General Forum

OK class, here is your summer assignment.   What makes a card autographable.  To narrow this down, I chose Alan Trammell as the example (seems there are a lot of Tigers fans here).   Look at his cards between 1978-1997 and tell me which card  of his you would take for an autograph (you are allowed only one) and why.   I was going to choose a pitcher but realized most pitcher poses are the same, either a head shot or delivery.  Position players have a few more variations.    Have a nice summer.

I go with 1985 Topps Super.  It's big.  It's not a close-up of his face.  It has a light background so the ink will show up.  There would be plenty of room to write without covering his face or the printed words on the card.  And there is no facsimile autograph already present.

A nice big blank spot on it helps make it "autographable". I looked at Trammell's cards and saw plenty that fit that - but most were too "busy". The signature would get lost.

Someone from that silly flawed league, but oh well since you asked.

1991 Bowman 154, no fake auto already, a cheap mass produced card because getting a rare card, or item autographed is a shame. Also decent photo, with plenty of room for it, and the surface of the card should accept most ink fairly well.

I like Trammell a lot, so this got me interested.  As for what makes it autographable, I agree, it can't be a real busy design and has to have some open space (an area so the autograph won't cover the face).  Personally I prefer faces on autograph cards, but as long as the player doesn't have his back toward the shot its fine.

As for the card, I pick 1991 Score #852.  It was a FRANCHISE card, and its a head shot, but its zoomed back enough so there is some space under his face that also won't disrupt the writing on the card either.  The risk is that it is a bit glossier than the cards from the 80's but not as bad as current products, so the signature shouldn't smudge.

Personally, I have never understood why anyone would want to get a regular card autographed. Why would you want some writing over the picture? Back in the day before they issued autographed cards, which have space for the autograph already built into the design (usually), I could understand it then- it was your only option- but now, it just seems silly to me. In my life I've only ever sent one card out requesting an autograph (never got it back) and even then I only did it because it was a school project and we HAD to.

I like getting cards signed in person, and have several that way. It's a great way to remember how I was able to interact with these guys. I have a couple great stories about chatting with Pat Combs (Phillies pitcher) and Brook Fordyce (Mets catcher) back in the early 1990s. And I have the signed cards.

I didn't take that into account. Being unable to do much traveling I have not met too many people. I've met, I believe, only 5 people with a PID on here. All at Orange County Fair Speedway.

I think these turned out OK.  The 90 Fleer does get lost, but the other 3 would have been near perfect if the signature was a little lower.

 I actually prefer the 1990 Fleer.   I like the Blue Shapie.   To me it stands out better.