You Know What They Say About Imitation...

Short post today because the world is burning and I live too close to an epicenter to relax.  I need to do something to shift my focus and save my mental health, so why not blog about a problem so minor that Major League Baseball is looking to contract it?

They say imitation is the most sincere form of flattery.  With that old adage in mind, I guess I should be blushing right now:

That right there is a listing for an "ACEO Art Card," listings which often pop up in my saved Ebay searches for obscure Cubs players of the past.  For those who may not know, ACEO is shorthand for "Art Cards Editions and Originals" - basically, a blanket term for custom cards.  Much like "Broder" and it's relationship with counterfeit and unlicensed cards, ACEO has become a part of hobby lingo.

Now, I have absolutely no problem with people whipping up their own custom trading cards; after all, I create my own and share them online for the whole world to see.  In fact, I'd say that seeing other hobbyists creativity on the blogosphere and wherever else on the internet is the most fascinating part about collecting in the 21st century.  Also, while technically frowned upon due to copyright infringement and intellectual property when it comes to source photographs, mimicked designs, and intellectual property, I don't take issue with people selling their own creations either.  All in all, as long as your not marketing your custom creations as the genuine article or purposely aping Topps, Panini, Upper Deck, etc. with deceptive intent, I'd probably be more than happy to lay down a few bucks for a well-made ACEO custom.

Thus, on it's face, I shouldn't have a problem with this listing - the seller has made it abundantly clear that this card is not from the Topps printing presses.  However, the sticking point here is that I know this particular vendor didn't create this card.  And how I can be so sure that they didn't whip this up in Photoshop or InDesign?  Well.... uh...

...that's because I'm the wannabe artist.

I created this fantasy 1966 Topps pasteboard to fill in a gap in my Cubs All-Time Roster Collection.  You see Bob Raudman appeared in 16 games for the North Siders from 1966-67.  With this cuppacoffee being his only MLB action, "Shorty" never appeared on a bubblegum card, be it in a Cubs uniform or any other colored laundry.  However, I was able to dig up a potential TTM address for the former player, so I whipped up a custom to mail off in hopes of creating a piece of memorabilia worthy of my CATRC tome, to fill an otherwise un-fillable slot.

As you can tell by the image above, my mailing attempt was unsuccessful; however, it appears as though someone saw my work, even if it wasn't my intended target.  Unless I have a split personality who happens to only sell baseball cards on Ebay (and how boring that would be), I don't think this guy is selling his own work.

I'm not going to name the seller, but I will say that he has a prodigious presence on the ol' auction site.  I'll also add that he has the same, unusually combative description for every item that he lists:

"####FREE COMBINED SHIPPING BUY 1 OR 100 FOR THE SAME PRICE, INCLUDES CANADA TOO ##### THIS IS A NOVELTY CARD THAT IS CUSTOM MADE. IT HAS NO VALUE, IT IS FOR COLLECTING ONLY. IF YOU DO NOT KNOW WHAT A CUSTOM CARD IS, PLEASE BUY FROM SOMEONE ELSE. THESE CARDS ARE THE SAME SIZE AS A NORMAL CARD BUT NOT AS THICK. IF YOU WANT A THICK CARD THEN BUY FROM SOMEONE ELSE. IF YOUR GOING TO DISPLAY YOUR CARD IN A TOPLOADER, WHY DOES IT MATTER HOW THICK IT IS. IT WILL LOOK GREAT. CARDS ARE MADE ON 140LB CARD STOCK"

It's always in all caps too - that's not me editorializing.  Seems level-headed and rational.

Once again, I have no personal problems or vendetta against people selling their creations, even if it is technically against some rules.  However, this person is apparently taking images that he or she finds online, printing them out on photo paper, and selling them as their own.  THAT does rub me the wrong way.

I have to wonder just how many of these ACEO cards that they are selling are also pilfered from other corners of the internet.  Any of the above selections look familiar to anyone?

I should also note that there is a little bit of egg on this vendor's face.  As I detailed in my original post on the TTM failure, I made some critical errors on this card.  For one, Raudman's 16 games in a Cubs uniform came in the outfield, not on the mound.  In fact, I can find no record of Raudman having ever taken the mound in a professional setting.  Furthermore, the photo that I culled from the internet is actually of former Cubs catcher, Randy Bobb, not Bob Raudman. I got the wrong Bob. I have no idea what I was thinking when I created this comedy of errors.

It's quite doubtful that this person actually cares about the accuracy of the ACEO's that he's hawking, but it does make me feel a touch better that this particular piece is such a screw-up.

Bob Raudman, courtesy of the Duluth News Tribune.

Anyway, I realize that I have no legal claim to my Raudman "card' and that it was created from an image and design that I hold no intellectual property over.  Not to mention the fact that I openly shared it on the internet without so much as a watermark to stop such practices.  This situation just rubs me the wrong way and I felt compelled to rant about it just a little bit.  What better place to rant than on my baseball card blog, after all?  With everything that's going on right now, it feels good to complain about such an insignificant "problem" for a little bit.

Also, if you're in the market for true ACEO's, I recommend you stay away from listings that look like this and steer towards guys like Gary Cieradkowski and Gypsy Oak, among others.  There are plenty of talented artists out there, with a passion for baseball, who create some truly binder - nay - frame-worthy custom baseball cards that are much more worthy of your attention.

In fact, I'll have another post coming up that's dedicated to another creator whose work I recently discovered.  As a bit of a preview, I'll say that this card-tist's work covers an era of baseball that is all to often ignored by card companies and fans alike.  Keep an eye out for that Wrigley Roster Jenga post in the next few days.

In the meantime, stay safe out there.  Remember what is being protested and to mentally separate the protesters from the opportunistic agitators.  The system is rigged, brutal, and needs to be shocked - people live in daily fear, based on the color of their skin, fear that they might be killed while jogging, while entering their own home, for wearing "suspicious" clothing" and a further infuriatingly long list of other reasons. 

Hopefully, we emerge on the other side of this turmoil in a better place as a society. 

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Everytime I think the world has bottomed out, we manage to sink another level... From one runner to another, these 2.23 miles were run for a man who should be on all of our minds right now. This is the world we live in... #irunwithmaud #irunwithahmaud #justiceforahmaud

A post shared by Tony Burbatt (@burbs_is_the_word) on May 8, 2020 at 2:30pm PDT