According to Steven Judd of the must-read Sports Card File, Topps is meeting with Major League Baseball in hopes of securing an exclusive license for 2010 and beyond. At the end of the year, Upper Deck’s own license expires and they will attempt to renew it. In case you missed it, they already lost their N.B.A license a month ago.
Personally, I think Topps is off to an amazing 2009. Their legendary flagship brand received rave reviews all over the Internet and in my opinion, they have produced the two best insert sets of the year in Topps Mayo from Heritage and Turkey Red from Series 1 Topps.
While Upper Deck has received its share of bad publicity over the years, let’s not forget that they introduced technology such as “game-used” memorabilia and certified autographs in packs, not to mention that from their debut they took trading cards to a whole new level that Topps, Fleer, & Donruss could not.
That’s not to say Upper Deck is perfect. I have recently gone off on them for what in my opinion was extremely lazy designs and you can find redemption horror stories at every turn. Still, what is collecting going to be like without competition?
Say what you will about non-licensed cards being “affordable” and what-not but at the end of the day no Playoff Prime Cuts or Sportskings will ever compare to a licensed baseball card from Topps & Upper Deck, no matter how much the companies pay Beckett Media to say the do.
It’s going to be an interesting year ahead for collectors, to say the least.
While I agree they are the 2 best insert sets so far this year, I can’t get past the fact they are both based on re-hashed designs that are each strong enough to support their own release.
Monopoly is good for no one, unless you’re the banker, and like to cheat.
Yes!!!! I hate what UD does with baseball every single year!
Does anyone think contacting MLBP would do any good?
I mean if a bunch of people got together and signed some sort of petition or something saying collectors don’t want ONE manufacturer to have exclusive rights or something?
are those crickets i hear chirping?
If MLB goes to a Topps-exclusive, I probably won’t mind too much initially. I know it’ll make my collecting much easier … which will save me money. BUT I think I’ll be bitching by the middle of next year when I realize there are less options. Kind of like when we as a hobby lost Score, Fleer, and Donruss. We all complained there was too much out there, and now some of us want the good ol’ days back.
In short, I’ll be curious to see how my collecting habits would be affected if only there was one company releasing cards each year. The notion of only having to chase certain sets each year with no temptation to buy high-priced UD is kind of refreshing. Now if the tables were turned and UD got an exclusive, then I’d probably be up in arms.
Finally, why the hell is Topps or MLB looking for an exclusive? To me this is starting to sound like the demise of pro wrestling in the early 2000s. WCW and WWE/F co-existed and hated each other, but their rivalry created a better product for the fans, customers. Then McMahon bought WCW and turned it into horse shit, and in the process created an “exclusive” situation. In the end the fans suffered and so did the sport/entertainment.
I’m kind of divided on this. Although I do like the idea of UD going bye-bye for a while (paying for their sins, if you will), I don’t know if I’m all for Topps owning the sport.
Although Topps is doing a bang-up job with low-to-mid level products, I think thats because they’ve got competition with UD around. Once/if UD is gone, I’d be concerned with Topps putting the same effort into them.
As long as they don’t end up with a licensing deal that forces them to continue to flood the market with overpriced crap that depends on “mojo” to sell. Monopoly is NEVER good for the consumers so if Topps do get exclusive rights, its seriously up to business ethics to see what they do. Overcharge or actually offer something value for money now that they have the entire pie.
I like to see UD lose their baseball license for maybe a season just so they will learn to put in more effort in design and stop inserting non-baseball cards into baseball products…and their ridiculous 6500 or 2500 yearly monster inserts.
Bad, bad, bad. This is good for everyone but the collector. For all of you saying UD deserves to be punished, who doesn’t? This is also the company that killed rookie cards in regular releases just to make a few coins on Bowman. I’m clearly not a UD homer either, they produce mostly junk in baseball, but come on this won’t be good.
Does anybody even remember that Topps had complete run of the baseball card world during 1956 – 1980 all to themselves? If it was back to Topps only, I’d be all for it. After all, I never collected the other stuff.
Put it this way, if UD was the frontrunner and the MLBP told Topps “bye-bye,” then after the last Topps baseball card came off the press, I’d stop collecting new cards. Maybe it would then be time to start going backwards (starting with 1975…)
It all comes down to brand loyalty, and I’m a Topps loyalist. I’d be all for them to be the exclusive company. But that would mean the broken monopoly thing that was signed in 1981 becomes pointless.
Sincerely,
JayBee Anama
bdj610
No – it sucks in hockey, I can only assume it would suck in baseball. It allows a lot of corners to be cut, knowing most people have no alternative. Yes, there are unlicensed products, but there are in hockey too, and it still sucks.
Topps had to adapt some of their products (especially their prospect based ones) because of competition and moves from Razor. They aren’t likely to feel the need to do that if their major competitor for all other card sets (UD) is out of the picture.
Jeff, I agree with you on the punishment discussion. Are we also not displeased with Topps’ non-stop gimmickry?
JayBee, totally agree. That is where I was coming from in my initial comment. The hobby was much simpler when there was one major supplier — Topps. If MLB did go to a Topps exclusive kind of deal, I’d love to see MLB also team up with some other companies to make some food-issue releases. Just thinking about this makes the world seem like a better place.
This would hurt the hobby because it would drive out the high-roller types, but it is the notion of catering to those guys that is killing the hobby one child at a time.
Ultimately this hobby is about collecting cardboard with pictures on them. Not about playing the lottery … especially in these tough economic times.
I’m ambivalent about the idea of Topps having a monopoly, but Upper Deck is being run so poorly these days that it does deserve a “time out”, if only to teach Richard McWilliam a lesson.
Bad, bad, bad. This is good for everyone but the collector. For all of you saying UD deserves to be punished, who doesn’t? This is also the company that killed rookie cards in regular releases just to make a few coins on Bowman. I’m clearly not a UD homer either, they produce mostly junk in baseball, but come on this won’t be good.
I could not have said it better. I know you all want the good ole days back, but guess what, they are gone for good. Once people found out there was tons of money to be made, there was no turning back. Personally, I would stop if it reverted back to 1995 and I think there would be a majority who would join me. Three companies with three products? Cmon, do you really think that would be good? No, it would suck for everyone but the set collectors and the company collectors. As we have found out, those people are the minority by far.
I know a monopoly is never good. I know an exclusive license for Topps would probably produce problems that we don’t even anticipate.
But I still can’t stop thinking about how I didn’t mind in the least from 1975-80 that Topps was the only brand I could buy. Kellogg’s and Hostess cards were cool, but never once did we think “I wish there was another company that made cards.”
You may not understand what I’m saying, but wait about 10 or 15 years. The old days won’t seem so bad.
Yes – at one point Topps had a monopoly. They produced one set per year. Can ‘the hobby’ go back to that and survive? Personally, I don’t think so. You can’t unring the bell, so to speak. As collectors, we have become accustomed to bells and whistles. Switching back to plain cardboard wouldn’t be an option (now would the company likely be able to stay afloat), so unless that is what Topps would be switching to the argument of ‘Topps once had a monopoly’ is moot.
Times change.
I have to disagree on Topps or UD even being in the same room with Prime Cuts, by far the best product release in the past year. Topps or UP could never produce something close to it with that quality and price point as a licensed product. I could care less who has a license if Donruss can keep Prime Cuts going.
I think UD pissed off the sports card gods by the way their new year is shaping up. Honestly I have to say I would not mind if it were just Topps as I am sick of the usual crappy jerseys and bats of players I never heard of and printing plates along with cut signatures of the same old players in EVERY product. Topps is off to an AMAZING start this year so I have to agree with Mario there. I loved when I was a kid and it was just topps with donruss and fleer being the new guys. The cards were so much nicer back then in my opinion. Looks like 09 will be the turning point in sports cards so hold on for the wild ride!
Monopolies drive out the innovation. The lack of competition would be bad for the hobby. I don’t want to see Topps be the only one… it doesn’t have to be UD, but someone should be their competition.
Putting all feelings about cards aside , monopolies are usually a bad thing. I like what Topps is doing right now , but I like some of the UD products too. The problem occurs when there is no competition.Then the lone company has total control and can more or less do what ever they want.What if we only had one candidate to vote for in every election at every level.If UD gets their license renewed they have to start listening to the people who buy their products as will Topps.
Gellman, I’d agree that set collectors are now the minority in this hobby, but I’d also argue that they are the ones whose ties to this industry are the strongest and they are the ones who are likely to pass the hobby down through the generations. And if the companies leave those guys out in the cold, there will be no one to carry the torch in the future.
We all love hits, whether we are willing to admit it or not. There’s still something special about pulling an autograph or game-used card from a pack. But those items have hurt this hobby almost more than they’ve helped. It’s driven up pack prices, made people more greedy and turned the hobby on its head, creating an “all or nothing” attitude for lots of people. This is why set, team and players collectors are the minority … and that’s not good.
That said, an exclusive deal with Topps doesn’t mean that we’re going to the good ole days.
How can this possibly be good for anybody but set collectors?
Hell, it won’t even be good for them. If nobody else is allowed to produce licensed sets, what motivation does Topps have to improve or keep prices down? It’s not as if MLBPA is going to “give” Topps the license. They’ll more than likely have to pay more for it than they ever have before. And guess who that increased cost gets passed on to?
Any of you set collectors going to pay $100 for a hobby box of 2010 Topps Series 1? How about $125 for Heritage?
I don’t think having one licensed BBC producer (Topps, UD or anyone else) would hurt the competitive aspect of card production because the card manufacturer still has to compete for survival within a culture of increasingly varied interests and short attention spans. There are infinitely more ways for kids (and big kids) to spend their money now than there were in 1980 … to say nothing of 1955. Topps (or whomever) would have to keep things interesting to survive. It might cut down on the garbage that’s produced just to “stay competitive.”
We’ll never see a return to the golden era of collecting. That’s not a good thing or a bad thing … just a thing. But I do miss the days of the more traditional rookie card (before the resurrected Bowman). I find it hilarious that the rookie card of Pedro Gonzalez, Ken McMullen and Al Weis (Topps ‘63 #537) books for eight bills just because they happened to share the space with Pete Petunia.
I just had an idea, and it is TOTALLY a conspiracy theory, but I think Topps would ultimately be the big winner if MLB has to decide. Topps has the rights to arguably the biggest name in baseball, and his name is Babe Ruth. There’s also these guys named Mantle, Gehrig and all sorts of other HOFers that Topps can use as bargaining chips with the MLB license committee.
I’m not saying anything, but I’m just saying…
I think that an exclusive MLB license, at this point, is exactly what the hobby market can support, not so much as “need”.
The NHL has had an exclusive license for five years now, and nobody really cares. However, I’m willing to bet that the NHL felt safer with Upper Deck maintaining a strong base of MLB, NFL, NBA and other licenses to prop up that weak-leg NHL exclusive license. If Upper Deck loses both NBA and MLB, they’ll basically be reduced to a Pre-Panini Donruss-like shadow of themselves. UD will not be able to live “the life to which they have become accustomed” off of NFL and NHL licenses.
If Topps gets an exclusive license, watch for UD to be sold to either Panini or Topps in the next 18 months. Out of pride, UD will try to forge ahead. And probably fail.
Even if things were economically more rosy, the hobby is (was?) on an unsustainable path of one-upmanship in gimmicks and prices. Even 45-year old guys can’t keep buying $250 mini-boxes of material that become intrinsically worth less and less, because there is now a vast population of interesting 1/1s and so on throughout the hobby. The supposed home run cards have lost their “mojo”, and hobbyists would love to go back in time to get it back.
Nobody really complains that there’s one NFL licensed video game every year (Madden). I’m willing to bet that one year’s worth of Madden sales is nearly the same as the entire new product card revenue right now.
Not enough competition can be a bad thing. So can too much competition; at least when the free market instead turns into a free-for-all where you can’t even trust the integrity of the product.
Nobody else is going to play (or even *can* play) cop in the hobby market other than the players’ unions. They essentially control the “raw material” that card companies need: images of players. Though corrupt and hardly virtuous, the associations can see the diminished market as well as we can.
They also know what side gets buttered, and at this point, they can probably ask for more guaranteed money from an exclusive than they can from multiple vendors pleading poverty.
See, I think this hobby can go back to the old days of plain cardboard … and ultimately would be better for it. Will it happen? Probably not.
While there is an argument for not being able to unring the bell, we are forgetting that we are talking about baseball here. Unlike anything else in our country this sport has proven to be a catalyst for people, no matter what age 15, 50 or 75. I do think the hobby can survive with a little regression. I’m not sure this is possible in other sports, but in baseball … it can happen.
I saw the title of this blog on my blog roll, and my first thought was, “don’t we already?” Baseball cards survived long before UD, and if this happens it will survive after. While there are a couple of UD products I do enjoy, the only reason I bought more UD than Topps last year was for the Yankee Stadium Legacy.
Ever since MLBPA revoked the licensing of Donruss and other card companies, it kind of put a damper on the whole collecting experience in the first place. I really enjoyed Donruss, although grossly overproduced inserts and ‘hot packs’/'hot boxes’, it was entertaining and enjoyable as a kid.
Ask hockey collectors living under an UD-only regime about this. UD does a few things very well (the aforementioned authentic autos and game-used materials included) and a lot of other things (somewhat bland low and high-end brands) to make its money.
Competition is needed.
Meant to include this example, which has been noted here previously: 08/09 Fleer Ultra is one of UD’s hockey highlights. Nice price, nice design, nice inserts.
UD puts out a classic Cubs lineup, one that looks good top-to-bottom, but has individual weakness in certain spots.
ToddUncommon – Most dedicated hockey collectors hate the exclusive. Maybe other sports collectors looking in don’t see much wrong with it, but UD is terrible for QC, redemptions, and customer service in hockey. Sure, they might be terrible all over – but at least in other sports you have options. ITG is nice, but they don’t have the full coverage that a licensed manufacturer enjoys.
Hockey is doing well for UD right now, one of their strongest sports – not because they are putting out great products and wowing the hobby, but because there is no other reasonable option if you want to collect cards of current NHLers. They know that, and they have been slow to deal with issues, redemptions have gotten atrocious, replacements are a joke and CS is just a pipe dream.
A monopoly on baseball cards by any company would be very, very bad for collectors – and I’m amazed that anyone wouldn’t understand that.
I think that some people are overreacting to how “improved” Topps supposedly is in 2009. Sure, their base set is better, and Heritage is good as it always is, but what else do we have to look forward to? Allen & Ginter is stale, the Bowman brands have lost their luster with all of Razor’s exclusive deals, Finest will be filled with low-value auto’s, and we all saw what a debacle Stadium Club was last year.
Finally, we all know that Topps’ high end products are a joke. Do we really want to live in a world where Triple Threads and Sterling are the only choices for high end collectors? I certainly don’t.
Personally, I don’t think that there’s enough competition in the baseball card industry NOW. That’s why I want to see Donruss get a license again – to push Topps and Upper Deck to produce better products. If we go down to only one card company – it’s going to get worse and worse.
As much as I think Topps has kicked UDs butt this year, I think more competition is better. I would like to see Topps, UD AND Panini/Donruss get MLB licenses in ‘10.
To the poster who commented that won’t be happy with “plain cardboard”, I respectfully disagree.
What is the most popular set each year by far? Topps Heritage!
And what is Topps Heritage made out of? Plain cardboard!
Not a single piece of foil anywhere in sight, and mediocre jersey swatches/autos that elicit no interest whatsoever.
As to the issue of a Topps monopoly, remember that it’s just about current year releases. Even if Topps has a monopoly, they will be competing for collector $$$ with all the past releases that have come out. Many collectors, myself included, have gone years at a time without buying a new release. I didn’t buy a single pack from 1994 to 2003, for example, yet during that time I spent several thousand dollars working on older sets.
Press Pass actually introduced collectors to “used” memorabilia cards prior to Upper Deck. I believe they were making tire cards and cards from car metal first and then moved on to the actual racers if I recall correctly. I think that Topps’ history helps them if there is going to be a monopoly. Of course, UD could still be making Olympic sets or find other ways to keep its name out there but if they do lose baseball, that would be huge.
If it means cheaper cards, go fo it!
mfw13 – I made the comment about ‘plain cardboard’. While Topps Heritage is a popular set – its not the only popular set. And it isn’t only ‘plain cardboard’ – there are autos, Chromes, SPs, variations, inserts and relics in the boxes. You might not buy it looking for those, but some other box breakers could be.
Topps Total was the nearest thing to a ‘plain cardboard’ set that recent history has seen (there were some autos, but the odds were astronomical), and it didn’t last very long on the market.
I didn’t mean to insult hockey collectors in particular. Though I don’t actively collect hockey now, I’ve dabbled in it off and on the last 20+ years depending upon whether a team or players piqued my interest. I assembled 1983-84 and 84-85 OPC hockey sets from soccer tournament trips to British Columbia as a kid. Those are some of my fondest card collecting memories of all time. Yes, getting a Pelle Lindburgh rookie means that much to me.
That being said, my doubt is that the size of the overall card market at this point is presumed to have gotten smaller. Supposedly this was a billion dollar market in the mid-90s (and in mid-1990s dollars in terms of inflationary adjustment). Now it’s estimated to be anywhere from a $300 – $500 million dollar market, in today’s cheap, rubber dollars. That’s a contraction of 50% – 70%.
I think competition can work – but over-competition for the available market increases supply, and prices (especially aftermarket) get softer. NBA and NHL cards are fighting for a distant 3rd place in the remaining card market. More than one company could survive making NHL cards, but not by making 10 products each.
A – The Topps has put out 2 really nice baseball products this year, incluyding some nice inserts.
B – I hope UD goes out of businesss.
I bought 2 2009 baseball hobby boxes and got ZERO out of the 6 promised hits.
After calling UD customer serice, I was promised that I would receive 4 game used and 2 autos to make up for the coalation problem.
I sent in a nice letter (letting UD know that I have been a fan and customer since their inception in 1989), my UPC codes and holograms from the boxes.
When I got home yesterday there was a package from Upper Deck.
I was excited to see what they sent me. “What did I get,” you ask?
2 packs of 2009 Upper Deck baseball. Yep. That’s it. No autos and no relics.
The least they could have done was buy me dinner before screwing me.
I called UD customer service to express my frustration. I retold my story about the two boxes and the fact that I was promised my hits, not two stinking packs of cards. The guy I spoke to was very nice, but had a hard time understanding me and communicating in English. He spoke to his boss and said he would take care of everything by sending me a SPx Harvey Garcia autograph. Who? At last check none of those cards sold on ebay with a starting price of .99
I then called Customer Service again, hoping I could speak with someone who could understand me better. The woman I got could not understand why I was disappointed. She said, “on the box it says two relics and one autograph ON AVERAGE. You just got two bad boxes. That’s how it goes sometimes.” I replied, “if I had a box with just one game used card and one auto card, that would be understandable. Do you not see a problem here?”
“we sent you 2 packs, so you would have a chance of getting something good.” “Well, I got NOTHING AGAIN!”
“I bet if you had gotten a Derek Jeter autograph you wouldn’t be calling me.”
That’s when I lost it and told her…
“OK, this is why Upper Deck is going out of business! This is why you are laying people off and closing your Las Vegas office! This is a chance for you guys to provide some decent customer service for a 20 year customer and you are arguing with me. Wow… This is why you are going out of business!”
The customer service rep. responds by saying, “maybe so.”
Is this the last year we see a MLB baseball release from Upper Deck, the company that changed the industry 20 years ago?
Maybe so
Wow, great comment Bryan.
But those items have hurt this hobby almost more than they’ve helped. It’s driven up pack prices, made people more greedy and turned the hobby on its head, creating an “all or nothing” attitude for lots of people.
1. Pack prices have gone up considerably from the start of cards. More expensive materials, rights, licenses, and other things are the main contributers to that. Sure, GU and Autos havent helped, but I dont think they are anywhere near the main culprit.
2. Made people greedy? Of course the hobby is filled, but that has nothing to do with GUed and Autos! The hobby was filled with greedy people since the beginning, but now its more visible due to the internet. Did you honestly think GU and Autos made them MORE greedy? No, its just human nature.
3. As for hurting the hobby? I will disagree 110%. First, they brought the hobby to millions of people who wouldnt have cared about it in the first place, myself included. Second, the invention of these cards turned a barely in the black hobby into a blistering billion dollar industry. That in turn has allowed for many of the innovations that make your favorite sets your favorite sets. Without the money from that innovation, the hobby would be around, but not the industry.
4. All or nothing? Yeah, if you are completely basing your intrest in cards in the money aspect. Its the same with any value ridden commodity, though. That would be there with or without GUed and Autos, regardless of what was invented in the industry.
Listen, if you think GUed cards and auto cards ruined this hobby, you are looking at it with blinders on. Do you really think that any of the things you hate would be gone without those types of cards? Hell no. It would be same shit, different day.
Gellman, I think you make valid points, but there are a few I disagree with.
1) Pack prices: A box of basic Topps in 1989 retailed for $18; in 2009 a hobby box retails for $70-plus. You’re telling me that the cost of Topps quadrupled because the price of synthetic cardboard, gloss, foil and a license went up by the same margin? No way. Now I’m not suggesting that Topps should cost $18 again, I get inflation, but rolled into that higher price are several factors including contracts to procure signatures and acquire game-used items.
2) Greed: Perhaps I worded my statement wrong. I should have said autos and game-used cards increased the urge to be greedy. You’re right, the relics didn’t make people greedy per se. My argument is that such relics have made people go above and behind their normal duties to seek these relic cards to turn them for a profit. This is the reason pack searchers exist. Those guys are not hobbyists or even collectors. They are opportunists who’ve found a new way to make a profit. Would greed exist in the hobby without relics? Yes, but not at the levels they are at now.
3) I said relics “hurt,” not “ruined,” the hobby. I think the relic cards have a place, and to some extent I enjoy them, but they have hurt this hobby without a doubt. Has it drawn people in? Yes. But how many people have left the hobby because of all the factors stated above? I’d guess even more.
Monopolies are bad.
There might not be a choice in the matter however. The economy is a wreck. Upper Deck is laying people off like mad. Nobody is spending money. The ACC tournament did not sell out for the first time this year. Remember, this is Catlanta, half the state of Kentucky usually drives down I-75 every March. I finally broke down a bought a few packs of Heritage yesterday and I’ve felt guilty about it all day.
I’ve thought that the best scenario is 3 manufacturers with 10-12 products each. That way there’s competition and each can have a wide range of products. Right now that is probably way too much. To be honest it might be in Upper Deck’s best interest to sit out the next few years and get their house in order, then come back into baseball once the economy starts picking up. That’s assuming that they are still around then.
Right now the best bet may be to let Topps have their license – BUT – make it easier for one offs and regional products to exist. Let Post put cards in (or on) their cereal boxes again. get more regional oddball sets in the mix. Let Panini make a sticker album and set. Hell, even let Upper Deck make one baseball base set just to keep their continuity while they weather the storm. I doubt any of that other stuff will happen though, MLB is notorious for murdering off small niche products because they couldn’t pay the fees. It would probably be better for everyone in the long run though.
Also – to back up Gellman’s point. Autogamers did not ‘kill’ the hobby. $100+ packs did not kill it, and shiny chase foil parallel 1/1 case hit whatevers didn’t kill it either. If anything killed the hobby greed killed it, and that was introduced into the mix looooong ago. Greed and the resulting overpriced, overproduced and poor quality crap that hit the market once greed took over. All that other stuff is merely symptoms of the underlying greed problem. Also see: Videogame crash of 1983 and the Comic Book crash of the early ’90s. the hobbies didn’t actually go away, but they were permanently altered, sometimes for the best. Maybe it’s trading cards’ turn.
Have relics and autos ‘ruined’ or ‘hurt’ the hobby? I think there are going to be plenty of people lining up on both sides of that stream … and each side will have valid points. Whether or not the hobby has been ‘hurt’ is a subjective call, but it definitely has been CHANGED. The thirty- and forty-somethings out there who have returned to the hobby after many years away have returned to something very different than what they left.
Yes many people, no doubt, have been drawn to the hobby by high-end product and the pursuit of hits. I think it’s safe to assert that many people have also left for same. What’s that leave? A completely different base of hobbyists. For better or worse the hobby has changed and it’s that changed base that will drive the market, not the fact that there is one manufacturer, two manufacturers or 20 manufacturers.
Many of the stat-geeks like me, who once spent long nights pouring over the backs of baseball cards (and commons, no less), have found a new home in the fantasy baseball arena. Topps (and all the rest) can try to win back that crowd (which they might have been trying to do with Topps Total) or they can market to their new base, the glorified lottery ticket buyer. It’s all dollars and cents.
This is the dangerous game you play in speaking absolutes and why Gellman and dayf have this right. People are saying certain types of collectors do this and that to ruin the hobby. Well I am a set collector, but love National Treasures and buy boxes from low to high end, don’t think flagships are worth it and love vintage. So according to some I am a greedy lottery ticket buyer, yet set collecting guy who would only love one brand, a purist throwback, yet embodies all that’s wrong with the hobby. Think about how dumb that is to say. The greed started with my beloved vintage getting astronomical prices growing up. Also, last year’s heritage while building my master set I pulled an Aparicio autograph. It was awesome, best pull to me in my life (ebay value, beckett value be damned) so was that impure collecting? I love being able to get my favorites, Heritage, Masterpieces and a few other releases. In football, I’ll just say besides Heritage you baseball folks are missing out. The array of options is truly great and you could never pin my collecting habits down besides a clear preference to Donruss. All this means is options are good, and don’t pigeon hole collectors, it’s likely to be wrong.
The MLBPA may be playing what it thinks is its last card remaining in the face of an economy that they’d hate to admit is even more powerful than they are. Shopping around exclusivity is a reasonable strategy to try to salvage guaranteed money from a single source, than from dubious market longevity from two or three big licensees.
I agree with dayf, that if the players’ unions want to generate more revenue, then at this point in time they should lower the fees to allow more, but smaller products to have a chance to flourish. Players’ likenesses just don’t have the Q-rating they once did; it’s hard to take any so-called “sports hero” at face value anymore.
Judging solely by design and in addition solely by what I’ve seen on this site, Upper Deck had the 2009 design to beat. Both companies were designed well, but man, Upper Deck looked fantastic enough this year I actually considered buying a box even though the last major stars I ever collected were Griffey, Thomas, and Plantier.
dayf – the ACC tournament didn’t sell out in Atlanta? Wow. I think that’s proof that the ACC tournament should never be held outside of North Carolina. It would’ve sold out in three seconds here.
Corporations are going to be corporations, so either way there will be issues with profit over product and cluelessness of marketing.
But I would oppose the monopoly for reasons of simple aesthetics. The average designs from Topps vs. Upper Deck are comparable to Crayola vs. DaVinci. This year’s Topps is actually nice, but if you look at most original Topps designs (low end thru high end), they use a certain simplistic shape or monochrome pattern and primary colors. Upper Deck on the other hand, uses multiple colors and shades, as well as detailed graphic and photo effects. (Heritage and A&G don’t count because they were designed long ago and not by the current people). Simplicity is nice for certain things, but spice it up now and then, please! Everyone knows these aren’t just for kids…
And if it was just Topps, we’d be stuck with fake players, modified pictures, and stupid jokes with no alternatives except inferior products that have to dance around restrictions about showing logos and team colors. That’s kinda missing the point if you ask me…
Steve Judd a must-read? Please. In my opinion, the guy talks a good game, but really is clueless. He was hired by card companies because each wanted to know what was going on at the other. When he displayed absolutely no business sense, he was dismissed. Quite a feat, though – fired from each manufacturer. Not too many can say that.
Update
Upper Deck came through!
I received a package from them yesterday containing:
SPx autos – Ian Kinsler and Brandon Webb
SPx gu – Ichiro, Matsui and Posada
Thank you Upper Deck!
You did make good on your promise and made up for the two hobby boxes containing no hits.
I just got back in the hobby 2 years ago after being away for about 20 years. Speaking just on the base sets I really prefer Upper Deck, although this years Topps looks pretty good. But man last years Topps looked silly to me, everytime I see one of those cards I think of the circus.
If there’s only 1 company with the MLB license it will be Topps. And like any other company with a monopoly they will eventually just shovel out crap to save a nickel.
What MLB should do is to negotiate the collusive contract these fools can’t seem to figure out on their own.
The industry’s problem is too many product lines. MLB should force all of them “back to the future” where they each get to produce a single annual set of cards.
If I was a fascist traditionalist (and I sort of am) I’d tell these guys that they must have a retail price of $0.75. Since UD set the ball in wrecking ball in motion, I hesitate to allow them to play, but let’s go with Topps, Fleer, Donruss and UD.
I want to see the damn hobby return to the world where cards are sitting in the Candy aisle at every grocery store and convenience store in America.
One standard set, that’s all they get.
If MLB gave a rats butt about their game, this is what they’d do.
And this old guy would feel like it was 1985 all over again…:)