That was the season I pretty much hung it up. The amount of subsets, the cost of the pack, it was getting out of hand… add to that an incident that happened with Topps that had me boycott buying their products as well and you have a disgruntled old dude. I really loved collecting. I started in 1978 and had a great collection, including complete, hand collated Topps sets from 1981 to 1991. Oh well. I still buy a pack here and there for grins, but nothing like I used.to.

Finally, here is where things get ugly. I saw a tweet this morning that caught my eye. Topps getting an exclusive MLB contract? That’s complete bullshit. It’s as stupid as Upper Deck getting an exclusive “Autograph” deal with Lebron and Jordan. It’s as stupid as Barry Bonds wanting to sign an exclusive with Topps. It’s just plain stupid, or it?

On many levels it’s pretty bad. It muscles out other card makers, mainly Upper Deck, the only strong company left really. They came along in 1989 with their own baseball set and was pretty well received. They went on to really “Modernize” the industry. According to the NY Times, Topps Owner Michael Eisner, this move is supposed to help the kids.

“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 confusionto the kid who walks into a Wal-Mart or a hobby store. It’s also been difficult to promote cards as unique and original.”

I can buy this somewhat. Back when I was a kid, I had Topps, Fleer, and Donruss to choose from. There was a main set for each sport each year. Without going broke, a kid could collect an entire set by grabbing a pack or two every couple weeks throughout the year. In the late 90s and early in this decade, pack prices had skyrocketed to where kids really were elbowed out of the game. Sure, kids could buy the ultra crappy base sets for each company only, but kids want the cool cards with autographs and jerseys too. I remember standing in Target hearing a 10 year old explain to his mom why the $3.99 pack was better than the $1.59 pack. His mother caved and made him offer up his next 2 weeks of allowance to pay for what he wanted.

On this level, I can see where this exclusive could benefit collectors, but isn’t a monopoly bad for business overall. Forget that it’s not legal in some industries. The rivalry of competition makes companies do better I feel. Will the NFL and NBA follow suit? By allowing MLB and Topps to pull this off, they are allowing Upper Deck to become another “Press Pass”, at least in baseball. Does this deal prohibit UD from minor league licenses too?

The more and more I think about this as I type it out with flowing thoughts, the more and more I am warming up to the positives. I just wish that they would have chose Upper Deck over Topps. Topps crappy customer support really lost me back in 2004, even though they were my absolute favorite growing up.  I am liking the idea of having fewer sets to collect each season. If Topps scales back the umpteen dozen sets each year, it will work I think.

Anyhow, I have contradicted myself a few times already. I was outraged reading that this was happening, but like I said above, I am warming up to the idea. Here is what MLB says about this…

“There is a greater chance of organizing the marketplace with a singular partner,” said Tim Brosnan, executive vice president for business at Major LeagueBaseball. “It’s a business that’s critically important to our mission, to make players icons to kids.”

In the same NY Times article, there are a couple quotes from people in the industry supporting this decision too. Let’s look at my pros and cons:

Pros

• Less product flooding the market each year.
• More interaction between MLB and a single company = better relations?
• Possibility to make Baseball Collecting a kids hobby again, which seems to be Eisner’s goal.

Cons

• I don’t like Topps after they screwed me over
• Possibility of Topps becoming complacent in the industry since there is no completion to push them.
• Lack of choice.
• Very unfair to Upper Deck and other companies.

I guess it all depends on how it plays out. Is Eisner sincere or full of shit. That will be the biggest issue here. Is he truly trying to make this fun for kids and collectors again or just trying to gouge the market.