Would you own a Hitler autograph card?

Posted Feb 14, 2012 by Bob D'Angelo

Updated Feb 14, 2012 at 10:46 PM

I’m going to jump out of sports tonight and dive into history, since it is one of my passions. Particularly American history and U.S. presidents.

I’ve already discussed the 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW product being put out by In The Game, which is certainly an interesting product about the men who have occupied the White House. But now I find that Leaf has done the same thing (and yes, forgive me for being late to the game on this one, since there already has been some lively discussion about it on several sportscard boards).

The 2012 Oval Office Cut Signature set is being released this month, and it’s way above high end. One card to a pack, and one card to a box. Each pack will have a presidential cut signature, and some will have two. Only about 275 boxes will be produced, although on its sell sheet, Leaf officials noted that the production quantity might be far less. Each card will numbered to 5 or less.

Leaf president Brian Gray released a similar product in 2008 when he was with Razor, called Oval Office Cut Signatures. Those packs went for $2,500. Wow. I am guessing four figures for this product, too.

I’m not sure how I’d feel if I spent that much money and pulled a Franklin Pierce signature, for example. Or one of Chester Alan Arthur.

The 2012 Oval Office set will feature a cut signature of every U.S. president, plus dual autographs that include running mates, spouses, or historic figures that were synonymous with that particular president.

It’s that last feature that has generated the most discussion. While some of the pairings are well thought out — Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee on the same card is a masterstroke — at least one card has come under fire, although I am surprised a second one hasn’t at least raised a few eyebrows.

That is a dual cut signature card of Franklin D. Roosevelt and Adolf Hitler. Oh my. Ohhh, my. The second is the dual signature card of George H.W. Bush and Saddam Hussein.

No, there is not an Osama bin Laden autograph in the set. Winston Churchill and Nelson Mandela? Yes.

The Hitler signature presents a moral dilemma for a collector. Directly or indirectly, Hitler was responsible for millions of deaths from 1933 to 1945, and his wish to exterminate people of the Jewish faith was horrific. So, if you unwrap a pack and find the FDR/Hitler signature card, what do you do? Keep it? Sell it? Throw it away? If cost was not an issue, would you boycott a product like this out of principle? Or would you buy it regardless?

It wouldn’t be a moral issue for me. It would be domestic — my wife would kill me if I spent that much for any pack of cards.

But I’d like to know what you think. Do you believe such a card is an intriguing slice of history, or a tasteless move? Or something in between?