Would you pay more for Yu Darvish’s other auto?
By Chris Olds | Beckett Baseball Editor
It’s no secret that Yu Darvish‘s autographs are among the hottest cards for this year’s rookie class in MLB, but Topps has teased a different twist for the Japanese star’s latest autographs arrving via redemptions in the recently released Tier One.
The Texas Rangers ace signed a small number of cards using Japanese characters, or kanji, according to images teased by the company. (Need a Darvish checklist or OPG? Click here.)
How many were signed this way? Topps did not say … so we want to know how much would you pay for a card like this?
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Chris Olds is the editor of Beckett Baseball magazine. Have a comment, question or idea? Send an email to him at colds@beckett.com. Follow him on Twitter by clicking here.
that is one sweet auto right there.
I would think it would be 2x more or so. It is cool. I was at a Phillies-Red Sox game in Philly a few seasons ago and there were a fair number of Red Sox fans there for batting practice. A Red Sox father and son had a ball to be autographed and they tossed it to Hideki Okijama (Japanese relief pitcher for the Sox). He signed it in kanji and tossed it back to the father/son. I thought that was very cool!!
You left out one option … “I’d pay the same”
I guess if he normally signs either way, then the signatures are equally valuable. RIght?
Maybe if Babe Ruth was taught to sign his name in Japanese and there was a ball, and it was verifired and documented and was the only one signed by The Babe …. well, then I’d expect to pay more for the uniqueness of that. But Darvish is young, in realatively good shape :) and can autograph in kanji for the rest of his life. I just don’t think it’s all THAT unique.
Just my opinion,
Mitch J
Mitch, I would disagree, its a great looking auto and kanji takes a lot of time. So when he is signing for fans before the game, or signing Hundreds of autos at once for Topps, he will likely go with the easier auto. There will be quite a few Kanji autos out there in the future but the vast majority will be the traditional auto.
its nice but i wouldn’t pay more for it, a signature is a signature no matter what language
Afff: Difference here is that he’s definitely signing fewer in this style. Rarer = more demand?
This really isn’t new. In 2009 Upperdeck Sp Authentic Kenshin Kawakami signed in both english and japanese. Not sure how many were signed this way but it was never reflected in the price guide.
Wow, is this the card from their top tier auto series, I thought it is suppose to be number to 99 or less ?
It is one sweet auto thou.
Brandon: There is absolutely no historic context mentioned in this story. Yes, other players have signed like this. This one’s all about Darvish and asking what do you do since he’s very in-demand at the moment.
I think if people are willing to pay more for a card because the serial number matches the jersey number (supposed 1/1) then it will definitely be more valuable if it not only matches jersey number but also has a distinctive and 1/1 type auto. Seems like he only does this on cards serial numbered as 11/**.,I don’t think I would pay more but I will bet that with enough publicity you can find someone who will pay considerably more.