FACEBOOK TWITTER RSS APP PODCAST Opinion & Analysis : Sutcliffe's Take SUTCLIFFE: Sports Cards Come to MMA - More Ways to Spend Your Money Without Really Trying

Apr 30, 2010 - 4:00:42 PM

By: Steve Sutcliffe, MMATorch Columnist

Geek hobbies. Whether we like to admit it or not, we all have them. Save for a few constants like video games and pro wrestling, most of my pursuits have come in phases. There was the time where every single cent of disposable income my twelve year old self could earn was spent on all things Star Wars related (and yes, this was well before the prequels; even in my teens, I could still spot an awful sci-fi movie from a million miles away).

Then there was comic books, which became more expensive week by week as the industry ignored warning signs of self-cannibalization and spat out new title after new title until it became a chore to keep up with everything. Did you know at one point, Peter Parker wasn't even recognized as the one true Spider-Man and Captain America and his friends lived in an alternate universe inside Mr. Fantastic's son's kickball? If you have no idea what the hell I'm talking about, it's all for the better, both for your own sanity and your sex life. Adjusting for inflation, I can't even begin to fathom how much cash I spent on this crap in present value dollars, although it's probably enough to make quite a significant dent in my student loans.

But perhaps the biggest money pit of all from my youth was baseball cards. I'm a child of the late 80s and early 90s, which looking back on it, was a transition period for the hobby. Card companies were beginning to expand from the traditional base sets and include a thing called insert cards, which were theoretically more valuable because they were included in only a certain number of packs. Beforehand, the most valuable cards were rookies (i.e. a player's very first card) or errors (which, through production flaws, produced mistakes like an image being reversed or a player's name spelled wrong).

Now kids could waste their parent's money in pursuit of an insert that could very well be in only one pack out a hundred, or a thousand, or even a million. Thankfully, I exited the hobby before things went batsh*t crazy and card companies started putting in game used memorabilia into the cards. You know, what better way to celebrate the historical significance of a Babe Ruth game used bat than by chopping it into a thousand tiny little pieces and putting those pieces into a thousand separate baseball cards? I've even heard rumblings that some cards have game used dirt, it's insane.

So imagine my wallet's panic (and my inner child's joy) when I stumbled upon the fact that Topps now puts out a set of UFC collectible trading cards. If this sounds at least somewhat tempting to you, be forewarned; this isn't some harmless pastime where kids innocently spend their loose change on a few packs here or there. No sir, this is a hobby where the cost can be a formidable barrier to entry.

The latest edition of the series, UFC 2010 Main Event Uncaged, comes in two Reaganomics approved editions of packs: the standard retail version available at major retailers like Target and Walmart and its more costly hobby counterpart. The difference? A retail box contains only 1 premium insert whereas a hobby box has 5 inserts, or "hits" as its known in geek-talk (as if you needed any more evidence of the eerie parallels between drug addicts and sports card enthusiasts).

And like the modernization of baseball cards, the UFC set is filled with rare inserts which become the focal point of the series: so-called "relic" cards that have pieces of the cage, fighter mats and fighter-worn t-shirts along with autographed cards that feature your favorite fighter's John Hancock, among others. The number of different inserts is so astronomical that it takes over five lines on the back of the pack to list them all.

Getting your hands on a hobby box with 24 packs and 5 guaranteed inserts is going to set you back around $150 - not exactly chump change for the semi-curious lost. I splurged for a hobby box on ebay and wound up getting around 130 of the 150 base cards, which is nearly the entire set. The base cards themselves focus on the current roster of UFC fighters (including quite a number of guys who made their organizational debut in 2009) with 10 WEC competitors thrown in for good measure. Each pack also contains one card of the more common insert series such as top 10 fights of 2009 or a fighter propaganda card with art inspired by World War II era iconography.

At the end of the day, though, it's all about the relic and autograph cards - I've read reports of grown men going to places like Walmart and Target and weighing the packs on scales to determine which ones are heavier and therefore more likely to contain an insert like a piece of the cage. Sounds like the efforts of the hopelessly addicted.

The insert pulls from my box were a mixed bag - an Amir Sadollah mat relic card isn't going to set the internet auction world on fire, and neither is an Evan Dunham autograph card, although if he beats Tyson Griffin, who knows. The very last pack of my box gave me some measure of redemption though with an autographed/relic combo Chuck Lidell card with a piece of a fighter-worn shirt, which nets anywhere from $50-$100 on the internet.

After all was said and done, I was down $150 and wound up with some pretty neat little cards that I'll wind up putting in a shoebox at the top of my closet in the hopes that one day, they'll appreciate in value and buck the trend with all the other junk I've amassed over the years. If this sounds like a bit of buyer's remorse, it isn't - just the realistic expectation that not every piece of memorabilia is going to wind up being a valuable commodity down the road.

If the MMA bubble ever bursts and we return to the dark days of the sport, these things might turn out to be some pretty looking coasters. But in the mean time, I'll be looking to buy a pack or box every now and then in the hopes of grabbing that gem mint 1 of 1 Brock Lesnar autographed, triple relic refractor Donruss Diamond king card.

Steve Sutcliffe has amassed a rather impressive collection of the "Death of Superman" issue. He is absolutely certain that he'll be able to send his kids to college off the proceeds when he sells them. Continue the facade with Steve at steve.w.sutcliffe@gmail.com.

To read more from Steve Sutcliffe, check out his section here: CLICK TO VIEW ARTICLE LISTING

ALERT: Every Tuesday night, listen to the MMATorch Livecast from 9-10:30 p.m. ET or listen now to the most recent shows by clicking here. Listen live this coming Tuesday as Jamie Penick, Rich Hansen, and Matt Pelkey discuss the latest MMA happenings. Online listen at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/mmatorch or call into the show at 646-716-8090 to either just listen or participate.