When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Up for sale is a 2010 Panini Absolute Memorabilia Marks of Fame PRIME certified autograph and game-worn jersey card of Chris Cooley of the Washington Redskins, card number 6, hand-numbered 2/5. Authenticated by the manufacturer, photographed here front and back exactly as you will receive it.
Serial numbered 2/5 — five copies in the world. The print run is stamped on the back of the card: 2/5. Five. That is the number on the back of this specific card, not a general description of the parallel — it is photographed and you can read it for yourself. A five-copy autograph of a two-time Pro Bowl tight end is not a card that circulates; when one of the five moves, that is the market for the year.
Game-worn, and Panini says so on the card. The reverse carries Panini\'s own wording, quoted here exactly: \"The attached autograph is an official autograph signed by Chris Cooley. The enclosed piece of jersey was cut from an Authentic Jersey personally worn by Chris Cooley in an official NFL Game. The authentic Game-Worn Jersey and autograph were obtained and are guaranteed by Panini America, Inc.\" An official NFL game — not a photo shoot, not a rookie premiere. A great many relic cards from this period are event-worn and the wording is easy to slide past; this one is not.
About the signature. Panini applied this autograph on a clear signature label, which is how the great majority of 2010 Panini autographs were produced. Look closely at the photographs and you can see the label\'s edge and the repeating PANINI AUTHENTIC watermark printed across it beneath the ink. I mention it because a clear label can pass for an on-card signature at a glance, and you deserve to know exactly what you are buying. The signature itself is a big, confident blue script running right across the card with his number, 47, inscribed into it — a considerably better signature than most sticker autographs of the period.
The relic. A single large window of burgundy Washington jersey sits in the upper left of the card, with the weave and nap of the cloth clearly visible. The card carries Panini\'s PRIME designation, stamped in the white panel at the lower left beside the Absolute Memorabilia shield; the swatch itself is a single panel of burgundy rather than a multi-colour patch, and I would rather tell you that than let the word PRIME do work it should not do.
One oddity, stated plainly. The embossed blue sidebar down the left edge of the card reads MARKS of FAME and, beneath it, EAGLES. Cooley never played for Philadelphia — it is a Panini printing quirk on this subset, and it is on the card as printed, not a fault with this copy. Everything else identifies the card correctly: the photograph is Cooley in Washington burgundy 47, the nameplate reads CHRIS COOLEY, the reverse carries the Washington helmet, TIGHT END and Panini\'s certification in his name. I am pointing it out so that it is not a surprise when the card arrives, and so you can judge it for yourself from the photographs.
The look. A landscape design on a refractive silver-and-burgundy field that shifts as the card turns. MARKS of FAME is embossed up the left edge in blue foil, a white 47 sits in a black block at the top right, and a cut-out action shot of Cooley coming out of his stance fills the right half. The jersey window is set into the upper left, the signature runs across the lower middle, and CHRIS COOLEY is set in white capitals on a black bar at the foot.
Chris Cooley. A tight end out of Utah State, Cooley was taken by Washington in the third round of the 2004 draft, 81st overall, and spent his entire eight-season career with the club. He made the Pro Bowl in both 2007 and 2008, catching a career-high 83 passes in the latter year, and finished with 429 receptions for 4,711 yards and 33 touchdowns. For most of the 2000s he was the most reliable target on the roster and one of the genuinely popular figures in the Washington locker room.
About 2010 Panini Absolute Memorabilia. Absolute Memorabilia has been one of the hobby\'s signature high-end football releases since the late 1990s, built around thick, foil-heavy cards, die-cut memorabilia windows and low serial numbers. Marks of Fame is the veteran autograph-and-relic subset at the top of the checklist, and the PRIME parallels within it run down to a handful of copies each — which is how a card like this ends up numbered to five.
Condition. This card has been inspected front and back under direct light and is in excellent shape. Corners are sharp, the edges are clean, the surface is free of creases, dents and print defects, and the memorabilia window is flush and fully intact with no lifting. The signature is bold and fully intact with no smudging or fading, and the signature label is flat and fully adhered at its edges. It has been stored in a penny sleeve inside a rigid top loader and has not been handled outside of protection. Please study the photographs closely — they are of the exact card you will receive, not a stock image, and they are the most accurate description of condition I can give you.
Shipping. Your card ships free. It travels in a penny sleeve inside a rigid top loader, secured against a stiffener, sealed in a team bag and sent inside a bubble mailer with the corners protected. Orders placed on a business day go out the same day or the next; weekend orders go out on Monday. Tracking is uploaded the moment the package is scanned. I ship every card the way I would want a card of mine to arrive.
About this listing. Top Shelf Trading AZ is a one-person operation in Arizona. Every card is photographed by hand, examined under light, and described by someone who has actually held it. If you have a question about this card — condition, the numbering, the signature, anything — message me and you will get a real answer from a person. Offers are welcome. Thanks for looking.
