Comments on: Billy Ripken's Fuck Face baseball card http://boingboing.net/2011/06/28/billy-ripkins-fuck-f.html Brain candy for Happy Mutants Thu, 23 May 2013 11:13:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.1 By: irksome http://boingboing.net/2011/06/28/billy-ripkins-fuck-f.html#comment-1150979 irksome Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-1150979 Hey, some of my best friends are fuck faces. Hey, some of my best friends are fuck faces.

]]> By: jacques45 http://boingboing.net/2011/06/28/billy-ripkins-fuck-f.html#comment-1150732 jacques45 Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-1150732 The mid-80s to the early-90s baseball card manufacturers overproduced so many cards that most aren't worth the card stock they're printed upon, and even the big stars and rookies are generally worth less than they would have been a few years prior. The steroids also took a lot out of the value. Hell, a Barry Bonds rookie went for the same price as a Joe Carter rookie and 1/3 the value of a Tony Gwynn rookie. Those collections in the attic aren't worth very much anymore, unfortunately. The mid-80s to the early-90s baseball card manufacturers overproduced so many cards that most aren’t worth the card stock they’re printed upon, and even the big stars and rookies are generally worth less than they would have been a few years prior.

The steroids also took a lot out of the value. Hell, a Barry Bonds rookie went for the same price as a Joe Carter rookie and 1/3 the value of a Tony Gwynn rookie. Those collections in the attic aren’t worth very much anymore, unfortunately.

]]> By: Anonymous http://boingboing.net/2011/06/28/billy-ripkins-fuck-f.html#comment-1150733 Anonymous Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-1150733 Well, thankfully for collectors, it's worth something now, too! http://www.checkoutmycards.com/Cards,=Ripken+Fleer+1989 Well, thankfully for collectors, it’s worth something now, too!

http://www.checkoutmycards.com/Cards,=Ripken+Fleer+1989

]]> By: Anonymous http://boingboing.net/2011/06/28/billy-ripkins-fuck-f.html#comment-1151258 Anonymous Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-1151258 "Nothing enhances an article quite like the author declaring he doesn't give a damn about the subject matter." Actually, I like the author alot more after reading his "declaration" He doesn't give a damn about sports? Neither do I! In fact, it was shoved down my throat all through middle school and high school gym class by all these nit-wit "phys ed" teachers who were obsessed with teams and sports and competition and they all fervently believed that competitive team sports were essential for the well-being of an adolescent. When all it really did was give the sociopathic bullies structure and acceptance for their bullying. Kids like me and my friends, who found competitive team sports and the people who obsessed over them ridiculous were considered unamerican and somehow unhealthy. The jocks were drunks and petty criminals, but that was okay because they could throw and catch a ball. “Nothing enhances an article quite like the author declaring he doesn’t give a damn about the subject matter.”

Actually, I like the author alot more after reading his “declaration” He doesn’t give a damn about sports? Neither do I! In fact, it was shoved down my throat all through middle school and high school gym class by all these nit-wit “phys ed” teachers who were obsessed with teams and sports and competition and they all fervently believed that competitive team sports were essential for the well-being of an adolescent. When all it really did was give the sociopathic bullies structure and acceptance for their bullying.

Kids like me and my friends, who found competitive team sports and the people who obsessed over them ridiculous were considered unamerican and somehow unhealthy. The jocks were drunks and petty criminals, but that was okay because they could throw and catch a ball.

]]> By: kmoser http://boingboing.net/2011/06/28/billy-ripkins-fuck-f.html#comment-1151028 kmoser Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-1151028 Interesting that the version in question is titled "Rick Face." To me, it reads more like "Fock" or "F.ck". Interesting that the version in question is titled “Rick Face.” To me, it reads more like “Fock” or “F.ck”.

]]> By: RebNachum http://boingboing.net/2011/06/28/billy-ripkins-fuck-f.html#comment-1151297 RebNachum Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-1151297 Nerd cred. It isn't always pretty. Nerd cred. It isn’t always pretty.

]]> By: Antinous / Moderator http://boingboing.net/2011/06/28/billy-ripkins-fuck-f.html#comment-1151042 Antinous / Moderator Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-1151042 I'm unclear if it's an order or a term of endearment. I’m unclear if it’s an order or a term of endearment.

]]> By: Slightly Askew http://boingboing.net/2011/06/28/billy-ripkins-fuck-f.html#comment-1151305 Slightly Askew Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-1151305 Depending on your definition of relatively (allowing, say, 30 degrees in either direction to be an acceptable tolerance), about 5:1 against? Depending on your definition of relatively (allowing, say, 30 degrees in either direction to be an acceptable tolerance), about 5:1 against?

]]> By: CaptObvious http://boingboing.net/2011/06/28/billy-ripkins-fuck-f.html#comment-1150820 CaptObvious Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-1150820 he is like Joaquin phoenix's brother he is like Joaquin phoenix’s brother

]]> By: Anonymous http://boingboing.net/2011/06/28/billy-ripkins-fuck-f.html#comment-1151354 Anonymous Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-1151354 Naw, Y'all are off-base. BWHAHAHAHAH!!!...heh heh...hah...er, ah, never mind. He's just dissin' former Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Elroy Face. Naw, Y’all are off-base. BWHAHAHAHAH!!!…heh heh…hah…er, ah, never mind.

He’s just dissin’ former Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Elroy Face.

]]> By: Kosmoid http://boingboing.net/2011/06/28/billy-ripkins-fuck-f.html#comment-1150587 Kosmoid Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-1150587 hmmmm...more likely it was done by one of his team mates. hmmmm…more likely it was done by one of his team mates.

]]> By: g0d5m15t4k3 http://boingboing.net/2011/06/28/billy-ripkins-fuck-f.html#comment-1150595 g0d5m15t4k3 Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-1150595 LOL Dick Pole Beavers. LOL Dick Pole Beavers.

]]> By: HDN http://boingboing.net/2011/06/28/billy-ripkins-fuck-f.html#comment-1151108 HDN Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-1151108 No bigger scam for kids than collecting cards in the 1990s, or longer. I only bought a few in 1989 and 1990, but I saw enough kids getting ripped off by middle aged card shop owners to turn me off. Couple that with they print one Ken Griffey Jr rookie card, and a billion Joe Blows. It winds up just as an alternate currency whose Mint is held by FSM only know who. Almost any collecting of any mass produced crap these days is the same dopey thing. I think I have this card. I don't think I'd even bother to look for it to check, because it's not worth the effort. Cards took a dive when baby boomers aged out of their prime earning years and started focusing more on retirement. When I was a bug man back in the 90s I went into a house where a guy had bought just hundreds of Star Wars toys for Ep 1 before it came out. Saving them; part of his retirement plan he said. I just shook my head, and felt bad for him, he would have better spent his money on fixing up what had to be one of the worst houses I've ever been in, and for a bug man, I can tell you: that's BAD. No bigger scam for kids than collecting cards in the 1990s, or longer. I only bought a few in 1989 and 1990, but I saw enough kids getting ripped off by middle aged card shop owners to turn me off. Couple that with they print one Ken Griffey Jr rookie card, and a billion Joe Blows. It winds up just as an alternate currency whose Mint is held by FSM only know who. Almost any collecting of any mass produced crap these days is the same dopey thing.

I think I have this card. I don’t think I’d even bother to look for it to check, because it’s not worth the effort. Cards took a dive when baby boomers aged out of their prime earning years and started focusing more on retirement.

When I was a bug man back in the 90s I went into a house where a guy had bought just hundreds of Star Wars toys for Ep 1 before it came out. Saving them; part of his retirement plan he said. I just shook my head, and felt bad for him, he would have better spent his money on fixing up what had to be one of the worst houses I’ve ever been in, and for a bug man, I can tell you: that’s BAD.

]]> By: erg79 http://boingboing.net/2011/06/28/billy-ripkins-fuck-f.html#comment-1151620 erg79 Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-1151620 I got this in a pack of Fleers right after they came out. My friends couldn't believe that I got one of these, and I didn't know what they were talking about until they pointed it out to me. For a little while after the controversy started, this card was going for an insane amount of money--well over $50. I was an idiot and refused to sell it. Then there were many different alternates that came out (the black box, etc.) that then also became highly sought after. I got this in a pack of Fleers right after they came out. My friends couldn’t believe that I got one of these, and I didn’t know what they were talking about until they pointed it out to me. For a little while after the controversy started, this card was going for an insane amount of money–well over $50. I was an idiot and refused to sell it.

Then there were many different alternates that came out (the black box, etc.) that then also became highly sought after.

]]> By: Anonymous http://boingboing.net/2011/06/28/billy-ripkins-fuck-f.html#comment-1150597 Anonymous Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-1150597 He wrote it himself... G.I.A. : http://www.snopes.com/sports/baseball/ripkencard.asp He wrote it himself…
G.I.A. : http://www.snopes.com/sports/baseball/ripkencard.asp

]]> By: Church http://boingboing.net/2011/06/28/billy-ripkins-fuck-f.html#comment-1150858 Church Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-1150858 "He wrote it himself... " And the feeling in Baltimore was that it was an utterly appropriate thing to have written on his bat. “He wrote it himself… ”

And the feeling in Baltimore was that it was an utterly appropriate thing to have written on his bat.

]]> By: Anonymous http://boingboing.net/2011/06/28/billy-ripkins-fuck-f.html#comment-1151121 Anonymous Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-1151121 Actually, the bat reads "Rock Face" and was a tribute to Bill's off season fascination with mountaineering. Actually, the bat reads “Rock Face” and was a tribute to Bill’s off season fascination with mountaineering.

]]> By: weatherman http://boingboing.net/2011/06/28/billy-ripkins-fuck-f.html#comment-1150624 weatherman Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-1150624 A friend of mine in high school was a baseball card collector and when this came out, he went a little nuts. We ended up driving around town to every conceivable location to pick up cases of cards (which, sealed, could contain 4 or 5 of these Ripkin cards apiece). I think he ended up getting half a dozen cases, and at the time I think the cases cost about $50 apiece. I would have thought the cards'd be worth more than $120 at this point, but that's still not a bad return for him, though if he'd invested the same amount in an index fund he'd have made out better. Still, it makes for a good memory visiting all those Costco's, running through the isles looking for these cars... A friend of mine in high school was a baseball card collector and when this came out, he went a little nuts. We ended up driving around town to every conceivable location to pick up cases of cards (which, sealed, could contain 4 or 5 of these Ripkin cards apiece). I think he ended up getting half a dozen cases, and at the time I think the cases cost about $50 apiece. I would have thought the cards’d be worth more than $120 at this point, but that’s still not a bad return for him, though if he’d invested the same amount in an index fund he’d have made out better. Still, it makes for a good memory visiting all those Costco’s, running through the isles looking for these cars…

]]> By: Mason Gentry http://boingboing.net/2011/06/28/billy-ripkins-fuck-f.html#comment-1150635 Mason Gentry Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-1150635 I distinctly remember my grandmother sorting through my baseball cards looking for this card. She wouldn't tell me what was so special about it, which made me all the more curious. I distinctly remember my grandmother sorting through my baseball cards looking for this card. She wouldn’t tell me what was so special about it, which made me all the more curious.

]]> By: Contrasoma http://boingboing.net/2011/06/28/billy-ripkins-fuck-f.html#comment-1150645 Contrasoma Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-1150645 Still have my copy of this card somewhere (the original, not the whited out one). I remember when news about the error came out my friends and I were delighted. When you're eight or nine there's precious little more thrilling than covert profanity. A design company recently did a run of t-shirts paying homage to the gaffe: http://www.nomas-nyc.com/t-shirts/25-fuck-face.html Still have my copy of this card somewhere (the original, not the whited out one). I remember when news about the error came out my friends and I were delighted. When you’re eight or nine there’s precious little more thrilling than covert profanity.

A design company recently did a run of t-shirts paying homage to the gaffe:

http://www.nomas-nyc.com/t-shirts/25-fuck-face.html

]]> By: DrOrbitalDeathRay http://boingboing.net/2011/06/28/billy-ripkins-fuck-f.html#comment-1151158 DrOrbitalDeathRay Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-1151158 Nothing enhances an article quite like the author declaring he doesn't give a damn about the subject matter. Nothing enhances an article quite like the author declaring he doesn’t give a damn about the subject matter.

]]> By: HeatherB http://boingboing.net/2011/06/28/billy-ripkins-fuck-f.html#comment-1150650 HeatherB Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-1150650 I'd rather find a Honus Wagner card! I’d rather find a Honus Wagner card!

]]> By: Teller http://boingboing.net/2011/06/28/billy-ripkins-fuck-f.html#comment-1150659 Teller Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-1150659 heh. And Billy Martin was definitely flipping off someone - the photographer, a teammate, a kid walking by... heh.
And Billy Martin was definitely flipping off someone – the photographer, a teammate, a kid walking by…

]]> By: Anonymous http://boingboing.net/2011/06/28/billy-ripkins-fuck-f.html#comment-1150920 Anonymous Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-1150920 How 'bout dem O's! How ’bout dem O’s!

]]> By: Anonymous http://boingboing.net/2011/06/28/billy-ripkins-fuck-f.html#comment-1150928 Anonymous Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-1150928 I recall it being covered with a band aid on the bottom of the bat. Not white out. Anyone else have this recollection? I recall it being covered with a band aid on the bottom of the bat. Not white out. Anyone else have this recollection?

]]> By: molly http://boingboing.net/2011/06/28/billy-ripkins-fuck-f.html#comment-1150692 molly Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-1150692 There's a great Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! show with Cal Ripkin (Billy's younger brother), on which he tells this story. It's here: http://www.npr.org/2011/01/29/133302574/baseballs-iron-man-cal-ripken-plays-not-my-job There’s a great Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me! show with Cal Ripkin (Billy’s younger brother), on which he tells this story. It’s here: http://www.npr.org/2011/01/29/133302574/baseballs-iron-man-cal-ripken-plays-not-my-job

]]> By: Anonymous http://boingboing.net/2011/06/28/billy-ripkins-fuck-f.html#comment-1151210 Anonymous Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-1151210 It was an accident and yet the writing is relatively right-side up. Odds, anyone? It was an accident and yet the writing is relatively right-side up. Odds, anyone?

]]> By: RootsRockWeirdo http://boingboing.net/2011/06/28/billy-ripkins-fuck-f.html#comment-1150709 RootsRockWeirdo Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-1150709 The Simpsons parody'd it in a set of trading cards they did back in '94: Willy "The Dupe" Dipkin - http://www.flickr.com/photos/14531705@N00/4695532262/lightbox/ The Simpsons parody’d it in a set of trading cards they did back in ’94:
Willy “The Dupe” Dipkin – http://www.flickr.com/photos/14531705@N00/4695532262/lightbox/

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