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Card Review: 9.4
I gave this card a 9.4. I gave the base card a 9.5. This "SSP" is allegedly on canvas stock, but I can't tell a difference between the two given it's stuck inside the BCW snap case. My eyesight has been getting a little worse every year, but I'm not blind, and I've looked pretty hard at it. If I decide to crack this thing, maybe it will feel different to the touch. So I dinged it a tenth of a point for the confusion it caused me.
These "SSP" whatever that's supposed to mean (Super Short Print, okay Topps) come one to a box, albeit, only to "Collector's Edition" boxes. They're not in "Single Boxes." There are no shortage of ridiculous gimmicks and ripoffs in the hobby today, but the different types of boxes is probably in my top three (behind the disappearance of gum and grading slabs. The mainstream acceptance of autographs on cards still also baffles me). The pack some kid buys in Target should be the same one Simpson's Comic Book guy buys in a shop. If these shiny inserts and sharpie damaged cards are actually desirable and what makes modern collecting "fun," wouldn't making the more accessible packs "better" draw in more people? Admittedly, I'm just a guy in his 40's still complaining about gum, so what do I know.
I'll probably leave this card imprisoned in this case until another one comes my way, but for now they're still being listed at north of ten bucks, and this feels like more of a "I'll give you a buck and the cost of shipping sort of card" (which is what this one cost me). I have no problem opening PSA slabs (figuratively I have no problem, literally they're a pain in the ass to open), but that's because PSA is just some dudes in a office somewhere and nothing "official." This case is actually made by Topps, which gives it at least a small air of legitimacy. So it may be awhile before my desire to page this in my Wallach binder outweighs my misgivings about tampering with a Topps seal. If it happens, I'll update on what I find inside.
Number of this card in my collection: 1
I have a bunch of Topps Archives buyback signatures that come in these cases with Topps stickers. Was debating on busting them out to save room, but haven't pulled the trigger yet. It's a tough call, because once you take it out... there's not putting it back in.
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