Baseball Card Not turning up on searches

[Sleepless]

I have a 1991 "The Signature Series" Cal Ripken baseball card. I've been trying to look it up but can not find it in any of the registries I've searched (including Beckett)...as the sweat beads pour down my face (it was pricey) I wonder if I am looking in the wrong place. I'm an amatuer at this after all. Does anyone have any advice as to where I should look. The collector who sold it to me won't pick up the phone (although he is still in business). And, it's slowly dawning on me that I have been had. Words of wisdom?

[RuthMayBond]

Please type out all the text on the card for us, the Signature Series sounds familiar

[Sleepless]

Happy to do so....

On the front it has a Rookie Pic of Cal Jr. (signed) and at the bottom it has the words printed: "The Signatur Series"

On the back it has a nice script as such:

2686/5000

Cal Ripken, the tallest ever to play shorstop regularly in the major leagues, may in time stand tallest of all Orioles as he breaks record after record. And, in the mid-90's he should break Lou Gehrig's record of playing 2.130 consecutive games.

He is the second player featured in teh Donruss Signature Series, personally signing during the off season, 5,000 of these specially numbered cards.

Dick Perez, the official artist for Donruss and the National Baseball Hall of Fame, created this card using a two-dimensional hologram and metallic foil.

Closing out the above write up there's an MLB emblem on the left corner and then a copywrite stating 1991 LEAF, INC. PRINTED IN U.S.A and then in the right corner after the copywrite and emblem with the words official licensee, major league official

and then again in script "The Signature Series"

That's the whole card in a nutshell.

[Mike D.]

From the info provided, I'd guess that your card might be a 1992 Donruss Elite Autograph. In 1992 (card was probably printed in 1991, and Leaf owned Donruss) Donruss had an insert set called "Elite" that were serial numbered to 10,000 cards. This was one of the first "limited edition" inserts. The price guide I'm looking at lists two cards in the set that are limited in quantity further, and are autographed. One is Ripken (limited to 5,000) and one is Rickey Henderson (limited to 7,500).

Is this your card?

http://i2.ebayimg.com/02/i/06/4c/5f/8d_1_b.JPG

If so, you see what it's going for on eBay. The latest Beckett I have (Mar/April 2005) lists the card at $125.00 - $200.00

[Sleepless]

Have I told you lately that I love you?

That's my card right there. But in 1991-2 I paid more than what it is worth.

[Mike D.]

Have I told you lately that I love you?
That's my card right there. But in 1991-2 I paid more than what it is worth.

Not shocking...cards from that era aren't worth as much now as they were when they came out...most cards from 1988-1993 were highly overproduced.

The fact that your Ripken card was such a limited insert is the only reason it holds as much value as it does now.

In general, insert cards are lousy investments, there's always something newer and cooler coming out the next year.

[Sleepless]

Not shocking...cards from that era aren't worth as much now as they were when they came out...most cards from 1988-1993 were highly overproduced.

The fact that your Ripken card was such a limited insert is the only reason it holds as much value as it does now.

In general, insert cards are lousy investments, there's always something newer and cooler coming out the next year.

I'll take that as a word to the wise now.... But then they got me..all of 19 years old and wet behind the ears. How well do misprints do? I have a few cal's that are reverse negatives and one that has his name spelled wrong. I'm still looking for them right now so I have no idea what year they were. I'm guessing they were in the 1989-1994 time frame when I was collecting. I used to have a signature Baseball but some kid is playing with it in the alley-ways of Italy somewhere. The Italians stole it from me back in 1995.

[Mike D.]

I'll take that as a word to the wise now.... But then they got me..all of 19 years old and wet behind the ears. How well do misprints do? I have a few cal's that are reverse negatives and one that has his name spelled wrong. I'm still looking for them right now so I have no idea what year they were. I'm guessing they were in the 1989-1994 time frame when I was collecting. I used to have a signature Baseball but some kid is playing with it in the alley-ways of Italy somewhere. The Italians stole it from me back in 1995.

Misprints usually aren't worth anything unless they were corrected and are preceived as rare by collectors. There are exceptions, of course, so it's worth looking.

I did a lot of my quantity card buying during the same years you did, the "overproduced" years. It was great for me back then, of course...I remember buying like 6 boxes of 1991 Donruss because they were cheap enough that a 15 year old with limited funds could do that back then. Those cards aren't worth anything now, however...and I long ago sold off them off by the thousand for next to nothing.

I still collect, but seldom buy much new stuff that comes out. I'd much rather pick up a rookie card of some Hall of Famer for $15 on eBay than pay $5 each for three packs that MIGHT contain the flavor of the month insert card. That and TTM autograph collecting are mostly what I do these days.

[the pyromaniac]

I've pretty much gotten to the point that my whole collecting focus is on TTM autographs, so when I buy packs it's all about what I think I can get signed. That's where my real enjoyment comes from now out of opening packs.

I did a lot of buying from 1988 to 1994 too, and from a financial standpoint all those cards are good for is getting autographs.