I have often talked about cool ideas as the one aspect of the industry that seems to be a lost art. Many of the products we see every year are just the same stuff over and over again with a different year stamped on the box. When a good idea does come around, whether it is Lettermen cards, or booklet cards, or even cards printed on gold, the industry jumps on them and makes them a part of the yearly run-around. One idea that I think should have gotten this treatment was the Shadow Box cards from 2009 SPX that were beyond awesome. Collectors jumped all over them, but Upper Deck’s cancellation of SPX as its own product for 2011, means that they are gone for right now.

Back in 2009, I looked everywhere for the Peterson shadow box, and the shadow box auto, but have since come up empty handed. I have been lucky to find just about every white whale I have chased, but this one has always eluded me. One of the autographs was posted back in 2010, possibly the only one produced, and I was outbid at the last second. That was heartbreaking to say the least, but I stand by the fact that these autographs may be some of the best ever produced. They are just ridiculously cool in every way, and I dont know why they arent worth more.

2009 SPX Michael Turner Shadow Box Auto

2009 SPX Roger Craig Shadow Box Auto

2009 SPX Beanie Wells Shadow Box Auto

I am still looking for a 2009 Peterson auto, and I have even considered buying some of the players I dont collect, just because they are awesome. Although they made a comeback in 2010, they were no longer NFL licensed and I have not seen any autographs. They still sold for crazy money because of the history from 2009, and I think Upper Deck is making a mistake in not running these more often with some of their more high end products.

When considering how stale some of the brands are, I wonder if there is even any effort to be creative any longer. Ideas like this come along very infrequently, and I sincerely hope there are many more like it down the road. If we continue down the path we are on, I can already see how tough it is going to be to keep people engaged.

UPDATE: A collector on Blowout has one and though I threw a ton of money at him, he wont sell. Pretty bummed because it might be the only one in existence.