The exclusive agreement - just a reaction

Major League Baseball agreeing to an exclusive agreement with Topps to produce baseball cards seems to say - trading cards have become too important to grown men who collect such things, because of their perceived value and there needs to be some way to dumb down baseball cards so kids will start to like them again.

The agreement is another squeeze in the nuts for the adult collector - one who has genuine interest in cards, its complexities, its history and in all honesty, its monetary value.

Reading Michael Eisner's statements, it is very clear he doesn't want anyone over 12-years old to be collecting any Topps baseball card - I'm an adult collector and once this agreement is in place, I officially will not matter.

Eisner makes what has been going on, in the 'Upper Deck Era' of the last 20 years so sleazy and dirty - Eisner wants to take it back to the 'old school,' where collectors of all ages had no choices and one company can do whatever it likes because legitimate competition will not exist. Upper Deck may still be able to produce cards, because they supposedly still have the MLBPA license, but collectors see trading cards without full licensing from both Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Player's Association as inferior.

Now, for collectors over 12-years old, will it be an issue of growing up and forgetting about the little pieces of cardboard - or will collecting baseball cards be something of a 'secret shame,' where adult collectors looking to partake in the hobby, will be doing so in the equivalent of dark alley ways or backrooms.

Maybe picking up a pack of trading cards means less to me these days - but then, I want options, I want to be able to have a choice and feel like I'm not wasting my time with the same old cards. I also don't want to feel embarassed about being a collector.

2002 USA Baseball National Team Box Set recap

I picked up this 2002 Upper Deck Team USA National set for $25 - I bought this in-person at the 'psuedo card-show' set up at the MLBPA Arizona alumni game/Texas Rangers and Kansas City Royals' 'fan fest' during my spring training trip to Arizona.

The lure of this box set are some of the alumni autographs - though I didn't get one I particularly liked and tried to highlight the cards in the boxed set of the 2002 USA Baseball National players who have played in the Major Leagues.

Not pictured: Shane Costa and Rickie Weeks.

Chad Cordero, Abe Alvarez, Phillip Humber, Huston Street and Clint Sammons

Carlos Quentin, Eric Patterson, Aaron Hill, Sam Fuld and Conor Jackson

Dustin Pedroia - 2008 American League MVP

Alumni jersey - Clint Sammons

Alumni autograph - Willie Bloomquist; I just about gagged when I pulled this, since I saw him on the field at Surprise Stadium, walking somewhere 10 minutes before I decided to pick up the box set.

According to Dave and Adam's Web site - autographed cards include Ryan Howard, Mark Prior, James Loney, Joe Mauer, Jeff Francoeur, Matt Holliday, JJ Hardy, Bobby Crosby.

NBA, Panini, trading cards and you

It is a good thing I don't collect basketball - though I can't say I haven't tried to collect it one way or the other at least a few times in the last 20 years, for one reason or the other.

However, it is staggering to learn about the NBA reaching agreement with Panini - to become the sole producer of NBA trading cards.

I think Panini just threw so much money at the NBA - it was an offer they couldn't refuse, despite the fact Panini is known in the United States more for its sticker books printed more than 20 years ago.

Would Panini even have the motivation or is their plan to radicalize the trading card industry - to bring it back to the 'Stone Ages,' where you had one choice, one option for trading cards.

How many products will Panini put out [?] - is it conceivable that they may only put out one flagship brand of cards for an entire year? Would basketball collectors only have one option? I doubt that will be the case, but is Panini capable of creating products that distinguish themselves between low-end, midlevel and high-end?

Would that be realistic and if it were to happen - would it be something to sap the money aspect about collecting cards as far as commodities? While there might be more mainstream interest, would serious card collectors just quit the hobby? Does this new agreement signal the death of the modern basketball card as it is valued by serious collectors?

I cannot name a basketball product from Topps, so I could care less if there were no more Topps basketball cards - at the very least, Upper Deck has exclusives like Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James to possibly juice up any product they decide to produce. I would think the NBA would have come to an agreement with Upper Deck as far as exclusive rights to print their cards [like how I believe it is in the NHL].

Having Panini as the sole trading card company to produce NBA trading cards is like O-Pee-Chee [long before Upper Deck bought its rights] -being handed the keys to produce every single Major League Baseball card.

I wonder how it will affect basketball trading cards and will it be conceivable - something like this would happen to the baseball card industry.

Beckett blog link - to the news

Beckett blog link - NBA's reaction

Wax Heaven blog link - Topps and Upper Deck's reaction