Tuesday, April 3, 2012

CRAZY CARDS - The Matt Cooke Mystery

Well it's not that much of a mystery but it does have a story behind it. First I'm gonna fill you in on what I'm talking about. Years ago when I was a wee little boy my eyes were opened to the wonderful world that is eBay by my aunt. She offered to buy me any card I wanted (within reason of course). Which card did I want? Well the name that escaped my mouth was Matt Cooke.

Yes I typed it right. Matt Cooke. Why? Why you ask? Even I don't have the answer to that. My favourite player was Dan Coutier at the time and I was also a big fan of Bertuzzi. Deep inside though I must have wanted a Matt Cooke hockey card.

The card was given to me later by aunt and this is what it looked like:


Okay so it's obviously an autographed hockey card from the Stadium Club set. I don't know much about the set but after searching through my Beckett a year back or so I couldn't find an autographed Matt Cooke card that was listed. 

The back doesn't say "you have received a certified autograph of Matt Cooke" so this leads me to believe that I (or should I say my aunt) bought a TTM/IP autograph. 

If I were to go back in time, I wouldn't have bought this card. Not because it's Matt Cooke but because the fact it's most likely a TTM. TTM'ing is something that should never be sold, period. I would accept it in a trade IF I know the other person and their usual intentions with TTM's. 


I guess now the deed has been done and there is nothing left to do but enjoy it. It is the signature of an NHL right, so why not enjoy it? 

If you want a good laugh, read the write up on Cookie on the back of the card. Apparently he has a tendency to "avoid[] foolish penalties". *SIGH* How times have changed.

So what do you think about this card? Am I missing something here, is it a TTM or Certified? What are your views on buying and/or trading TTM's or IP AUTO's?

GO NUCKS GO!

5 comments:

  1. I would buy a TTM card depending on who the player was and how the card looked. Although I'm weary about picking up a card that is advertised as being signed by a player because you just don't know if it really has been. There's no certification or source.

    I'm not sure how I feel about selling - at the moment I'm a collector and not in it for the money, but who's to say years down the road I won't sell my through the mail autos. Time will tell.

    I like th card by the way; your aunt could have picked out something much worse than a hard signed auto card. I'm sure she had the best intentions and it made yur day when she handed it over to you. Cheers!

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    1. That's very true, I was a happy camper when I received it. Any autograph was an awesome autograph, I do still like it to this day.

      I guess my problem is those guys that wheel and deal cards. I don't want a card from a guy that doesn't respect the hobby. The hobby is more than pure profit, I don't want to do deals with guys that abuse their privilege of TTM.

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  2. Nothing wrong with a little Cookie love. You gotta hand it to the guy. A year ago, he was viewed as one of the dirtiest players of the game. This year...he has 19 goals, 19 assists, and only 42 total penalty minutes.

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    1. That's a good point. Good in the Cookie Monster for cleaning up his game this year.

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  3. The card is definitely a TTM or IP auto. Still a good pickup, but I'm always weary on picking up those autos.

    Cooke has had one of his best years in a while. And you gotta give him credit for that.

    Still, that card back is pretty funny knowing what we know now.

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