Hobby Fail: The Cautionary Tale of a Brother-in-Law, a Rookie Card, and a Top Loader
When it comes to sports fans connecting with their favorite athletes, the scope of stories ranges from heartwarming to downright bizarre. Recently, Topps highlighted an unforgettable tale that falls somewhere between the latter two. This story involves NHL Legend Mark Messier, a Rookie Card, a Brother-in-Law, and an autograph session that took quite an unexpected turn.
The story, shared on X via Topps, begins with a fan who entrusted their prized Mark Messier rookie card to their brother-in-law. The mission? Take the card to an autograph session hosted by Mark Messier and get it signed. It sounds simple enough, right? But the devil, as they say, is in the details, or in this case, in the execution of the request.
The tweet sums it up hilariously, stating, “Long story short, gave my Brother-in-Law a Mark Messier Rookie Card to get signed for me at an event he was hosting...and nonsense... :( :( :( Yes, he’s not a card guy, yes, we thought we gave him clear instructions… lol… at least he tried.”
No way 😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/yjg3REucvV
— Topps (@Topps) November 24, 2024
Accompanying the tweet is a photo (see above) that perfectly encapsulates the calamity. The first image shows the rookie card safely stored in a traditional top loader (a rigid plastic sleeve used to protect cards). The second image reveals the aftermath: the card untouched, but the top loader proudly bearing Mark Messier’s autograph.
Yes, the brother-in-law had Messier sign the plastic sleeve instead of the actual card.
Cue the collective groans and laughter throughout the hobby community.
This hilarious mix-up is a classic example of good intentions gone hilariously awry. For collectors, there’s a special kind of heartbreak in seeing a potentially iconic autograph missed by a technicality, especially on something as revered as the Mark Messier rookie card. But while it’s easy to chuckle (or even cringe), this tale offers an important lesson for sports card enthusiasts and memorabilia collectors alike: Be cautious about outsourcing key hobby tasks to someone unfamiliar with the nuances of collecting.
Cards, especially those of legendary athletes, hold immense value, not just from a financial perspective but from a nostalgic perspective as well. And while friends or family members may mean well, they might not understand the intricacies of the hobby, such as the difference between a top loader and the card itself, or why specific pen types and placement matter for autographs.
For hobbyists considering asking outsiders for similar favors, this is your cautionary tale. When entrusting a treasured item to someone else, double-check everything: Explain the process, provide clear instructions (maybe even a step-by-step checklist), and stress the importance of the details. Alternatively, if it’s feasible, take the task on yourself because at the end of the day, that’s probably easier for everyone.
With that said, and although the fan’s rookie card remains unsigned, the brother-in-law’s mix-up has become a humorous anecdote for the hobby. If nothing else, the tweet reminds us of the unpredictable joys and perils of collecting, and the value of keeping hobby tasks in-house whenever possible.
Bio: Matt Schilling, a lifelong sportscard collector and a proud graduate of Towson University (Class of 2006) who currently resides in Queens, New York, is one of the newest contributing authors to the Collectibles segment now featured on http://SI.com