http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/501111p-422573c.html
Picture
It's hard to Topps this one: The card company has issued a Derek Jeter baseball card with a smiling President Bush in the stands.
But there's something very wrong with that picture: Bush wasn't really at the game that day.
A not-so-careful analysis of the card makes it clear that Bush was digitally superimposed - his right arm extended in a waving motion and his left arm seemingly missing.
The mischievous elves at Topps then played another version of Where's Waldo - sticking a picture of Mickey Mantle in the dugout.
The Mick is depicted in uniform, holding a bat as though he were back from the dead and preparing to pinch hit.
"Somewhere in between the final proofing and its printing, someone at our company - and we won't name names - thought it would be funny to put in Bush and Mantle," said Clay Luraschi, a spokesman for Topps.
When the cards were proofread, Luraschi said, "We couldn't do anything but laugh.
"Okay, it's in the set and it's funny," Luraschi conceded. "It's caused quite a stir."
Jeter's card, No. 40 in the set, instantly becomes part of the card-collecting hobby's "long tradition of silly little error cards or odd prints that have taken on a lot of mileage in hobby lore," said T.S. O'Connell, the editor of Sports Collector's Digest, a 33-year-old weekly publication.
"For collectors, there's a real giggle factor for something like that," O'Connell said.
It's possible the Jeter card could join cards such as the 1969 Topps Aurelio Rodriguez, which features a photo of a bat boy instead of the Angels infielder, and the 1989 Fleer Billy Ripken, which showed Cal Ripken's little brother holding a bat that had an obscenity scrawled on the handle, as hobby icons.
Of course, as O'Connell says, printing the wacky card is also "benign guerrilla marketing, however it was done, accident or otherwise."
Alex Gregg, owner of Alex's MVP Cards on the upper East Side, said the images of Bush and Mantle could slightly bump up the value of the Jeter card; the card's currently going for about $2 on eBay.
If a collector got both Jeter and Bush to autograph the card, it could send the value skyrocketing, Gregg said.
"It could be worth $500. Who knows?" Gregg said.
While the card has made news in the card collectors' world, Jeter is apparently in the dark.
Asked about the card, Jeter said, "Oh yeah? I haven't heard anything about it. I have no idea."
Luraschi said Topps hasn't heard anything from the Bush administration about the card - even though using the likeness of Bush for a commercial enterprise requires the White House's permission.
A White House spokesman would only say, "I'll decline to comment at this point."
It's unclear whether the card will ever be corrected - Luraschi said a decision hasn't been made whether to erase Bush and Mantle in the cards that will be sold as part of complete sets.
"I'm not sure George has seen the card," Luraschi said. "I'd be happy to send him a box."
Picture
It's hard to Topps this one: The card company has issued a Derek Jeter baseball card with a smiling President Bush in the stands.
But there's something very wrong with that picture: Bush wasn't really at the game that day.
A not-so-careful analysis of the card makes it clear that Bush was digitally superimposed - his right arm extended in a waving motion and his left arm seemingly missing.
The mischievous elves at Topps then played another version of Where's Waldo - sticking a picture of Mickey Mantle in the dugout.
The Mick is depicted in uniform, holding a bat as though he were back from the dead and preparing to pinch hit.
"Somewhere in between the final proofing and its printing, someone at our company - and we won't name names - thought it would be funny to put in Bush and Mantle," said Clay Luraschi, a spokesman for Topps.
When the cards were proofread, Luraschi said, "We couldn't do anything but laugh.
"Okay, it's in the set and it's funny," Luraschi conceded. "It's caused quite a stir."
Jeter's card, No. 40 in the set, instantly becomes part of the card-collecting hobby's "long tradition of silly little error cards or odd prints that have taken on a lot of mileage in hobby lore," said T.S. O'Connell, the editor of Sports Collector's Digest, a 33-year-old weekly publication.
"For collectors, there's a real giggle factor for something like that," O'Connell said.
It's possible the Jeter card could join cards such as the 1969 Topps Aurelio Rodriguez, which features a photo of a bat boy instead of the Angels infielder, and the 1989 Fleer Billy Ripken, which showed Cal Ripken's little brother holding a bat that had an obscenity scrawled on the handle, as hobby icons.
Of course, as O'Connell says, printing the wacky card is also "benign guerrilla marketing, however it was done, accident or otherwise."
Alex Gregg, owner of Alex's MVP Cards on the upper East Side, said the images of Bush and Mantle could slightly bump up the value of the Jeter card; the card's currently going for about $2 on eBay.
If a collector got both Jeter and Bush to autograph the card, it could send the value skyrocketing, Gregg said.
"It could be worth $500. Who knows?" Gregg said.
While the card has made news in the card collectors' world, Jeter is apparently in the dark.
Asked about the card, Jeter said, "Oh yeah? I haven't heard anything about it. I have no idea."
Luraschi said Topps hasn't heard anything from the Bush administration about the card - even though using the likeness of Bush for a commercial enterprise requires the White House's permission.
A White House spokesman would only say, "I'll decline to comment at this point."
It's unclear whether the card will ever be corrected - Luraschi said a decision hasn't been made whether to erase Bush and Mantle in the cards that will be sold as part of complete sets.
"I'm not sure George has seen the card," Luraschi said. "I'd be happy to send him a box."
By the way, who's the idiot that thought this wouldn't get caught? (unless it was intentional to bump sales). I mean the entire crowd and dugout are out of focus and W and Mickey are just as crisp as the action in the foreground.
