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Can someone please explain to me the fascination with including movie and TV relics in sports products? I think its an interesting idea for a set all by itself, but when included in sports products, I think its usually pretty dumb.
The reason I decided to write about this is because I have seen the upswing in the industry, and you know it will be blown out of proportion. Case and point: 2008 Spectrum Baseball. In a typical box break, you will get a few jerseys, a baseball auto, and an auto of a has been 80's hair metal star. Now, these are not Jon Bon Jovi auto cards, they are Kip Winger auto cards. Is this really something we need? I would rather have more sports bang for my buck than more autos of guitar players and other entertainment stars. Of course, if the whole point of the set is entertainment based, that’s a little different. I do like the concept of Americana, and I think the Heroes products and Indiana Jones products put out by Topps are pretty cool. However, I don’t like getting a Dokken auto when I should be getting more baseball stuff.
So far this year, Upper Deck has released a number of sets that have entertainment based insert subsets for NO APPARENT reason other than filling space. Topps, not to be out done, decided that they needed to put manufactured letters of the presidential candidates in their sets. Seriously, is this their idea of a cruel joke? Has creativity slumped that much? At least with the Fans of the Game set from DLP a while back, they had a way to relate the people on the cards to the subject matter of the set. Is the lead singer from Warrant a baseball fan? I have no fucking clue, but he has an auto in Spectrum.
It has already reached a level that Upper Deck has released entertainment relic cards that have no picture, no full name of the actor listed on the card, and NO LICENSING. Why in fucks sake would I want a relic worn by "Jim" in the movie "Bruce Almighty" if there is no picture and no reasonable explanation as to why the card was produced. What crap. At least with Americana, we got pictures and cool stuff to boot.
Lets hope that certain companies will get the idea and devote entire sets to these type of things, and not burden the collector with crap cards from people that have no connection to sports in a set that should be devoted to showcasing your favorite player instead of your favorite actor/musician.
Monday, July 14, 2008
The Entertainment Invasion
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On some levels, it works. Case in point: Allen & Ginter. The use of celebrities and non-baseball athletes goes with the spirit of the original A&Gs.
ReplyDeleteBut yeah, if I pull another "baseball" card of Barack Obama, I swear I'm going to off somebody.
PS Fan of the Game was a Donruss insert
ReplyDeleteYeah, sorry that was my bad about the DLP FOTG set.
ReplyDeleteI agree, there is a place for this type of musician/actor stuff if they are in their own dedicated sets. Inserts into baseball or football sets makes no sense and is beyond ridiculous. An 80s hair band set - cool. Stryper and Barry Zito in the same set - not so much.
ReplyDeleteOne exception: If there is ever a 1/1 dual auto concert worn undies triple thread of Rick Astley and Biz Markie it immediately becomes my white whale. I don't care what set it's in.
I can understand why they do it - to cross promote their other products... but I hate it! If I wanted an entertainment set, I'd buy it.
ReplyDeleteIf they want to cross promote their products, I'd rather them give a coupon code or something for ordering from their site.
amen! I agree 100% Gellman.
ReplyDeleteI HATE THESE BS INSERTS IN BASEBALL CARDS! It's a waste.
I could care less about a piece of a shirt from some actor in a movie, or an autograph from the bass player in Twisted Sister.
I'm buying BASEBALL cards not HAIR BAND CARDS!
I want shit to be separate. I put this in the category of 'gimmick' to sell more product. Seriously, Donruss Americana is an example of doing it right, make it an entirely separate product. If you want some piece of fabric from a 'D' list actor then don't put that trash into sports product, because sports product has enough trash in it already these days.
ReplyDeleteThe sad thing is that it's not even Kip Winger but Kip Winger's back-up guitar player, etc.
ReplyDeleteIt's easy to figure out WHY they're doing it, Non-Sports card sales are in the toilet, even worse than sports-cards.
ReplyDeleteDude, If I got a Jim card, I would be so pissed off!!!! Its bad enough with the crappy political cards and history cards Topps feels the need to stink up thier product.
ReplyDelete