Apparently huge sports card memorabilia companies like Topps, aren’t above April Fools Day trickery. Today they announced that the widely questioned Kazuo Uzuki “Future Stars” card was a hoax. You can almost hear the “I told you so’s” on message boards across the country.

With all the new Japanese players in baseball these days it was hard to tell if “The Uzi” was real or not. His card said he was going to be the first Japan-based high-school student to go right into the major league here in America. Topps says it created the card to generate excitement for the upcoming 2008 season.

Collectors might be wondering how this little stunt will affect the baseball cards worth. It could really go either way. The card is limited to one in every seventy-two packs, so already it is probably considered a short-print card. That and the added buzz that was created by the joke might raise prices on the card’s online auctions.

Collectibles prices all boil down to supply and demand. If most collectors think the joke was funny and want to add the interesting card to their collections the demand for it will be high, if they decide they don’t want a rookie card of a person who never existed the demand will be low. It really depends on how they value things. My personal prediction is that the demand for this card is going to be high. I’d want it for my collection.

All in all, I think it was a pretty good prank. For those of you who don’t value baseball cards, don’t worry! There are April Fools Day jokes for you too. Check out this video I found of a classic April Fools Day prank.