time before one of the manufacturers cut up something that shouldn't have been sliced.
Last week I found SP Authentic had reached one of my favorite shops so I picked up a few packs and was shocked to find a Joe DiMaggio Game Jersey card (pictured above). I immediately started showing it to my friends and family and the questions started again. How could they cut up a jersey once worn by Joe DiMaggio? I told them that it wasn't the only known jersey of Joe D. The history of the jersey (from the 1951 season) was featured in Beckett Baseball last month and while it looked like a beautiful piece of memorabilia, it had no other historical significance other than being worn by DiMaggio.
Unfortunately, it looks like the line of acceptability is about to be crossed. Be A Player is about to release their first set for the 2000-01 NHL season, called Be A Player Memorabilia. As with other BAP releases in the past year it will be jam packed with cool memorabilia. This year they have cards with pieces of All Star Jerseys, All Star sticks, and even All Star tickets, none of which would cause anyone to raise an eyebrow. It's not until you get down to the Vezina Memorabilia inserts that the red flag goes up. Brian Price, president of Be A Player, purchased a pair of pads worn by original Hall of Fame goalie Georges Vezina when he played 325 consecutive games for the Montreal Canadiens. The conflict is that these pads are believed to be the only pair he used in his career!
For a recent article on ESPN.com, Price was quoted as claiming that his mail has been as much as 10 to 1 in favor of cutting up the pads. Who's been sending him mail? His employees? Dealers who ordered a lot of the product? I find it hard to believe that people aren't more upset. Should these pads be in the Hall of Fame? Probably, but it wasn't my money so I don't get a vote. Of course as a fan and a collector I could find my own way to protest. It's called boycotting the product.
What do you think would happen if Todd MacFarlane were to sell Mark McGwire's 70th home run ball from 1998 to Richard McWilliams at Upper Deck so they could cut it up and stick it on cards? Would collectors stand for it? I'd like to think that the product wouldn't sell, but I'm a realist and I have a feeling that people would buy first and complain later (when they don't find their Mac70 insert).
I'd like to know what you think. Is it right to cut up Georges Vezina's pads? Should we boycott the product? Feel free to post your opinions on our free forum or write to me personally.
ANDY
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