I Pulled a 1/1 and All I Got Was This Shitty Card

Over the last couple years, the 1/1 has gone from a mystical unicorn to a burro in the eyes of many collectors – myself included. It used to be that 1/1s were reserved for the cards that everyone wished they could get, a la Babe Ruth cuts, MLB and NFL logos, sick patches and other holy grails of the hobby.


It may be an NFL logo 1/1 - but its still EVENT FUCKING USED!

Although the logo cards still have the aura of that elusive unicorn, there are now sets that function solely on either printing plate 1/1s or factory numbered 1/1s like Topps Moments and Milestones that completely ruin the fun of it all. This year, Topps Triple Threads Basketball, a product that most look forward to for the whole season, seemed to have an endless supply of worthless 1/1 jersey cards and autos. Despite a lack of LeBron, Durant, Jordan, and some other key rookies, the product sold well due to the enormous amounts of plates, 1/1s and logo cards that collectors seemed to pull at an alarming rate. This continued into 2008 Moments and Milestones where the disgusting design and 10,000 card base set promised a 1/1 every other box!! People went fucking nuts over the set last year because their chances of getting their “my first 1/1” Girl Scout patch was in their favor for once. This year, the 15,000+ 1/1s didn’t have the same price sticker they did last year on eBay, but people still wanted them for some god forsaken reason.


1 of 1 of 13,000! A collectors gem!

The way I think about it: Topps is beating the 1/1 dead horse to a pink bloody mush. Thanks.

My favorite practice in 1/1 buying trends is the eBay 1/1. Any goddamned time someone pulls a card numbered to the jersey number of a player, the college jersey number of the player, the apartment number of the player growing up, or the number of hairs on his balls, it’s an eBay 1/1. Of all these – the jersey number can command quite the price tag for the more expensive Exquisites or SPAs. I think this is fucking ridiculous and only shows that collectors are sheep in this world of making a quick buck. Hallmark created the Valentines Day hype, greedy sellers helped create the jersey number 1/1 hype. At least eBay removes listings – sometimes – when they abuse the 1/1 keyword. It has even spawned the “true 1/1” lingo just because there idiots who cant figure out that just because it’s listed as a one of a kind doesn’t mean it is. Yes, despite what you think, there are literally millions of these people who love to be taken to the cleaners.