I collect autographed baseball cards, and part of the fun is trying to find the perfect one to get signed. Sometimes, though, it’s tough to find a card for a minor leaguer or an older player who was not a star. Other times, you may not know someone is at the ballpark until you get there.
The Autograph Card aims to solve that problem. Available in a variety of styles for baseball as well as other sports, The Autographed Card is a professionally-printed 2.5″ by 3.5″ card designed to be signed by an athlete or other celebrity.
On the back, there is space to fill in the name, date and other pertinent details about who signed the card. (This is very important considering the penmanship of many athletes and celebrities these days.)
I recently purchased a sample pack on eBay, and got a mix of the company’s different baseball styles. There are two that are suitable for general purposes – one featuring a baseball, the other evokes a baseball bat barrel. Another design — inspired by the 1959 Topps set — is no longer offered but is geared towards prospects. I’ll hang onto these to make use of during my ballpark trips this year.
I also received versions geared towards draft picks and Arizona Fall League players. I’ll probably use those for through-the-mail autograph requests later this year.
All of the cards look nice and should present no problem to sign. (They don’t have the high-gloss finish that most modern baseball cards use.)
My only concern is about whether players will be willing to sign them. Agents and union representatives have been advising players not to sign blank items because they might be more easily used to copy signatures and enable identity theft. I’m not sure how important a signature is for identity theft these days, but many players have taken the message to heart. I don’t know if they’ll see a difference between a mostly-white picture of a baseball and a blank index card.
To see the non-baseball styles of The Autograph Card and obtain ordering information, visit http://www.theautographcard.com
I’ve seen quite a few playes in the minors and majors that would not sign those cards because of the supposed identity theft issue.
Interesting that some players won’t sign them. I wondered about that as I was going to make a few designs of my own.
The players would not sign the cards in the post above, zman, or they would not sign blank index cards?
I’ve seen a number of players refuse to sign blank index cards.
I never know what some players will and won’t sign. I almost have always had them sign Orioles team cards from Heritage or the like if I don’t have a card of them.
Occasionally, they will say they aren’t on that picture or something, but I’ve never been flat turned down.