This pull shows you that there ARE still hidden gems in older breaks. From nearly a junk wax product from 1994 came an on-card autograph with an early signature featuring The Captain, Derek Jeter.
In 1994 a company called Signature Rookies set the tone for what high-end, modern product makers follow today. While it may be common to open a box of National Treasures or Immaculate and find a few autographed cards, back in the early 90’s that simply wasn’t a thing. You couldn’t pick up a pack of 1992 Topps baseball cards and pull an autograph but that seems to be standard in nearly every hobby pack or box today. Signature rookies changed the game and signed many minor league baseball players to a contract and then had them ink their names on around 8,000 cards. Those autographed cards were inserted into every pack. Each pack of 1994 Signature Series baseball packs featured one autograph from a player that very well could make it in the MLB. Years later one player on the checklist did, and did so in a HUGE way. Signature Series had Derek Jeter, the Yankees Captain, the 2020 Hall of Famer, 3,000 hits, and 5x World Series Champion Mr. November in their product!
Knocka_yoktv breaks cards Friday-Monday evening on their Instagram. For $12.22 per pack of 6 cards, one of which is an auto, the card breaks were offered in 1994 Signature Series. Sure enough out popped a Derek Jeter auto! This hand-signed, EARLY Jeets signature is numbered 1,032/8,650.
Unlike the modern products where we may know product runs, the checklists, and have an easier time tracking what is left in the wild thanks to mounds of technology, we truly have no idea how many Jeter autos from Signature Rookies have collected dust since 1994. This pull could be the last one we see for a long time! This Jeter auto was just unearthed after 28 years, which has to make it one of the greatest pulls of all-time. If you want to see the entire break, you can watch the action here with the Jeter pull happening 34 minutes and 24 seconds in.
For $12.22, a collector snatches up a $300 autograph of Derek Jeter that hasn’t seen the light of day for almost three decades. This is what card breaks dreams are made of.
Photo Credit: Heritage Auctions
