12/22/24
April 28, 2004
Donruss does the right thing.: After finding a game-used jersey of Pat Tillman in one of its offices, the cardmaker has given it back to the family instead of capitalizing on the former NFL player's death by cutting it up for use in its products. Other jersey makers, however, are apparently salivating at the chance to purchase the rights to his name (further down in story), including one who is marketing Len Bias jerseys.
I dunno, Jason, but I was as guilty as the next in trying to get jersey cards there for a while. There was just something cool about holding a piece of something used in a game, whether it be jersey, pants, bat, glove, shoe, undies ... okay, I'm pushing it. What killed the market was the sheer number of cards coming out. It says in the link above that Donruss alone cuts up 4,000 gamers every four months. Four thousand! And Donruss is just one of perhaps 4-6 companies producing these cards. Heck, for a hefty price you can purchase boxes that guarantee a jersey card in each pack. Now that everyone has a thousand of them, they aren't cool and unique any longer. I myself have just gotten into collecting actual game jerseys, especially hockey. For less than the price of a box of those cards or an authentic replica (if you follow me), I can get a gamer. As for the Ruth thing, I understand Donruss's logic to some extent. Very few people will every get to own a piece of Ruth memorabilia because of scarity and price. Cutting one of his jerseys up allows probably thousands of regular folks to hold history in their hands. It also happens to drive sales of packs, which is a windfall for Donruss. They didn't count on the backlash, though, and I think they've learned their lesson — don't cut up a jersey when there are only three of them in existance.
posted by wfrazerjr at 03:12 PM on April 28, 2004
Nice gesture by Donruss, but if they were strictly about honoring Pat Tillman's memory, they wouldn't have called the media to let them know about their generous gesture.
posted by rcade at 03:37 PM on April 28, 2004
Kudos to Donruss. While it does appear they informed the media, they did the right thing. It's refreshing.
posted by sixpacker at 03:39 PM on April 28, 2004
The right thing with the jersey, that is ;)
posted by sixpacker at 03:40 PM on April 28, 2004
Nice gesture by Donruss, but if they were strictly about honoring Pat Tillman's memory, they wouldn't have called the media to let them know about their generous gesture. I agree, and from what I've read, one of the Donruss higher- ups plans on flying to San Jose to personally deliver the shirt to Tillman's family. If there are TV cameras at that encounter, then I really think Donruss is milking this.
posted by usfbull at 05:03 PM on April 28, 2004
Anyone remember the 1984 Donruss baseball set? That has dropped in price significantly.
posted by jasonspaceman at 06:31 PM on April 28, 2004
Other jersey makers, however, are apparently salivating at the chance to purchase the rights to his name I hope Tillman's family tells them to eat shit and bark at the moon, I do.
posted by lil_brown_bat at 07:39 AM on April 29, 2004
All the cards from the 80s have dropped precipitiously in price. It's the overproduction of fad cards now and the emphasis on graded cards that has helped cut the legs out of the market.
posted by wfrazerjr at 09:20 AM on April 29, 2004
Wow, usfbull. If that's true, Donruss has officially crossed the line from nice gesture to smarmy, hypocritical grandstanding. Reminds me of people who can't give money to charity without calling attention to it.
posted by rcade at 09:51 AM on April 29, 2004
I never understood the attraction of getting a piece of cut up jersey in a pack of sports cards. And why the hell would you cut up a Babe Ruth jersey?