One of the cards I got signed was a 1989 Sportflics card - because of the lenticular surface, I used to think it was harder for someone to sign them and/or sign them in a way where the autograph won't smear into the card.
However, for anyone who still have these random cards in hand and can get them signed either in-person or through the mail - the cards can actually be inked up and can hold an autograph in a presentable way, just like other trading cards from the last 25-30 years.
As a beginning collector with relatively little to spend, it was intimidating making my way inside a card shop every month a new Beckett would pop up, so the only magazine I was reading on a regular basis was Baseball Cards Magazine - I suppose Topps Magazine provided another alternative, which probably made spending time browsing the magazine rack at the supermarket that much easier while tagging along on shopping trips.
Like Baseball Cards Magazine, there were cards inserted into the magazine though I probably thought the cards were not 'real' because the card stock was a little different, even from the Baseball Card Magazine inserts - and it was impossible to remove the cards from the magazine [without the cards looking like garbage].
The cards in the Topps magazine were perforated, but the best I could do was try and tear the panels apart like they were monkey bread - the cards always were torn up.
This article in the particular magazine pictured was written by a then 15-year old named Tyler Kepner [who is a New York Times sportswriter now] - it's all the myriad of ways to go about finding ways to collect common cards that have the same theme, known to me as 'collecting topics cards' or better known to card bloggers as 'mini-collections.'
At my LCS there are a few 'newer' shoe storage boxes on display featuring old school / vintage 'beaters' for a buck each - I go through them because the cards were probably part of someone's collection and maybe I can pick up some cards representing cardboard relics of the past.
1962 Topps Tony Kubek #311
1967 Topps Jim Palmer #152
1973 Topps Steve Carlton #300
The cards are kind of a cheap thrill to have in my hand since they were printed more than 40 years ago - even if the cards are merely worth what I paid for them.
On the other hand, I'll be waiting for the headlines when he really starts figuring things out - maybe because many top prospects are hyped up, it's almost surprising when they don't start off their MLB careers like Albert Pujols.
I actually have one more pending EEE autograph redemption left on Panini's Web site, though that was from a 2013 EEE blaster break and my redemption has been in the system since early in 2014 - at this point, I don't know if I'll ever get that card.