Topps signs exclusive deal with MLB

[Invader3K]

I do not collect baseball cards anymore, but figured some on here might. Found this interesting: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/06/sports/baseball/06cards.html?_r=1 "The Topps Company will become the exclusive trading card maker of Major League Baseball next year in a multiyear deal that appears to seriously hurt Upper Deck, its primary competitor in the once-vibrant business."... "This is redirecting the entire category toward kids," said Eisner, who acquired the company in 2007. "Topps has been making cards for 60 years, the last 30 in a nonexclusive world that has caused confusion to the kid who walks into a Wal-Mart or a hobby store. It's also been difficult to promote cards as unique and original." Upper Deck refused to address the Topps deal, which is to be announced Thursday. A spokesman for Upper Deck, based in Carlsbad, Calif., said only that it renewed its trading card license with the Major League Baseball Players Association last month and would keep producing cards. While the union license gives Upper Deck the right to use player likenesses, it will no longer have the rights to team logos and trademarks."

[Schlitz001]

I don't know what kind of a profit Upper Deck was making in this business, but this is obviuolsy a huge blow to them. I think they will have a hard time convincing kids to buy a "Prince Fielder - Milwaukee" card with Prince in a generic looking uniform. Eisner seems to think that kids were confused with all of the choices in cards, but when I was younger I would collect cards from Bowmen, Fleer, UD, Topps, and Donruss. Now when you collect every Topps card for 2010, you are done for the year?

 

I think if MLB really wants kids to get back into baseball cards, they should do the right thing and force Topps to price them at $0.25 a pack and include a hard stick of gum.

[craig712]

I collected as a kid too, right up into my late teens. I recently started getting some cards on Ebay (Brewers players past & present) to one day pass onto our child that we plan to have soon. I dont think I would ever want a card that doesnt have a logo or anything else besides the players name. That kind of seems pointless. I do wish though that they would get packs back down to a more manageable price for the young kids who want to collect. How can you charge $10 or more for one pack of cards that probably only comes with two or three cards?

[PlayerHader]

I remember going to the gas station every Wednesday during my little league games. I'd scrounge up 50 cents and go get a pack of baseball cards. 16 in a pack; you don't see that anymore.

[logan82]

It is not as easy to find cards in stores. These exclusive deals suck. We have already had them in videogames. The ones who suffer are the consumers. I don't think consumers are so stupid that they can't handle having more than one choice in baseball cards. This may put a huge dent in game used type cards. Game worn jerseys specifically. I try to collect cards with either a game used item or a signature. Only players who we draft and brring up through the system.

[TooLiveBrew]

These exclusive deals suck. We have already had them in videogames. The ones who suffer are the consumers.

 

Agreed completely.

 

 

I don't think consumers are so stupid that they can't handle having more than one choice in baseball cards

 

Mike Eisner sure does!

 

 

""This is redirecting the entire category toward kids... Topps has been making cards for 60 years, the last 30 in a nonexclusive world that has caused confusion to the kid who walks into a Wal-Mart or a hobby store. It's also been difficult to promote cards as unique and original."

 

The next time a big businessman screams about 'letting the market decide' or 'this is a capitalist country!', remember this quote from Eisner. It's for the kids! We've been around a long time, so we deserve to not have to compete with anyone!

 

Weak.

[logan82]

This doesn't really make the market of baseball cards much clearer really. Topps has 7 different lines of baseball cards out for the 2009 season. Link

 

They have the Allen & Ginter line as well as Bowman.

[TooLiveBrew]

I'm confused.

[Invader3K]

Those Allen & Ginter ones look insane and cool and the same time.

[GAME05]

i used to collect cards, too. i got out of it mostly once there started to be a million different companies making cards and even more sets and specialty sets. i'd make trades with the brother a card that was $2.50 and going down in value for a card that was $1.80 and going up in value. then suddenly it was a Griffey Upper Deck that was selling for $50 and specialty sets that were hundreds of dollars.

 

there's something to be said for Eisner's comment that the market just isn't for kids anymore.

[bando1234]

I still collect cards. Too me the downward spiral came in about 1984. I believe the 1984 Donruss set was short printed which drove up values of the cards. It the first time I remember cards that were not part of a set distributed in packs(2 cards at the time but if you buy a pack you will get a lot of cards that are not considered part of the set). The other thing I remember is the Fleer Update (with Clemmens & Puckett) came out at a ridiculous price. If memory serves me guys like Mike Fitzgerald fleer update were selling for a buck a piece. Then around 87 & 88 & some years after while prices were slowly going up 5 cents a pack per year it seemed most things were mass produced. I must have about 30 or 40 Tom Glavine rookies that might book for a buck today. Sportflics were on the scene for a bit , as was score, but the first pack that I can remember being over a dollar was the 1989 Upper deck. Soon after all sorts of cards companies came out but most were still owned by the bigger card companies(Topps had Bowman, Donruss had Studio & so on) At that time it became evident that this was more of a business than a hobby.

 

To me there is something to say for a kid taking a buck or two & buying a few packs of cards. They can collect a set at a time and trade for the ones they need. That's how I got my 1987 Topps set. That same year I started the 1977 set also. I had about 300 cards out of the 660. I had everyone listed in beckett except the Dale Murphy rookie which booked for about 50 dollars back then. Unfortunately I saw no way of getting that , so I traded the majority of those cards including Andre Dawson rookie & the Nolan Ryan. I have often thought of trying that set one more time.

[jaybird2001wi]

One thing I remember as a kid buying those under a dollar packs of cards were the card stores. Back in my neighborhood in the late 80s-early 90s there were two card stores within walking distance. In the same neighborhood today, both are gone. One of the two card store owners gave up on the industry and traded his entire collection inventory for an antique car and called it quits collecting cards and other memorabilia.

The other store was basically a card store inside a clock store and the clock store went out of business in the late 90s so the card store went too. I think the beginning of the end of the card industry was when all the newer companies came out with insanely high glossy card packs to "woo" the youngsters away from Topps and other older companies and it drove the prices up.

My brother owns a Robin Yount rookie card and during the card heyday, it was worth $100 and now he would be glad to get $20 for it. For some reason the new edition prices have gone up while the legendary card values have gone down. It used to be the other way around.