Certified autographs inside packs of trading cards is not a new concept. In fact, it has been used and overused for over two decades now. Back in 1990 when Upper Deck came up with the idea, pulling an autograph was the equivalent of winning the lottery. Today, you are guaranteed a couple of signatures per box and unless you pull something huge, it is usually worthless despite what the book value suggests.
So for as many autographs littering the trading card industry, one has to wonder who exactly is making the decisions when it comes to creating a checklist. For example: there are several different autographs and used memorabilia cards of Corey Haim and Corey Feldman out there, created by Upper Deck and Donruss … yet no one has gotten legendary producer Brian Wilson to sign a couple of stickers.
Beach Boys > The Fucking Coreys.
How about cut signatures of Hip-Hop immortals Tupac, Notorious B.I.G, and Eazy-E? Surely there are hundreds, perhaps thousands of signatures sitting around collecting dust of these three, fallen pop icons somewhere out there. It sure as hell would be a lot more significant than say, a Jeniffer Love Hewitt autograph, no? While we are on the subject, couldn’t Topps have given us an extra autograph in their Allen & Ginter brand instead of the gimmicky Invisible Man auto?
Here’s hoping Topps, Panini, and Leaf pick up the slack and start adding some more relevant autographs into their celebrity-themed products. No, I’m not asking for a Justin Bieber hair/auto card anytime soon but how about we stop cutting up Willie Aames autographs and take a drive down to Compton to find some Eazy-E cancelled checks and used clothing to cut up and insert into products.
