ITG Attempting To Bridge The Gap Between Sticker and On-Card Autographs

Ah!  The classic battle between sticker and on-card autographs.  It will go down as one of the biggest debates among collectors for centuries.  Both sides have their positives and negatives.  On-card autographs may be more eye appealing, but you may have to send away for it via redemption and who knows when or if you’ll ever see it.  Sticker autographs might not look quite as nice, but its better to have something in hand versus sitting back and waiting for it to show up.  Finding a happy medium hasn’t been easy.

In The Game is taking another stab at baseball with Past, Present, and Future slated to be released in late March.  At the present time, not too much is known about the product’s configuration, but Dr. Price does give collectors a little glimpse of what you’ll be able to pull.

With Past, Present, and Future, Dr. Price is trying to settle the whole sticker vs. on-card autograph battle.  When looking at these pictures, the autographs seem to be on giant clear stickers.  In reality that’s not the case.  The signatures are directly on the card.  It looks as if In The Game is getting the signers to autograph a portion of the card (about the size of a sticker) and then inserting that missing piece into the rest of the card.  Works just like a puzzle.  They kinda remind me of a camouflaged cut signature.

Collectors have sorta seen this done before.  Upper Deck tried this with 2005 UD Exquisite Football, but the signed pieces don’t blend into the rest of the card like ITG’s do.  Its refreshing to see someone at least trying to bridge the gap between sticker and on-card autographs.

I wonder if anyone has ever gotten players to sign blank stock and then designed the card around the signature?

Another Press Pass Replacement Mailday

Press Pass sent me another replacement for my Dez Bryant 2010 Press Pass autograph redemption.  This time they sent a Mike Williams 2010 autograph.  Earlier this week they sent me an Earl Campbell 2008 Press Pass Legends – Bowl Edition Top 25 autograph #’ed/75.  I think they’ve covered all their bases on this one.  I’m quite happy with my replacements.

Press Pass Replacement Mailday

Last June I busted a box of 2010 Press Pass Football, and pulled a redemption for a Dez Bryant autograph.  In January Press Pass informed me they would be mailing a replacement.  Today I received an Earl Campbell 2008 Press Pass Legends – Bowl Edition Top 25 autograph #’ed 14/75.  I think its a reasonable replacement.  I pulled three Dez Bryant autographs within the last year, and all have been redemptions.  I wish Press Pass would bring back Bowl Edition.  Those cards seem to be really popular.  Boxes yield five packs, each containing an autograph.

Nothing quite like an on-card autograph

Panini Responds To Bradford 1/1 Being Used As A Replacement

Last week there was a little uproar when collectors discovered that Panini never inserted the Sam Bradford 2010 Certified Mirror Black 1/1 Autographed NFL Logo Patch card into packs.  Instead they used it as a replacement.  This got a few collectors upset.  This afternoon Panini released the following statement concerning this issue:

“To ensure quality product in the marketplace, it is Panini America‘s practice to pull product from the production run for quality control purposes. The cards from the product pulled for QC go to Customer Service to be used to correct any problems that may occur in an individual product. Extensive efforts are made to re-introduce rare cards to the pack-out before the cards are routed to Customer Service. However, under certain, unusual circumstances, this is not possible.”

So it sounds like the Bradford was pulled during their quality control check.  I guess thats a possibility 🙂

Drama…Drama…Drama – Bradford Style

SCU and The Sports Card File are two excellent blogs.  Today, they each posted on the topic of how this Sam Bradford 2010 Panini Certified Mirror Black Quad NFL Autograph didn’t find its way into packs, and was potentially used as a replacement.  I say potentially, because all we have to go on is this message board post.

I for one think this card should have been inserted into packs seeing that its probably the biggest hit you could pull.  But if it fell into that dreaded 2%, so be it.  I’m interested to hear what Panini has to say about it.  Panini is extremely good at marketing, one of the best of all the manufacturers.  I say its a marketing strategy to get more people to talk about their products.  Lets face it, this isn’t the only Bradford one-of-one that could be pulled from Certified.  Remember, its when people stop talking that you worry 🙂

Press Pass Replacement Mailday!

The mailman just dropped of a replacement package from Press Pass.  Since I didn’t feel like waiting for my Phil Ivey autograph that was suppose to be in 2009 Main Event, I decided to settle for a replacement.  They sent me a Tony Stewart Pit Wall Banner relic #’ed/75, Jeff Burton autograph #’ed/10, and a pack of 2010 Main Event where I pulled a Danica Patrick mini Fight Card.  Thanks Press Pass!!!