On-card vs. sticker autos: binders will be lighter in 2012.

Why do collectors enjoy Through the Mail (TTM) autographs on baseball cards? Because the result, though not certified, is NOT A STICKER. Why does everyone happily converge on a set that includes on-card autographs, such as 2009 Goodwin Champions, even if most of the autographs in the set are players just slightly more well known than Aunt Tillie? Because the signatures are on-card. Why do eBay auctioneers specify "on-card auto" when they want to seek top dollar? Four syllables: not a sticker. How would a refractor look with a sticker slammed onto it? Not good! Why do collectors love vintage autos, even ones in ballpoint pen? Word! Stickers weren't even invented yet. In fact, we believe the Maya were not referring to all of humanity coming to an end in 2012; they were referring only to STICKER AUTOGRAPHS on baseball cards. Doesn't make sense for civilization to encourage sticker autos to continue existing. There can be no logical argument made for cards that depict players who probably have never even seen the card their sticker is being affixed to.

You'll see: binders will be lighter in 2012.

We're not sure sticker autos can ever have personal stories, either.

Among the most compelling on-card autographs are those presented on Allen & Ginter cards, because they're designed well, they incorporate retro perfectly with modern preferences, and unerringly depict players we kinda like.

Not sure exactly how cut autos fit into all this...except why should cut autos even exist of modern players? They may be better than stickers, but are NOT as good as on-card. Unless we're talking Babe Ruth.

Also, as you may know if you've been reading Dinged Corners for a while, we love the unassuming yet snazzy Nabisco autographs. Maybe even adore. (We're still seeking Catfish Hunter.) Those in fact may be our favorite on-card autographs of all time. And you can still get them--of players such as Ernie Banks or Don Drysdale--on eBay for a relative song. Another favorite are the Topps Heritage on-card autographs by players from the past. These are wonderful looking cards, with perfect autos...the only sticker involved here is a tiny certified auto sticker on the back. These are more expensive to collect, though. We happened to get this one in a repack pack:

Now that we've definitively and for all time cleared up the sticker vs. on-card question, we need to know, What are your three favorite on-card autos? TTM, in person, certified, whatever...as long as they are on-card. In anticipation of your responses, we declare this ACTUAL AUTOGRAPHS WEEK! Or at least Actual Autographs Wednesday.

Leave a link (or send an email photo of your fave and we'll post it). You truly never fail to amaze, so we're anxious to see the results! It takes a village to make a great post. Also, if you must, you may confess one exception to the absolute 'On-Card Autos Rule' Rule. In our case, predictably, it's David: Although if push came to shove, this on-card David may be the one we take to the desert island:

So please tell us your favorite on-card autos--your top three--and remember, although you are allowed ONE sticker exception, that sticker auto better be awesome and, if possible, have a story, to make up for its pathetic, sorry little existence among your favorites.

Ichiro intermission.

This is our favorite recent baseball card depicting Ichiro Suzuki: Calm, assured, reflective. This is not a flat-brimmed-cap man.

Hard not to love the Topps Heritage cards. Also, the back of this one includes a terrifically tortured, slightly patronizing sentence fragment: "a player need not stand 6 feet tall nor boast bulging biceps to be a whiz-bang performer."

Does anyone else see the irony of Ichiro in a World War II WPA-style poster? That was not exactly a welcoming era for Japanese in America.

And a Timeline card with the little foil logo. Now back to our regularly scheduled program.

Updates and hi! lights.

We must ask you some rhetorical questions. First, is this not the cutest baseball card you've ever seen?: What? You don't assess cardboard in terms of "cute"? All right, is this not the hopiest baseball card you've ever seen? Derek Jeter with his usual ballpark face talking to David Wright, capless, looking into the sun, gearing up for what will be an enjoyable WBC series. Little does David know that he should greatly enjoy these Team USA games, because they will be the last success he knows this season. Ahead of him: stinky Mettiness and a concussion. DJ, on the other hand, has everything good ahead of him, including a World Series victory.

JD's Wild Cardz sent us this awesome array. Here's another season precursor:
David Wright's soon-to-be smashed head bows before Jeter and Victorino. This 2009 Topps Updates and Highlights card may in fact depict the highlight of David's season.

As we've noted before, the Topps base set this year, including U&H, was overall quite pleasing. We've seen the 2010 previews and don't like them quite as much. At least, that's what we think until we see them in person. Here we have Jeremy puttin' on the bunt.

Topps Chrome! Love it! Shiny! KISS: Keep It Simple & Shiny.

On the leftermost Topps card we have Albert Pujols in the Home Run Derby, not hitting; on the right, we have Albert possibly hitting a home run. Prince Albert is not in the top ten Baseball Moneymakers, you know. But AJ Burnett is! Eww!
Ken RC.

And herewith, a mess of Santanas, with the best being the Topps All-Star Game insert.By the way, here's a detail from the Santana 2008 Sweet Spot. Why is that fellow with the ill-fitting pants standing in the bullpen? Note to Topps: as a rule, using UPC symbols as a premier design element for a card is not the best idea in the world. Also, the graphics on the bottom are awful. UD Icons, the David Wright squat--with no tongue sticking out. An unusual shot. We tend not to like cards with the actual background removed, but make an enthusiastic exception here.

The 2009 Ballpark cards are really handsome. The bottom graphic may cover too much photo and resemble a tombstone, but that's strangely fitting when it comes to our Mets.

Thank you, Mike!

Behold the awesomeness of card backs.

We received these cards from the unassuming yet dazzling Stats on the Back (his blog has been especially cookin' with oil of late). He charmingly referred to the cards he sent as a "Dinged Corners deposit," which may mean "find something to post about, for heaven's sake," in a gentlemanly sort of way. We couldn't agree more. We truly like to inspect the backs of cards from Stats on the Back because we suspect he is quite aware of backquirks. We begin with what may be the only use of the word "fabulous" on the back of a baseball card in the history of mankind. The lucky descriptee is Ralph Garr:and herewith we present the full fabulousity:

Such word choice is only one of a trillion reasons why 1972 Topps is king of baseball cards. Mr. Stats also included several leaders cards, and they are, well, FABULOUS:

There's Ralph Garr again! Six degrees of Ralph Garr! And that must be Glenn Beck before he got his dopey cable show. Oh wait, that's Glenn BeckERT, never mind.

Here is Joe Torre Part Two:

He has that casual placement of bat on shoulder thang going on. Mr. Stargell, meanwhile, is wielding a bat in a most unusual way, possibly because he is distracted by wearing two hats that are both small. And then, as a casual PS, why, there's Hank Aaron. Also, you want fabulous? We'll show you fabulous:

Very generous and much appreciated, Mr. S. Thank you also for two additional cards that have a lot of excellent back-ness:

These Game Face Gear cards, besides being designed by Martians, are as thick as a door. They even cast their own shadows, as you can see along the bottom. This jersey card is interesting for two reasons. One, it emphasizes Mr. Zito's choice of the number 75, which he likes because it's flat on top, like a table, so his last name looks good sitting on it when he wears his uniform. We are not making this up.And then there's The Back. You see the text here? No equivocation! Refreshingly direct language! Barry Zito WORE this jersey bit in an official Oakland Athletics MLB game, buster. Oh, for those days back in 2003, when we were young and hopeful, and jersey bits were jersey bits and not unwanted bat boy undertogs.Finally, here is Kimera. At first we thought Mr. Back may have chosen this because it's a smile card, although we're actually not all that sure whether Mr. Bartee is smiling or grimacing while saying "someone please call the police!" between his gritted teeth because he's frightened of the guy, apparently Charlie Sheen, who has grabbed his mug.

But it turns out the real reason this is an excellent card is because there is nary a dot of space left on the back; instead, we are presented with a sea of stats, tremendous text, lots of logos, a sampling of symbols, a nattering of numbers, some superfine print, and stacks and stacks of more stats. On the back.

Thank you so much, Mark. Love 'em.

Boo. [this post rated R]

This is the card you get when you send a TTM to any of the Phillies. They are actually signed, not autopenned, and in our world of vague hopefulness, we choose to believe the players sign them, not assistants. They thoughtfully return the card you send, also. Sometimes you get a note. At least, that was true last year, back when we had the wherewithal and time to send out Lucy's letters. We've always liked Chase Utley, in part because he's a talented player and in part because we get to call him "Boo" thanks to this fantastic YouTube video. Foul language ahead, we should warn, in case your faithful kid is sitting at your side right now.




We also like this ubiquitous A&G of Boo, with that focused "I'm going to hit it out of the park" look he gets. He certainly has kept that promise in this World Series.

Speaking of which, hasn't this been a great World Series? We're watching every minute. That's why this is such a short post. And although we've even enjoyed some of the Yankee action--I mean, come on, they've played really well--right now we just want to get rid of that nasty looking AJ Burnett and cheer for the cool Cliff Lee.

2009 Topps with the greatest of ease.

We were the lucky recipients of a package from the highly readable and well-tempered Hamiltonian blog. When it comes right down to it, this year's base Topps design is really pretty darned nice, isn't it? There's some excellent midair moment action in there, too:

That capless Kapler is neat.

On the one hand, this is a great midair moment card. On the other, it's not the nicest shot of Mr. Langerhans, unless he doesn't mind Goofy Expression Cards of Self.

Jump, Mitch, jump! Brief UD interlude: the classic Curtis baserunning stance.

There it is again. The All-Star inserts are nice. That's a classic David batting pose, too. Ooops, his pantyline is showing. Not that we're complaining.Shane Victorino demonstrates a creaseless rear view.

Ichiro, all-business. If he played on the Yankees, would he be the most beloved, respected, terrifying player of all time?

Thank you, wonderful Hamiltonian!

Are they worth it?

2009 salary, bonuses, endorsements, as compiled by The Daily Beast:

1. Alex Rodriguez - $34,500,000:

2. Derek Jeter - $24,000,000:

3. CC Sabathia - $20,400,000:

4. Mark Texeira - $20,300,000:

5. Barry Zito - $18,800,000:

6: Carlos Lee - $18,600,000:

7. Carlos Zambrano - $17,950,000:

8. $17,900,000 - Torii Hunter:

9. A.J. Burnett - $16,700,000:

10. Ryan Howard -$16,700,000:

They aren't curing cancer. They aren't teaching your children. They aren't putting out fires. They probably aren't losing sleep over worry about health care for their families, or mortgage payments. Are they worth the money they make?

The anti-card from Topps.

1989 Bowman baseball cards were 2.5" x 3.75", a mere .25" too big, and it's an outrage whenever you get one. Right? Nary a binder or sleeve or toploader wants anything to do with them. So here's an idea. Let's produce screen prints of baseball cards that are 17" by 21"! Based on the 2009 Updates & Highlights Baseball Propaganda Inserts set, whatever that is, the Topps online store is offering, at a mere sixty dollars a pop, screen prints of a bunch of players (numbered to 200). Such as Joe:
David:

There's the artist, Chris Speakman, at work: Josh:

Tim:

Ichiro:

Chippah:

Now, if these were 2.5" x 3.5", we'd talk turkey! But as it is, please file these humongo card art things under "We Don't Get It." Hm, we wonder if this is how people feel when they find out we collect baseball cards.