Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Topps Exclusive Is Bad For Business

Topps may have gotten the exclusive and put themselves in a great position, but its the collector that once again gets the shaft. Regardless of what Topps will do in the coming years, it will be without "true" competition, thus leading to more stale crap like Triple Threads and Sterling. Without having to put up with logo bearing products from UD or Panini, Topps is free to release anything they want without fear of losing customers to the competition.


Exclusives are never good, regardless of how they are sliced, as competition has always been the way better products are made. Considering that some Topps products are already the worst on the calendar, this is bad news all around. Im sincerely hoping I am wrong, trust me.

This is not to say that UD or Panini will not release unlicensed products, but they shouldnt have to do it that way. Granted, as UD has said, its more about the players than the logos on the jerseys, which I agree with 100%, but others arent smart enough to actually see past this original article. I say that UD takes a dive in baseball like nothing we have ever seen, unfortunately, therefore putting more strain on the already overburdened football brands to carry the company. Lucky for UD, the other two in that area are like one legged men in an asskicking contest.

Here's to my now even more greatly reduced baseball collecting habits.

8 comments:

  1. I'm done with baseball now, I like buying high end products but, Sterling/Triple Threads is only entertaining for so long. Without Premier I have no real need to buy baseball products personally. Time to switch full focus on NFL I suppose since UD is miles ahead of everyone else on it.

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  2. Upper Deck is crap and the beginning of the end is finally in sight, thank god. Football and Hockey only? Losing Basketball, Baseball and YuGiOh? Bankruptcy is imminent. SWEET!

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  3. The last "exclusive" product to have a positive impact on anything was . . .

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  4. Great news! This is the best case scenario for us high-volume case breakers. Sorry Gellman, but "hobbyists" like you don't matter anymore in this industry. It's all about the big buyers, and we'll clean up because of this. Supply and demand - look it up, kid.

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  5. Your comment makes absolutely no sense Carrie, a high volume case breaker who doesn't like Premier? I'm sorry but I'll spend 1500-1700 on a case of Premier way before I'd touch a case of Sterling or Triple Threads.

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  6. Carrie, unless we have been a part of different hobbies since 1996, people like me are the prime demographic. There are thousands of me, where there are only a few hundred of you. Tell me again how we "hobbyists" dont matter anymore?

    I think it comes down to the fact that Topps and UD people are like Pepsi and Coke people. Although Topps fans have been around much longer, so they think that things will be like they were pre-UD, pre-fleer, and pre-donruss. What they dont get is that the landscape of the industry has changed more than Bruce Jenner's face.

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  7. gellman would you be this upset about exclusivity if UD had the MLB rights based. I don't think so at UD wouldn't allow you to be upset.

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  8. No, nobody would be as upset, UD actually makes quality products. Exclusives suck, but if someone had to have it, I think everyone would choose UD.

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