First look: 2014 ITG Past, Present and Future baseball cards
By Chris Olds | Beckett Baseball Editor
In The Game‘s next baseball product promises a bit of the past, a bit of the present and a bit of the future.
Its name says so.
The company formally revealed 2014 ITG Past, Present and Future on Tuesday, a hits-only, autograph-fueled brand that is set to arrive on April 25.
Each six-card box will include five autographed cards. A sixth card could be a memorabilia card, a graded and slabbed vintage Rookie Card of a key player, an autographed and slabbed vintage card or a cut autograph.
The new autographs here will be from a selection of past stars, current players and promising prospects. Some of the past signers will include Cal Ripken Jr., Frank Thomas, Robin Yount, Ozzie Smith, Jim Palmer, Rickey Henderson, Rod Carew, Johnny Bench, Tony Gwynn, Pedro Martinez, Pete Rose, Bob Gibson and Wade Boggs to name a few, while David Ortiz was the only present player announced. Future players will include Joey Gallo, Miguel Sano, Noah Syndergaard, Kevin Gausman and Jonathan Gray to name a few.
The autographs are signed on an “inner layer” of a three-piece card, an alternative to stickers.
Among the cut autograph subjects teased by ITG are Cy Young, Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Jackie Robinson and Joe DiMaggio to name a few.
Only 150 cases of this brand will be produced.
Chris Olds is the editor of Beckett Baseball and Beckett Sports Card Monthly magazines. Have a comment, question or idea? Send an email to him at colds@beckett.com. Follow him on Twitter by clicking here.
How are they able to include “The Bird” on Ripken’s helmet if they do not have an MLB license?
Good question. Short answer is that … they shouldn’t be able to. We’ll see if MLBP pursues the issue when it arrives.
just by looking at the first few letters in the babe ruth cut, i can tell it’s a forgery
Always wondered how much they put into verifying the authentic of those cut autos. Be a shame to send those in and have them come back unverifiable. So the made only 900 cards for this product???? That’s some short print and depending on how many cut autos and incased vintage cards this might be a good gamble.23999822 48
I need to see the “three layer autographs” in person before I can comment one way or the other, but if they look like they do in the mockups, I like it! Any idea on a price point for this?
It amazes me when apparent autograph experts weigh in whenever a product with cut signatures is about to be released. Roger, do you honestly think that a company like ITG would include a showcase autograph like Babe Ruth without some documentation behind it? I would love to own that card.
mmm this was a fun product to break
can confirm a walter Johnson cut