Friday, February 20, 2009

Is This What I Should Expect?

As I work my way back into baseball card collecting, I have been picking up some jersey and autograph cards. These were not around when I left the hobby years ago and I think they are interesting pieces to add to my collection.



I recently purchased this Alfonso Soriano 2009 Upper Deck dual jersey card off ebay. It looked like a nice Cubs card to add to my 2009 Upper Deck team set. But then the card came and I got a good look at it, and it has left me scratching my head? Is this what I should expect with these types of cards?

Here is the problem:

You look at the card and say, great, a nice card of a Cubs star. Its got the Cubs logo and Soriano is in a Cubs batting helmet.

But look closer at the helmet. That's not a red C on the front. It is a white T. He is wearing a Rangers helmet.



Now look at the back. There is the full picture, Soriano in a Texas Ranger uniform. A picture from at least 2005, his last year in Texas, or even earlier. Why would Upper Deck use a picture from 2005 when he has been with the Cubs the past two seasons (plus a stop in Washington in 2006) .



Then it hits me...the jersey swatch must be from a Rangers uniform. Would that be a correct assumption? If so, why would they use a jersey from four seasons ago, and then make the front of the card look like it is a Cubs card.

Then I went back and looked at another card got off ebay, this time a Rich Harden jersey card. Crap, he's wearing an A's uniform. The card hasn't come yet, but its looking like I can add an A's jersey to my collection, too



I feel duped. As a Cubs collector, a Soriano Rangers jersey and a Harden A's jersey don't mean a whole lot to me. Is this what I can expect from more of these cards? It never occured to me that the players's jersey would be from a different team than logo shown on the front of the card? If it has a Cubs logo, shouldn't it be from a Cubs jersey?

Please leave a comment and tell me what you think.

4 comments:

  1. I believe there are rules in place where you have to have the player pictured in the teams jersey that you are receiving. I also think that they cannot put a a's logo on harden since he is no longer with that team - really they are just cleaning out their closets and you unfortuntly, are now the owner of ranger?as cards

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  2. I admit it's disappointing, but what do you want them to do with their leftover jersey scraps?

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  3. Welcome to Upper Deck quality control. Circa 2009.

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  4. This is why you're better off spending your money on some nice vintage cards of proven stars. When I first started back I thought relic cards were the cat's ass, but now they just bore me to death. Who even really knows if the player on the card is the same player the jersey belonged to? I just don't have much faith in them.

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