Your take on patch cards

Guru

So a lot of the newer stuff out there, especially retail, offers you a patch card when you buy a blaster box. At first I didn't really care for the patches, but now they're starting to grow on me. The ones in 2014 Topps Update baseball are actually pretty descent. What are your thoughts? Do you like or dislike patch cards and why? Thanks!

WhiteTornado

For me it depends on the patch. There have been such a proliferation of patch cards that I like the unusual ones, like 2- or 3-color patches. The ones that really bore me to tears are plain white ones. I could see an exception if it is from an old, vintage jersey but I'm mainly talking about modern stuff. I noticed sometimes the card manufacturers get creative and they cut out parts of the card to spell out something, such as M V P, where the jersey shows under the letters. That still doesn't do much for me, especially if it's all one color.

Guru

What about the fake patches they put on cards? You know the ones with the player on it and something like "World Series MVP"?

miwlvrn

I know not that many here are familiar with soccer cards, but IMO no company has nearly as good a reputation for quality of effort as Futera, more specifically the Futera Unique line of products. If you go to their company website, their checklists will tell you for a particular card:
Total quantity of cards made
Total quantity made w/ 1 color
Total quantity made w/ 2 colors
Total quantity made w/ 3 colors
Total quantity made w/ 4 colors
Total quantity made w/ 5 colors
What the Primary color is and quantity w/ that as the primary color
What the Secondary color is and quantity w/ that as the secondary color
Break down of color combos (for example, how many of the 2-color ones are red & white vs. red & black, etc.)
Exactly what serial numbers of that card correspond with what color combos
In some cases, the manner in which the piece of memorabilia has been attached to the card

The content within the details provided by Futera varies a little bit from year to year, but overall, most of the same data is available for each year.

JasonM32

This is just my opinion.

I think that cutting up a real game worn jersey into a million little pieces is criminal. There is only so many real game worn jerseys left in the world from some of the legendary players yet every year card companies keep churning the patch cards out. Destroying historic artifacts. Then you factor in that a lot of the patches aren't real. The cards look cool but it's a bad thing all the way around.

Meatloaf

I enjoy the modern auto insert cards, but detest the patch cards....mostly because the patch cards are constructed poorly and the companies have poor quality control. The cards, when pack pulled, are generally damaged with bent corners, serious edge chipping, serious surface problems where the jersey is exposed, etc. If these flaws were collected, I may have more interest.

Stingray

Gotta love the fake made patches by Topps!!

TheMick6

I am posting this only in response to the question and I say that because realize some collectors really enjoy these cards but I for one hate them with a passion. Having stated that I know some younger collectors could care less about vintage stuff. To each his own.

WhiteTornado

<< <i>What about the fake patches they put on cards? You know the ones with the player on it and something like "World Series MVP"? >>



I only collect football, but I know what you mean. I've seen ones with "2008 Pro Bowl" on it. Those are a bit cheesy to me.

Also, I'm sure they use many loopholes to consider a jersey eligible. There's a video, maybe a few years old by now, and they show some football players and some kind of card company-sponsored signing process. One guy is walking around with something like 10-15 jerseys on, just to meet the legal definition. So, really, I don't put much faith that what I'm getting really was used in an actual game (maybe used to wipe off some sweat??). I just collect those for fun and probably wouldn't ever spend big bucks on one.

Tabe

I'm not crazy about patches from vintage jerseys because of the limited supply. But modern jerseys? Love them. The players go through dozens of jerseys per year so I have no problem with them. I am working on a patch set from 2001 Pacific Atomic football right now, in fact. Love the 3 and 4-color patches!

yankeesman

I may be wrong but I believe the OP was referring to the "manufactured" patch cards that particularly Topps has started inserting the last several years. I myself am not a huge fan of them but some are neat. They had one a year or so ago that had manufactured nameplates that were pretty cool looking.

Guru

<< <i>I may be wrong but I believe the OP was referring to the "manufactured" patch cards that particularly Topps has started inserting the last several years. I myself am not a huge fan of them but some are neat. They had one a year or so ago that had manufactured nameplates that were pretty cool looking. >>



+1

BLUEJAYWAY

Just another aspect of the diversity offered in collecting. No different then from years past with embossed,decals,stamps,deckle edged offerings from Topps. Breaks up the humdrum of just collecting base sets. Long as you don't go overboard on cost you can add diversity to your collection. I like them.