Ken Griffey Jr. 1/1 Logoman A Grail Card With The Fine Print

The Topps X account is a great follow. The card maker's social media posts feature one-of-a-kind cards and videos of pack pulls. A recent post featuring a Ken Griffey Jr. 1/1 Logoman in a Chicago White Sox uniform had all the makings of an incredible card.

Hall of Fame baseball player and former Cincinnati Reds center fielder Ken Griffey Jr. enters the field through the corn stalks into right field for a pregame catch with his father, Ken Griffey Sr., before a baseball game between the Chicago Cubs and the Cincinnati Reds, Thursday, Aug. 11, 2022, at the MLB Field of Dreams stadium in Dyersville, Iowa. Mlb Field Of Dreams Game Cincinnati Reds At Chicago Cubs Aug 11 1283 | Kareem Elgazzar/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK

If you follow the Topps X account, as I do, you might've seen a post featuring a Ken Griffey Jr. White Sox 1/1 Logoman. It's an incredible card, with Griffey featured in a White Sox uniform, a team he played on for 41 games during the 2008 season.

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An ultra-rare Ken Griffey Jr. WHITE SOX 1/1 Logoman... pic.twitter.com/RMZus81Kab

— Topps (@Topps) March 10, 2025

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The card has a bold autograph and an MLB logo patch from what I assumed to be a White Sox jersey that Griffey wore. It'd make for a rare card beyond the 1/1 production value because I couldn't imagine there are too many Griffey game-used White Sox jerseys. Certainly not more than 41 from the games he played with the White Sox.

The card was released in the 2024 Diamond Icons set, and I wanted to find it; it turns out it's for sale on eBay. I was surprised when I looked at the back of the card on the eBay listing.

Image Courtesy of eBay seller Fischerdies collectables

In the fine print, the card reads, "The relic contained in this card is not from any specific game, event, or season." While the front of the card says the Logoman is game-used, the back doesn't explicitly state that Griffey wore it in a game. The guarantee is more like a disclaimer. The implication is Griffey wore the Logoman in a game, but there's an out that maybe he didn't wear it, but rather another player.

This calls into question what the fine print means. I'm not criticizing Topps, but the fine print. The guarantees were clear when Upper Deck first released patch cards (see Rey Ordonez's jersey card below). Now, there's some leeway for the manufacturers, or at the minimum, creates some confusion.

Image Courtesy of eBay

I don't want to be a gatekeeper of what makes a grail or an amazing card. It very well could be someone's grail. It's a beautiful-looking 1/1 card of Griffey with a nice autograph and a game-used patch. Still, the fact that Topps can't explicitly state it's from Griffey takes away from the card. As Topps continues to grow, one to add to the list would be to make relic guarantees as transparent as possible.

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