By: Jason Dean Martin – BBB Contributor
Twitter: @jasondeanmartin
This week’s Baseball Card of the Week is a recent release and comes from my personal collection. It’s a 2014 Jedd Gyorko Topps Museum Collection Momentous Material Laundry Tag Relic card and it is a 1-of-1. Now I know that these high-end relic cards are becoming somewhat easier to obtain but I feel like this one, and possibly others, has something that may be overlooked by some collectors.
Before I get to the point of this story, let me ask you this. How many times do we, as collectors, wish we knew what game or event that swatch embedded in our cards was actually from? I know we all remember Donruss/Playoff including pictures on the backs of the cards of the actual relics that were cut up and embedded into the cards they produced. Many times they even told us the dates in which they were used. Today, companies giving us that type of information doesn’t happen a lot. That’s why I love the card I’m showcasing this week…I know the specifics about the swatch embedded in this very card and here’s how.
Notice the MLB Authentication hologram just above the San Diego “SD” on the right side of the card? Well, those holograms include a series of numbers and letters that you can input here (http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/authentication) to find out the “who, when, where” of a particular piece of memorabilia from the MLB Authentication program. Lucky for me, when Topps cut up the Gyorko jersey that this laundry tag swatch came from, they left enough of the hologram to get a complete serial number.
Below is the information I found about my card when I entered the MLB Authentication number into the database:
Hologram number EK026870 was located in the MLB Authentication Database under GAME-USED JERSEY.
Session Product Description:
Session Name: LAD @ SD SPRING TRAINING GAME
Session Date: March 15, 2013
Autographer:
Authenticator: AUTHENTICATORS, INC.
Additional Information: JEDD GYORKO
So, as you can see, the hologram provided me with the facts about my jersey and I now know exactly when the jersey was worn, where it was worn, and who wore it.
Collectors can sometimes complain about everything that a card company does or doesn’t do. But, in this case, I am definitely applauding Topps for what they did in leaving the hologram in a readable condition. It may not have been intentional, or maybe it was. Either way, I’m a happy collector.
This piece was contributed by Jason Dean Martin. You can find him on Twitter and his personal blog at http://jasondeanmartin.weebly.com/.