Topps now the sole producer of MLB cards in 2010 and beyond

[WaCougMBS]

A link for you card-heads out there

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd ... p&c_id=mlb

[Sticky Spice]

Interesting topic - wish it could be moved to General Talk so it could actually get some action.

I just heard about this yesterday on PTI. They also said the market is down something like 80% since the mid-90's. They were way off base talking about how kids nowadays need electronics in their hands. The meteoric rise of baseball cards in the 90's had almost nothing to do with kids. It was adults either rekindling their old hobby with a salary instead of an allowance, or seeing cards as some sort of investment.

Essentially it was just a fad that blew itself out... possibly prematurely with an over-saturation of the market, but the end was coming.

Ebay was no help either. Before Ebay if you found a really rare card at a convention you almost had to buy it if you were ever going to get it. Since Ebay, probably 50-80 of an insert card serial numbered to 100 end up going on the online market. Star inserts like Barry Sanders or Frank Thomas that appeared in the alleged price guide for $40 were going for $5 or less.

The innocent age of collecting where fans "grew closer to the game," as Selig put it, ended in about 1988 and it never returned. The rise was all about money - rarity, big alleged book values, and the thrill of the pull (essentially gambling).

[Madison]

Interesting move. I guess that's part of why the Heritage IV Chrome WWE product still hasn't been released. Topps has been too busy with other stuff (like the new UFC 2 release and this exclusive baseball deal).

I agree there are way too many companies doing baseball cards. Just too much product out there. What kills me though is to see the 1 pack per box stuff that has 5 cards in that one pack and runs $200+. For five cards! Granted, they guarantee 2 are autos, 2 are event worn, all of which are really low numbered, but still, $200+ for 5 unknown cards? Yikes! I like limited edition cards as much as anyone, but it can (and has) gotten to the "silly" point.

Hopefully Topps doesn't go the way of old though and just mass produce every single set and saturate the market. Kills me to see stuff like the '89 Topps rookie card for Ken Griffey Junior listing for $5-$8 bucks. That was a huge card to have back then, but it really wasn't worth anything because Topps just kept on printing.

There's got to be some sort of balance. Mass producing is bad, limited editions can get bad, the middle ground is best on this one. Maybe with one company basically having complete control over it all, that will help. We'll see.

[bigken117]

I think the competition is better, if Topps has nobody to compete with they could get complacent.
But the market is over saturated with too many companies making too many different kinds, from $3 packs to the $200+ packs.
You know what's killing me is the non-sports stuff being put into the packs now. Obama has cards in Topps releases And I'm pulling autographs....of scouts

[Madison]

You know what's killing me is the non-sports stuff being put into the packs now. Obama has cards in Topps releases And I'm pulling autographs....of scouts

I pulled an event used pants card for Austin Powers out of a baseball box (Artifacts I think it was).

So yeah, I agree that the non-sport inserts are silly.

[Madison]

http://blogbeckett.wordpress.com/2009/11/11/topps-the-odd-one-out/#more-14259

No football or basketball for Topps.

Maybe cards will get cool again starting in '10.