2008 Upper Deck Ultimate Collection Barrel Autographs Bat Barrel On-Card Auto #04/15

It is difficult to come up with appropriate words for how great this card is.  To say I am completely stoked to own it is an understatement. When it came up for auction, it was one of those cards that I had never seen an example of before - ever - and I've looked at several auction sites for Fisk cards every single day for fifteen years.  With only 15 ever made and no telling how many actually in circulation, for this to come up for sale is a very rare event.  Which is to say I thought I had absolutely no chance to own it.  I put in my max bid, sighed a longing, woeful sigh, and moved on with my life.  On the day the auction closed I was stunned that I had won it.

As I've said over and over (and many of you collectors agree with me), the Upper Deck designs around this period are unparalleled.   This card is no exception.  Graphically, all the elements just work.  The horizontal orientation of the card combined with the vertical graphics is the foundation of it.  Then throw in a few contrasting horizontal lines in a matching gold color.  All of that draws your eye to the centerpiece gigantic on-barrel autograph :)  And numbered to 15?  Any collector would just say "wow".

My only knock on this card would apply to many others - the photography.  All of the companies use and re-use the same couple dozen old photographs of Fisk over and over and over.  I realize there are not an unlimited number of quality Fisk images from the 1970's.  But it sure seems as if UD and Topps especially are not going out of their way to uncover or discover any more of them.  Seems like a cost saving move to me.  Especially on high-end cards, collectors expect better.  One suggestion would be to use action shots rather than posed photos.  There would be a great deal more of them and acquiring rights to a handful of old press photos can't be that cost prohibitive.

In the case of this 2008 card, I immediately noticed that the photo is the exact same shot, albeit cropped differently, that Upper Deck used just two years later on another high-end Fisk card in the Exquisite line.  Here's a side-by-side:

2010 UD Exquisite

2008 UD Ultimate

The Exquisite is from the waist-up and this Ultimate card is head-to-toe.  But still, guys, at least put six or seven years between using the same exact file photo on a high end card.  OK, gripe over.  I'm a happy owner of this card and will display it around the house for years with pride and happiness.

2015 Topps Tribute Tribute Autographs Gold Parallel On-Card Auto #17/75 - Recalled!

When I heard about the recall of 2015 Topps Tribute I just had to have one.  For one, just for the freak show factor of owning an item that was recalled.  Two, over time they might be considered rare. For example, it is quite possible that far fewer than 75 of this series of autographs was packed out and opened.  Some were never shipped from Topps, others were returned to Topps unopened and exchanged for other products.  No telling at this juncture how many of these exist.  I would think less than 20.

As you probably know, the issue was the coating on the cards.  Topps went for an ultra-glossy look on these cards, and they do look highly glossy and really great.  Issue is that the high gloss chemical did not react well with the Sharpie ink, which resulted in smearing and poor appearing autographs.  You can see how this example had smudges on it.  Will be interesting to see if it degrades over time, although I suspect that the initial smearing is all that will happen.

I saw this one up for sale at TNT Sportscards, one of the bigger sellers on eBay.  Given that it was smudged, it didn't bring a huge price and I was able to grab it for a reasonable amount - and below what a Fisk auto in the current year would normally bring.  Fun card to own, we'll see what happens!