I’m on record as saying I hate ManuPatches. Well, after acquiring one of a team that I like, I’m softening my stance a bit.

Don’t get me wrong, I still dislike the idea of a ManuPatch that spells out words that have loose connections to the pictures player. I am still turned off by the idea that companies wouldn’t label the patch cards as being non-game-used. And the biggest crock of them all is the auto ManuPatch which gives you a crappy looking autograph in 99 percent of the cases.

Now here’s the twist … I added a Red Sox auto ManuPatch this weekend and I absolutely love it.

Hypocrite. Traitor. Bastard.

Yes, in some ways I suppose I am one of these. But hear me out.

Look at this card. LOOK AT IT! It’s freakin’ beautiful. There is no denying it.

That said, I’d be just as happy if the card were just a patch and there was no player attached. I don’t give  a crap that this card is signed by Dustin Richardson. I probably would have paid the same price ($10) if it were just a sewn patch.

So here’s my official stance on ManuPatches: These things can work if: 1) companies ditch the autographs; 2) make sure they are clearly marked as being replicas; 3) don’t use them to spell out dumb things like “Slugger” or “Rookie” 4) don’t make them THE main draw and 5) stop making cheap patches that are simply glued to the card.

The key to a good looking patch is for the letter to be sewn onto replica jersey material. The stuff that Topps adds to the retail basic blasters just doesn’t cut it for me.

This entry was posted on July 27, 2010 at 7:37 am and is filed under Newspaperman with tags baseball, baseball cards, Boston Red Sox, patch cards. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.