Upper Deck.... WTF?

Today’s “WTF?” Moment goes to Upper Deck and their Michael Jordan and LeBron James 16-autograph booklet cards. That is one booklet with 16 autographs of Michael Jordan! Jordan and LeBron’s autographs have some of the highest value in all of sports but will 16 sticker autographs equate 16x the value?

 

Upper Deck teased these images on their blog yesterday along with other images from the upcoming Exquisite Collection Basketball set scheduled to come out in two weeks.

 

My first thought, besides OVERKILL! was what if some unscrupulous person gets a hold of one of these books, removes the 16 stickers and affixes them to 16 regular Michael Jordan (or LeBron James) cards and advertises them as “Proof” or “Unreleased Test” cards. Sure it will cost them some good money upfront for the 16 signature card but if they can make significantly more back on 16 fake 1/1 cards then the ends will justify the means. Sure the autograph will have value but it is still just a sticker attached to a $5 card that you just paid thousands of dollars to add to your collection.

My second thought was, is Upper Deck liquidating its autograph sticker stock for a reason? Could Upper Deck be long for this world or are they anticipating loosing player contracts?