Topps monopoly

[soey10]

Now that in 2023 there will only be topps cards will this hurt the card collector industry.

I have been collecting since 1987 and can remember a time when there were three major card companies topps, fleer and donruss.

I can also remember a time when there were so much variety it was not a good thing either. But multiple companies drive innovation in my opinion. Now with Topps as the only game in town will they just keep printing the same old stuff as they do each year?

Even though panini didn’t have a license they still had pretty good ideas, not perfect but if they had logos they would have been wayyyyy better.


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[ThoseBackPages]

#ThanksTopps

[notoriousrmb]

Wondering if FANATICS might be in over their head...

[tkraft24]

Panini wasn’t considered competition and certainly didn’t drive Topps to be better. They were just fighting for scraps at lower price points.

[soey10]

Originally Posted by tkraft24

Panini wasn’t considered competition and certainly didn’t drive Topps to be better. They were just fighting for scraps at lower price points.

Agree. But it is hard to compete when Topps owns the only license.
There should be multiple licenses given to level the playing field and flush out the winners and losers.


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[BRob1]

Originally Posted by ThoseBackPages

#ThanksTopps

I would say thanks MLB. they are the ones who decided to issue one exclusive license to fanatics.

[tkraft24]

Originally Posted by soey10

Agree. But it is hard to compete when Topps owns the only license.
There should be multiple licenses given to level the playing field and flush out the winners and losers.


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That’s not for hobbyists to decide unfortunately. It’s the leagues that have chosen to go the route of exclusive deals.

I just focus on singles from a few releases a year I like and ignore the rest. My focus is definitely more so on 2000s cards and I’m fine with the market not going backwards. It makes the old stuff even more endearing now.

[Nester99]

If you don’t like the monopoly, buy more leaf!!..

[TimBuckTwo]

HA !

Thought Topps was coming out with a new set.

F Topps.

[babybull]

Originally Posted by soey10

Now that in 2023 there will only be topps cards will this hurt the card collector industry.

I have been collecting since 1987 and can remember a time when there were three major card companies topps, fleer and donruss.

I can also remember a time when there were so much variety it was not a good thing either. But multiple companies drive innovation in my opinion. Now with Topps as the only game in town will they just keep printing the same old stuff as they do each year?

Even though panini didn’t have a license they still had pretty good ideas, not perfect but if they had logos they would have been wayyyyy better.


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I remember the Golden years of the 1950's 60's and 70's when Topps was the only game in town.

[Centauri3]

It’s frustrating that MLB went with a monopoly license, then Topps prints a billion different sets anyway. Too damn many.

[jduds]

Originally Posted by soey10

Now that in 2023 there will only be topps cards will this hurt the card collector industry.

I have been collecting since 1987 and can remember a time when there were three major card companies topps, fleer and donruss.

I can also remember a time when there were so much variety it was not a good thing either. But multiple companies drive innovation in my opinion. Now with Topps as the only game in town will they just keep printing the same old stuff as they do each year?

Even though panini didn’t have a license they still had pretty good ideas, not perfect but if they had logos they would have been wayyyyy better.


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Pacific and Upper Deck feel left out. I agree that multiple companies is likely better for innovation. That said, Topps has done a pretty good job innovating under Fanatics so far. There is a noticeable effort to make the inserts more appealing and last year gave us Cosmic, Logofractor, and Gilded. Home Field Advantage shows that they can rip off good ideas so the lack of competition won't truly kick in until Panini is gone in a few years. Upper Deck will still be left to fight the good fight with hockey though. I think the real innovation will come from products from NIL deals which will be like the wild west for a while and could produce some interesting things.

[rfgilles]

Originally Posted by ThoseBackPages

#ThanksTopps

#thanks MLBPA

[mfw13]

Originally Posted by jduds

That said, Topps has done a pretty good job innovating under Fanatics so far.

Disagree completely.

Topps definition of "innovation" is to come up with more products which utilize the exact same design (I think they ended up releasing 7 products using the flagship design last year), make more chrome & sapphire versions of existing products, create new color parallels within existing products, reuse the same vintage designs over and over again (specifically the 1952 & 1987 designs), and hire supposedly famous social media figures to create "personal" sets (Baller, Naturel, etc.).

The few good innovations they've come up with (Topps Living, Topps Now) pre-date the Fanatics acquisition.

[MoreToppsPlease]

Thought this thread was from 2009.

[rms13]

Originally Posted by soey10

Now that in 2023 there will only be topps cards will this hurt the card collector industry.

I have been collecting since 1987 and can remember a time when there were three major card companies topps, fleer and donruss.

I can also remember a time when there were so much variety it was not a good thing either. But multiple companies drive innovation in my opinion. Now with Topps as the only game in town will they just keep printing the same old stuff as they do each year?

Even though panini didn’t have a license they still had pretty good ideas, not perfect but if they had logos they would have been wayyyyy better.


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I started collecting in 1986 and collected for about 10 years before getting back in a few years ago. There were 3 companies and then there was UD, Score, Classics and other random stuff here and there like Sportsflics. But back then you basically had one set per company. Now I can't even count how many sets Topps has especially when you consider all the Chrome variants. So even with one brand there is probably 5x as many sets as there were when I was a kid.

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[fabiani12333]

Originally Posted by jduds

Pacific and Upper Deck feel left out. I agree that multiple companies is likely better for innovation. That said, Topps has done a pretty good job innovating under Fanatics so far. There is a noticeable effort to make the inserts more appealing and last year gave us Cosmic, Logofractor, and Gilded. Home Field Advantage shows that they can rip off good ideas so the lack of competition won't truly kick in until Panini is gone in a few years. Upper Deck will still be left to fight the good fight with hockey though. I think the real innovation will come from products from NIL deals which will be like the wild west for a while and could produce some interesting things.

Cosmic base cards are literally 2017 Bowman's best -- look it up. The refractor parallels use the "velocity" refractor design made popular by Donruss Optic. The space theme has been something Panini has done quite a bit of.

Logofractor is just a basic refractor pattern with the MLB logo.

Gilden is just a gold themed Topps Chrome parallel set. The base cards have a unique border design, but that's about it. The refractor parallel designs have been used before.

[fabiani12333]

Originally Posted by tkraft24

Panini wasn’t considered competition and certainly didn’t drive Topps to be better. They were just fighting for scraps at lower price points.

They weren't competing for market share of MLB licensed baseball cards, but they were competing for overall trading card market share. Panini had to build their brand while Topps rested on their laurels.

[fabiani12333]

The most effective and easiest way to grow the hobby's popularity is probably to open up licensing to multiple established companies who can compete for costumers. Allowing Upper Deck and Panini to make MLB cards would be huge -- the possibilities would be endless.

It won't happen now, obviously, but I think it would have been best for everyone in the hobby.

[Chicosbailbonds]

Originally Posted by fabiani12333

The most effective and easiest way to grow the hobby's popularity is probably to open up licensing to multiple established companies who can compete for costumers. Allowing Upper Deck and Panini to make MLB cards would be huge -- the possibilities would be endless.

It won't happen now, obviously, but I think it would have been best for everyone in the hobby.

The owners only care what is in their best interest.

[oldgoldy97]

I thought this was a new product to rival Prizm Monopoly.

[Rjcollings1973]

Poor Fanatics, if they read this forum they will walk away saying,

We print too much
Not enough product for everyone
Too many sets
Not enough new sets

Good luck Fanatics pleasing the inmates.

[tkraft24]

Originally Posted by fabiani12333

They weren't competing for market share of MLB licensed baseball cards, but they were competing for overall trading card market share. Panini had to build their brand while Topps rested on their laurels.

Meh, Panini bought Donruss to become relevant in baseball and then copied Chrome cards but with more “exotic” parallels…

[hermanotarjeta]

Originally Posted by oldgoldy97

I thought this was a new product to rival Prizm Monopoly.

That’s what I thought too.

They should have titled the thread “topps hegemony”.

[mfw13]

Originally Posted by Rjcollings1973

Poor Fanatics, if they read this forum they will walk away saying,

We print too much
Not enough product for everyone
Too many sets
Not enough new sets

Good luck Fanatics pleasing the inmates.

Well, the problem for Fanatics is that unless they reach some sort of deals with Panini and/or Upper Deck, they are locked out from using some very attractive intellectual property, i.e. older Fleer, Donruss, & Upper Deck designs.

That's one of the downsides of having an exclusive license instead multiple companies competing.

I'd love to see Fanatics buy the intellectual property rights to Fleer from Upper Deck, although it would be harder to pry Donruss rights away from Panini, since they've integrated them into multiple sports.