Card-ography #7 – Jorge Soler

Welcome to Part 7.  I’m doing a terrible job of showing off all of my autograph cards with any sort of regularity.  People like the flashy stuff, right?  Well, it’s not going to get much flashier than the example we have today.  Jorge Soler has been suffering injuries since his transition into the Royals staff, but I’m still hoping he can come back healthy and start producing the way I think he’s capable.

Even after having a hand in the case-breaking world, Autographed cards still fascinate me.  Allow me to explain with this series introduction from the early days of the blog.  To see the other parts of the series, click on the “Card-ography” tag at the bottom.

Now that I’m back into collecting, one of the biggest surprises greeting me at the door was that signatures on cardboard (or on stickers placed on cardboard) are now a regular part of the hobby.  In fact, it’s basically expected at this point.  I know there are plenty of people who feel that if their box doesn’t have an auto – or even the RIGHT auto – then it’s a waste of money.  Hell, I’m still not completely jaded by relics, so I can’t understand this theory.
I know that most of the autos aren’t all that valuable, but seeing that blue, red, and sometimes black ink on a card in your hands still holds significance to me.  It still makes for some of the most enjoyable moments in collecting.
That’s why I’m starting a series that will analyze the signatures we see.  It’s common to see people lump them into “good” and “bad” categories, but I want to take it farther than that.  This player took the time to sign your card (although some of them don’t take tons of time).  I’m going to take the time to inspect it.

A lot going on here

This card came from a box I bought on Black Friday. I was lucky enough to land this blue mojo (I think that’s what they call it) thing #/75.  From this product, there are still 5 other autograph parallels remaining.

Literal:
If you didn’t know his name, what would you think this said?  “= Eulen”

Style points:
I dig it.  You have the dynamic lines that are supposed to make up the “J” followed by more of a finessed last name.  Plenty of visual interest.

Space Usage:
He has room to include his full first name, if he wanted to, but vertically, he takes full advantage of the space given.  I have other examples of his as well where he expands the height when given the opportunity.

Laziness:
I don’t see laziness here, even with only the first initial.  It’s clearly a style choice and the effort seems pretty evident to me.

Intangibles:
This card is very busy, and there are so many parallels, it’s no wonder people get burned out.  But I have to give it bonus points for being the blue bordered version on a Cubs card, and for being on-card.

Overall:
Card companies also love to load their autograph checklists with young players, so my Soler quest is just starting only owning five so far.  I doubt I’ll have a ton more to chase though unless he does come back to form.  Either way, I’ll be happy to pick off these older ones as the years go on.

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