I've been silent lately, but I've been thinking. Is there anything more beautiful than a miscut baseball card?
As collectors, we expect certain things from card manufacturers. One is that their design and photography departments are competent enough to create cards that we will want to collect. Another expectation is that the card-cutting machinery at their printing plants work correctly. Because without proper framing, we're just collecting cardboard rectangles.
As collectors, we bring a lot to the table in our understanding of how to read a baseball card. When a card is miscut, it's no longer a card in the most traditional sense. It lacks focus, a subject, or even proper boundaries. Our approach to reading it is thrown off.
A miscut card is cast aside as a goof with no real value. And while I won't argue the monetary value aspect, I've come to appreciate miscut cards as art, and worthy additions to my collection. And the best part? Every set ever produced has had miscut cards—it's part of the printing and cutting process—so there examples out there from almost any set you can think of. A definite boon for the miscut collector.
I spent years in the printing industry, Most severe miscuts like your Labine are actually some of the first cards off the press. Probably should have been picked out and thrown away. When the cutting process begings, the Die Cutter machines are fed sheets slowly while the registration is adjusted. When the cut is precisely where it should be, they crank up the speed and the cards fly out the other end into a stacker to be sent off for packing.
ReplyDeleteThat is why you can pretty much find key cards and know you have a key card coming up in X number of cards. There was one key card in the 1983 Topps vending boxes that was 23 cards before the Ryne Sandberg RC. Can't remember who it was, been so long since I opened a VB of 1983s.
When you pull a Gem Mint or Mint card from an older pack, it has truly survived a wild ride to get to the wax or box you are opening.
Let me know when you want cards that ae written on. In 1982 I was 12 and my little sister was 10, I have about 8 Ripken RCs with hearts drawn around Cal's face. Compliments of my sister and her crush on Cal.
How much would a miscut bo jackson 1987 fleer be? It has his photo yet on the back it has mcclure who is a pitcher. I doubt it is worth anything.
DeleteWhile entering my cards into my database I've run across a few miscuts. When the cuts are so bad that you can't make out the number on the back I almost always have it written there.
ReplyDeleteI love the fact that as a kid I valued my miscut cards enough to go to the trouble of looking up their number so that they could be properly filed instead of just tossing them or putting them in my spokes.
Expect an email from me shortly.
I've actually got a miscut Steve Lake card from something like 1991 Donruss that was a truly epic miscut - it's cut on a diagonal at the top and bottom, making it look almost like a rhombus. I'd offer it to you except I'm not sure where it is right now and the corners are pretty heavily dinged owing to years of having to accommodate it in card holders that had no idea what to do with a card of that shape.
ReplyDeleteI've actually started collecting miscuts myself. I agree that they are truly works of art themselves. So watch out, you've got competition, bwahahahaha!
ReplyDeletei have a stan musial caed that is a miss cut some won wont it for $200.oo got 30.oo thts is all some to no thack for doing this baseball blog it was all some
ReplyDeleteI just found a '81 donruss Darrell Jackson with half his name cut off the bottom and a Greg Minton same way
ReplyDeleteI have a miscut Mark McGwire 1984 Topps RC that's in great condition. I've been trying to figure out the value of it with no luck. Any help would be appreciated.
ReplyDeleteI have a ton of Pete Rose miscuts. I've been trying to look at the value of them and of they are desirable. They are in awesome condition
ReplyDeleteI have several miscut cards from the 60's/70'/80s
ReplyDeleteI have a Fleer91 card that has Nolan Ryan on the front but Dan Plesac on the back.
ReplyDeleteI have a 1975 Hank Aaron near mint -mint miscut at Brewers heading. I think it's ordinarily most valuable in the set. Can you help? thanks heaps!
ReplyDeleteI think I have a 1/1 miscut/error card. Its only slightly mis cut on the sides and it's an Alex Rodriguez All Naturals card from Pinnacle. Weird thing is (error) you see a ghost like figure behind him in a sox uniform and disappears from the chest up. Anyone know what this card would be worth?
ReplyDeleteI have a slight miscut error card of Alex Rodriguez. It's a pinnacle card and it's his All Naturals card..behind him a ghostly figure is seen in a white sox uniform but fades out from the chest up... Besides the sides being slightly miscut and the ghost figure the card looks fine. Anyone know what it'd be worth?
ReplyDeleteI have some this one is 1970 national league RBI leaders Johnny Bench,tony perex,billy Williams. Card #64
ReplyDeleteHello. How much would a 1972 Topps Roberto Clemente PSA 9(MC) bring?
ReplyDeleteI have maybe 40 Pete Rose cards that are black an white some of thin collar.most of them no names but some on the back which has two or3 cards printed on the backs. I have 100s of Pete rose cards but I've never seen any like these anywhere
ReplyDeleteI have a 1973 Rollie Fingers baseball card that is a factory misprint. Anyone know the worth?
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