(Today, according to most traditions, is the 12th day of Christmas. Yes, I am one of those people who plays Christmas music until the bitter end. The longer I can hold back the boredom of January, the better. But at least it's one month closer to baseball season! Time for Cardboard Appreciation. This is the 219th in a series):
While sorting through relics the other day, deciding which ones to keep and which ones to send out to folks, I came across another card item that had lost its meaning to me.
This is the 2007 Sweet Spot Signatures Chad Billingsley card that I displayed a couple of years ago after receiving it in the mail from a fellow blogger. In that post I discussed the fatal flaw of these cards, which is that the signature fades over time.
In fact, this card's signature has faded even more than from the time I posted it. Here is what it looked like then:
It might be difficult to see, but there was more of a hint of a signature in 2012 than there is now.
That's interesting to me because I thought sunlight was the main culprit in causing the signature to fade. But this card was kept in a box, near the bottom, with the lid closed, so light rarely touched it.
Anyway, when I saw the card the other day, it occurred to me all over again how utterly useless it is. It's possibly the most useless card in my collection. I appreciate receiving it, but really, if there's no autograph on this card -- which seems to have been created solely with the intent of displaying an autograph -- then why is it here?
In my downsizing frame of mind, I didn't see a reason to value it or hold on to it, except if I could find some way to get Billingsley to sign it again. I stopped doing TTM autograph requests several years ago, but this would be a chance to add meaning to a card, bring a card back to life, in fact!
Fortunately, I received a Billingsley address from Matt_F of Heartbreaking Cards and that is what I'm going to do. I will ask Chad if he will sign the card again. I'm not sure whether to request a specific kind of pen for his signature, since I don't know if it was the pen or the baseball-like surface that caused the signature to fade. A couple of other Sweet Spot sigs I have show no signs of fading.
At any rate, it's worth the shot of giving this card a purpose again.
If I am successful, I'll let you know.
While sorting through relics the other day, deciding which ones to keep and which ones to send out to folks, I came across another card item that had lost its meaning to me.
This is the 2007 Sweet Spot Signatures Chad Billingsley card that I displayed a couple of years ago after receiving it in the mail from a fellow blogger. In that post I discussed the fatal flaw of these cards, which is that the signature fades over time.
In fact, this card's signature has faded even more than from the time I posted it. Here is what it looked like then:
It might be difficult to see, but there was more of a hint of a signature in 2012 than there is now.
That's interesting to me because I thought sunlight was the main culprit in causing the signature to fade. But this card was kept in a box, near the bottom, with the lid closed, so light rarely touched it.
Anyway, when I saw the card the other day, it occurred to me all over again how utterly useless it is. It's possibly the most useless card in my collection. I appreciate receiving it, but really, if there's no autograph on this card -- which seems to have been created solely with the intent of displaying an autograph -- then why is it here?
In my downsizing frame of mind, I didn't see a reason to value it or hold on to it, except if I could find some way to get Billingsley to sign it again. I stopped doing TTM autograph requests several years ago, but this would be a chance to add meaning to a card, bring a card back to life, in fact!
Fortunately, I received a Billingsley address from Matt_F of Heartbreaking Cards and that is what I'm going to do. I will ask Chad if he will sign the card again. I'm not sure whether to request a specific kind of pen for his signature, since I don't know if it was the pen or the baseball-like surface that caused the signature to fade. A couple of other Sweet Spot sigs I have show no signs of fading.
At any rate, it's worth the shot of giving this card a purpose again.
If I am successful, I'll let you know.
Comments
I do like your idea of getting him to sign it again. What do you have to lose?