Trading Cards and Kids (and Adults)
When I was young, kids (mostly boys in that era) collected primarily baseball cards. Baseball cards date way back to the 19th century with a fascinating and unusual history tied in part to product loyalty including tobacco.)
By the time my son was into cards, the variety of card types had increased and basketball cards were the thing in our neck of the woods. My son’s collection of then current basketball cards (in search of that ever so valuable and sought after rookie card) grew large, and I still remember the joy he got from ripping open the foil packs.
I took up collecting older edition basketball cards. Some were oversized compared to current cards; some were slightly smaller and perforated in two spots yielding three small cards if separated (and one never wanted them separated). We went to card shows. We searched for gems (as in card gems). We both still have our respective collections, packed away safely in a storage unit in NY. I adore my cards. Pieces of sports’ history, and I remain an ardent basketball fan.
There are many cards from which to choose these days — apart from sports cards. There are Pokémon cards (I don’t get how they work). There are Magic cards (I don’t get how they work either). There are entertainment cards (think Star Wars). It seems that even in this digital age, physical trading cards have had a resurgance. Cards continue to be bought and sold and traded by kids and adults alike. Some cards are auctioned off for millions of dollars!
This gets me to political trading cards. These seem destined for the hands of adults. There are cards representing members of Congress (issued by some vendors.) Are they popular? What’s a Bernie card worth? A Pelosi card? Are they traded? Two Democrats for one Republican and one Independent?
Best as I can tell, candidate Trump is hawking cards of himself — both digital and higher priced cardboard versions, the latter of which contain a swatch of his actual navy suit from his debate with Biden (the June 2024 suit). Trump is in his own card vending ads of course; he is the spokesperson for Trump cards.
I haven’t seen any actual Trump cards. Beats me what words are actually printed on them. That would be of interest. Statistics? Political batting average? Votes won? Bills signed? Pardons rendered? Felony convictions avoided?
This suit swatch idea inspired the above photo. It’s a photo of a swatch of a navy blue rug. I’m sure Trump’s Suit swatch is a finer weave. (Who cuts up a suit? An artist perhaps.) I actually have a real cloth swatch from the (orange) Gates exhibit that waved gloriously through Central Park — an installation artwork created by the sadly now deceased Christo and his wife Jeanne-Claude. I have the orange swatch dangling next to a photo of the Gates. I was even at Jeanne-Claude’s funeral at the Met — what a remarkable day that was. The swatch has meaning for me. So I’m not against swatches as a generalizable matter. But a Trump suit swatch???
This latter point gets me to this set of questions: Are Trump’s trading cards his form of political advertisement? Don’t get me started on the puns that abound: meaning of “card,” meaning of “trump,” meaning of “trading,” meaning of “suit”….. Are these cards a form of portrait art? Are they political fundraising? Are they a collectible with value? Is there a robust ongoing market for them? Some are signed … randomly ….so, like a kid opening a pack of sports cards, the adult recipient gets a rush when they open their delivery of the Trump card?
Whatever the answers (and I remain curious), it saddens me that a candidate creates his own self aggrandizing cards. (Sports cards are created by others using athletes info/image; athletes aren’t making and selling themselves in card form to the best of my knowkedge.) It is like having political ads running in Mar-Lago. It is preaching to the choir. But here’s the real sad part: it belittles the Office of President of the Free World. And it reeks of some sort of persuasion effort that seems like what a dictator would do. It is product endorsement like — note the word “product.”
To leave you with one last thought: when adults play kids’ games for real, something is amiss. When I had a teenage rebellion in my late twenties, a brilliant friend of mine, observing my behavior, said a little too sharply: “Teenage rebellions are scary enough when one is a teenager; they are downright dangerous when one is a working professional.”
I am concerned. I am of the belief (and I know this is not a shared belief by many) that Trump is danger for our nation and for the world. Listen to and watch him. He seems to be phailing (or is it flailing?) and dysregulating.
Perhaps, to return to cards, his house of cards is falling. One can sell all the trading cards one wants but they won’t hold up one’s house. I’m reminded too about the myth of Narcissus (a “he”), so obsessed with his own image that he drowned looking at himself in a body of water. Yipes. Aren’t vanity cards like the reflective pond and the potential leader is drowning? Another yipes for good measure.
