Weird News - Metrocards become hot collector item

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Metrocards become hot collector item

NEW YORK (UPI) -- Collectors say pieces of art are getting swiped, literally, every day in New York, as riders use Metrocards to board public transportation.

The plastic cards have become something of a hot item for collectors because of the variety of images on their flip side, The New York Times reported.

The cards' depictions of animals, world leaders, landmarks, entertainers, advertisements and other subjects and themes have attracted collectors since they were introduced in 1994. Collectors view them as miniature pieces of art, with value for selling, trading or just keeping.

A MetroCard collectors group on Yahoo has 60 members. Eighteen pieces were listed Saturday eBay at prices ranging from $20 for an expired student card to $520 for an expired MetroCard stamped "NYPD."

"We have customers out there who have been collecting these cards since Day 1," Margaret Coffey, New York City Transit's assistant vice president for marketing, told The Times. "We get a lot of calls from people who inquire about the availability of certain cards. All they are trying to do is make their collections as complete as possible; it's really no different than collecting baseball cards."

Copyright 2008 by United Press International

This news arrived on: 09/01/2008

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