I really enjoy on card autos and relic cards where the material is from a specific game. What I really like about them is that there is a story a real tangible connection to a shared moment. On card autos are special to me because the player touched the card and for me, as cheesy as it might sound, I have a connection to her/him. Stickers seem so devoid of a connection for me. The same goes for a relic piece from an actual game.

I wonder why there isn't more story telling in a collectible and the "journey" it took to get to the collectors hands. My most treasured collectible is my Jackie Robinson auto. But why I treasure this is that there was a kid, Calvin who wrote in to Jackie back in 1952 asking for advice. Jackie took the time to respond and sign the card, but what was really neat for me is it came with the postcard and auto, the return envelope with the stamp from Jamaica NY and a postcard picture of Jackie.

I know today's industry is very keenly focus on a cards' value and marketing from Fanatics/Topps et al espouse a hit and its value. I strongly feel this is short sighted and that taking time to tell the story of the card and providing the history of when it was signed and where the relic came from will ultimately create this provenance that will drive value both qualitatively and quantitatively -- just takes effort and the intent.