Of course Topps doesn't read our blogs!! (I know they don't read mine)

Good Monday evening to you all, I truly hope that your week got off to a fine start..

I've had a couple of weeks to reflect on the great '12 Topps "debate", and then I took a look at a post earlier today by Cam over at Cardboard Heaven wherein he mentions that Topps doesn't read our blogs because of the design elements of one of the insert sets reminded him of an Upper Deck product.  Do I agree with that statement...you better believe it...take a look at the scan below and see if you agree.

The same only different

Of course Topps doesn't read our blogs...why should they?

Of the regular bloggers out there, how many are there...350?   400?

How many people do you think are out there buying cards in Wal-Marts, Targets, Meijer's and their local card stores.  Tens of thousands?  Maybe a hundred thousand?  More?  You get the point.


I work for a large delivery corporation, and have done so now for 13 years.  A former boss of mine gave me food for thought about how big companies work.

"The machine keeps rolling whether you are here or not", he told me.  I think about that every time I'm not there at work. Damn straight...

The same rings true for Topps.  I'm not trying to be a Debbie Downer to you all, but the Topps machine will keep rolling, whether we, the blogosphere (should I count myself in that fraternity yet?) collect them this year, or not.  There will be a 2013 set, a 2014 set, and so on.  Do I support those who have said that they will not collect this year?  Absolutely, that is 100% your choice, and I would never force anyone into doing something they didn't want to do.  Will I collect 2012 Topps, the answer is yes.  Am I doing so more begrudgingly than a week or 2 ago.  Yes, I am.  Because I've had time to think, reflect, and see first hand the product. 


I think that the point I was trying to get at before, and didn't articulate it clearly enough the first time, was that Topps isn't going to cater to us, the collector.  Why?

• We have nowhere else to go.   The monopoly on the card market for them makes it easy to spend less on design and marketing, because they know that we're stuck.  For a lot of the hardcore card collectors out there, there is only so much of the past you can go back and purchase.  
• If the card portion of their business does see a reduction in profits, Topps has other ventures to take up the slack.  How many of you knew that Topps Inc. was into fragrances?  Check this little article out.  Maybe that's why a lot of people out there are saying that Topps products stink this year, because they are more worried about other things like fragrances than they are about their baseball card line.  (Well no probably not, but a little attempt at humor never hurts)

When their flagship product sells like hotcakes every year, Topps is going to have the mentality "if it ain't broke, why fix it?"  Topps sure will never fix a base set like the flag ship either.  They'll pump their money into the high end products, where they make the big $$. Until a full fledged competitor gets a full license (MLB & MLBPA), Topps isn't going to have to fix it.  From where I sit, it's a damn shame.

When the big debate about Topps 2012 was ringing through the blogosphere in late January and early February, I read as much as I could.  I even ranted myself, and read the comments that others made about my rant.  Some of those comments I've read 2 and 3 times over.  Some were positive and agreed with what I said, while others weren't critical but went on to espouse why they weren't going to collect, and their reasons for doing so.  As always, your comments are appreciated and welcome. 

What's the reason for this long winded, meandering rant?  I bought 2 rack packs of '12 Topps on the weekend.  In the bottom portion of both of the packs, I received these two inserts.

Maybe, some day, someone will teach Topps the meaning of the word......

Random

I'm slowly turning to the dark side folks....hard to believe for Mr. Positive....

if you made it this far, I thank you for your patience, and thank you for reading

Robert