From the Pedro Binder

2002 Fleer Platinum Clubhouse Collection

This card tries to do a good job with itself. It even almost does it.

I’m torn when it comes to memorabilia cards. Do I want the card to be designed around the piece, or do I want it to be an afterthought? In this case, the design clearly took the piece of jersey into account. It incorporated the shape for the cutout twice in the design, to make sure it had a spot. It doesn’t work for me. It makes it seem like the rest of the card is less important. Of course, I also don’t like it when they just take a regular card and cut out a hole in the picture to insert the item.

I’m pretty hard to please, apparently.

Other than that, the card does a great job. The “Clubhouse Collection” name is appropriate, since the card contains a piece of something you’d find in a clubhouse. There’s even a picture of a clubhouse right there on the top of the card.

For an insert card, all the important information is there. Pedro’s name, and his team. There’s even a color team logo. What don’t I like? The Fleer Platinum logo is almost bigger than the Red Sox logo. Heck, it’s almost bigger than the picture of Pedro. What else? The name of the insert set is plastered right in the middle of the card. Is that the most important thing?

Assuming that they’re not lying, I do like that the front of the card tells you it’s a “game-worn jersey.” Not a “used item” or a “uniform part.” It telling you right there that this was worn in a game. I don’t even have to flip the card over to find out. It’s right there for all to see. That’s fantastic.

Again, assuming it’s true.