Good evening all, and I hope that you Friday finds you all safe and well. As many of you have weighed in over the past few days on the announcement that Panini has been granted an MLBPA license to produce trading cards, I have done quite a bit of reading on other blogs enjoying weighing the pros and cons of other collectors opinions.
For me, as far as what I've seen from one picture, to be honest it's a "wait and see" attitude from my desk here. If I were to base my opinion on the one picture of Josh Hamilton using a hitting pose with no sense of baseball in the background (stadiums, grass, etc.), then I would say "sorry, but I'll stick with Topps thank you". But as any reasonable collector knows, one picture does not tell the whole story. So until I see the first release from Panini, which from what I understand will not be until December, I'll reserve my judgement.
Do I feel that the Topps monopoly should be broken? Absolutely, competition is good for the marketplace, and good for the collector. Do I think Panini will be a solid contender for Topps, well that's hard to say, because they are limited right now by the fact that they only have half of the pie. If Panini acquires a MLB license to use logos/team names, then yes they will be a major player in the baseball card market in my opinion (here's hoping).
There will always be some burning questions for me as far as baseball cards go. Don't get me wrong here, I have always loved collecting baseball, for me it is a close 2nd to hockey. But why oh why am I still seeing new products for 2011 (or the end of any calendar year) coming in December, For me, this makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. Maybe in the south, where the winters are warmer, I can see it, but here in western PA...December through February I am worrying about other things, such as digging out from under feet of snow and following football and hockey seasons as they progress. My birthday is at the end of October, and by then I'm ready for baseball season to be done, and I generally don't think about baseball again until I'm ready to be done with winter at the start of spring training in February. I see that Topps 2012 baseball is being released on February 1...I'd love to see that date pushed back to coincide with the start of spring training.
Hockey for me has the same issue....why in the hell are card companies releasing super premium products in August for the -'10-11 season? I'm sweltering in August, and you want me to pay hundreds of dollars for a high end hockey product? Release them in January/February, there's a winner in my books then.
Yes, I am but one collector, but that's the good thing about having a blog. I get to voice my opinions, and those in the world can exercise their right to agree or disagree (or even ignore as my wife does) with my opinion.
As always, thanks for reading, and have a fantastic weekend....Robert
I think it would be definitely for the better now with some competition. It'll keep Topps on its toes (hopefully). I see that you are also a Jays fan, how have our paths not crossed before? Anyway, I looked over your want lists and I have a bunch of 2011 Ginter and 2011 series 1 and 2 that you need. If you want 'em, they're yours, all I'll need is an address.
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