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Topps Auto'ed Gold Infused Baseball Redemption - SHOCKING UPDATE!

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200lbhockeyplayer

Active member
Aug 10, 2008
11,049
2
What I find most interesting is that the two key pieces of this promotion were not met.

1. Autographs not secured.
2. "Gold infused baseballs" neither explained, nor secured.

That's it, those two things and neither were met.

This isn't the first time Topps has inserted items/autographs prior to contracts or plans being finalized and that's the issue. Most assume that when redemptions are inserted that there is a contract in place. Well, Topps has an interesting habit of never listening to "No" and continues (in other instances) to insert redemptions for players/personalities that have flat out declined to sign for them. Yet Topps still goes about inserting and advertising products with pulls that will never exist. And they know it.

As for valuing the pull...let Topps use whatever algorithm they feel the need, but I'd be curious to see what it was. Hell, I'd like to see evidence that they even know what a "gold infused baseball" would look like.

Is there any indication that Topps showed any good faith in actually keeping their end of the bargain? Maybe Topps has shown "gold infused" baseballs signed by Aaron and Griffey, just not Mays. Maybe even a twitpic showing a "gold infused" baseball.

Then again, maybe they dumped them in the Hudson.
 

ronfromfresno

Active member
Aug 7, 2008
2,037
22
Fresno, CA
Agreed - and this is a really really good thing for the hobby. The hobby would become completely corrupt if otherwise.

For one eBay isn't a real market that's nearly sophisticated enough for Topps (or really anyone else) to rely upon.

Out of curiosity why wouldn't ebay be a useful market reference? To me ebay represents the definition of a market, a place where the forces of supply and demand operate and where sellers and buyers interact. Ebay is available to just about everyone, it's not regional, and the prices are set by market influences like demand. An example is that people buy products that are priced reasonably and pass on high priced items causing items that are priced to high to drop, just like in larger national markets. In a sense ebay is a purer form of market than many we are accustom to.

In the end I think that the only way to affect Topps is to either not purchase their items at all or complain to the MLB that the products they endorse are terrible.
 

smapdi

Well-known member
Aug 7, 2008
4,397
221
The difference in value between what the redemptions have sold for and what a case of Archives sells for is one thing, but the biggest problem I'd have is...it's a case of Archives. Not even a high-end case like Sterling or TTT or something that is at least somewhat equivalent to the term "gold plated baseball". What does "infused" mean anyway when you have 2 solids? I've got pepper-infused vodka, which is what they must've been snorting when they came up with this whole idea.
 

MansGame

Active member
Sep 25, 2009
15,324
20
Dallas, TX
The difference in value between what the redemptions have sold for and what a case of Archives sells for is one thing, but the biggest problem I'd have is...it's a case of Archives. Not even a high-end case like Sterling or TTT or something that is at least somewhat equivalent to the term "gold plated baseball". What does "infused" mean anyway when you have 2 solids? I've got pepper-infused vodka, which is what they must've been snorting when they came up with this whole idea.

Love this post... agree 100% and made me LOL
 

MansGame

Active member
Sep 25, 2009
15,324
20
Dallas, TX
Out of curiosity why wouldn't ebay be a useful market reference? To me ebay represents the definition of a market, a place where the forces of supply and demand operate and where sellers and buyers interact. Ebay is available to just about everyone, it's not regional, and the prices are set by market influences like demand. An example is that people buy products that are priced reasonably and pass on high priced items causing items that are priced to high to drop, just like in larger national markets. In a sense ebay is a purer form of market than many we are accustom to.

In the end I think that the only way to affect Topps is to either not purchase their items at all or complain to the MLB that the products they endorse are terrible.

Excellent post... agree 100%
 

uniquebaseballcards

New member
Nov 12, 2008
6,783
0
You wouldn't be worked-up if you bought a very specific thing for almost $3,400, but instead received something with a value of just over $600?

Let's take it a bit further: what if I paid $50,000?

Does any company who paid $600 to make said item and doesn't care about the secondary market pay $50,000 to replace it? Why or why not?

Let's go even further than that: what if I paid $50,000... for a water bottle?

Does any company who paid $1.50 to make the water bottle pay $50,000 to replace the water bottle?
 

sportscardtheory

Active member
Aug 16, 2008
8,461
2
Buffalo, New York
Out of curiosity why wouldn't ebay be a useful market reference? To me ebay represents the definition of a market, a place where the forces of supply and demand operate and where sellers and buyers interact. Ebay is available to just about everyone, it's not regional, and the prices are set by market influences like demand. An example is that people buy products that are priced reasonably and pass on high priced items causing items that are priced to high to drop, just like in larger national markets. In a sense ebay is a purer form of market than many we are accustom to.

In the end I think that the only way to affect Topps is to either not purchase their items at all or complain to the MLB that the products they endorse are terrible.

ebay is a too easily manipulated market to be the end-all-be-all. All it takes is a few shill bids to dishonestly set a "market value". Like that ball that sold for $3,400. What IF that was a market manipulation? No one knows. I'm not saying it is and it most likely isn't, but that is why ebay isn't a reliable market indicator when dealing with such a volatile item. For more items with many sales, yes, it's a good market indicator, but for items like this I don't think it is. That said, Topps should take the average ebay sale (excluding outliers) and use that as a starting point for perceived value. That would be logical.
 

MansGame

Active member
Sep 25, 2009
15,324
20
Dallas, TX
Let's take it a bit further: what if I paid $50,000?

Does any company who paid $600 to make said item and doesn't care about the secondary market pay $50,000 to replace it? Why or why not?

Let's go even further than that: what if I paid $50,000... for a water bottle?

Does any company who paid $1.50 to make the water bottle pay $50,000 to replace the water bottle?

Way to go over the deep end...

Your examples make ZERO sense and are so open-ended it's hard to even reply...

So you paid $50,000 for a redemption for a water bottle... company doesn't have water bottle, so they send you a salt shaker instead... I guess that's ok? Or is your point the value of the salt shaker is minimal? Sorry but your post is pretty redic
 

sportscardtheory

Active member
Aug 16, 2008
8,461
2
Buffalo, New York
Let's take it a bit further: what if I paid $50,000?

Does any company who paid $600 to make said item and doesn't care about the secondary market pay $50,000 to replace it? Why or why not?

Let's go even further than that: what if I paid $50,000... for a water bottle?

Does any company who paid $1.50 to make the water bottle pay $50,000 to replace the water bottle?

It certainly doesn't cost them $600+ to produce a case of Archives, so clearly they are on board with using a "market value" there.
 

uniquebaseballcards

New member
Nov 12, 2008
6,783
0
Out of curiosity why wouldn't ebay be a useful market reference? To me ebay represents the definition of a market, a place where the forces of supply and demand operate and where sellers and buyers interact. Ebay is available to just about everyone, it's not regional, and the prices are set by market influences like demand. An example is that people buy products that are priced reasonably and pass on high priced items causing items that are priced to high to drop, just like in larger national markets. In a sense ebay is a purer form of market than many we are accustom to.

In the end I think that the only way to affect Topps is to either not purchase their items at all or complain to the MLB that the products they endorse are terrible.

Without a doubt eBay is almost entirely without any market controls and as such is prone to market manipulation and other serious issues.

Further, accurately and consistently valuing rare items (such as signed gold-infused baseballs) using eBay (or even elsewhere?) is impossible given their rare nature.
 

MansGame

Active member
Sep 25, 2009
15,324
20
Dallas, TX
What if we get off the "value" discussion and just talk about market manipulation and how regardless of "value", someone was promised a very unique item and instead got something very common and cheap... when said company putting out the promotion has the means to make it right or make the situation much better.

This is like buying a promotional ticket for a said item and instead getting something totally different, in a larger quantity but only because it was a cheaper product and you needed more of it to make up the difference... just is terrible way to run a business and try and make the situation right.
 

sportscardtheory

Active member
Aug 16, 2008
8,461
2
Buffalo, New York
Way to go over the deep end...

Your examples make ZERO sense and are so open-ended it's hard to even reply...

So you paid $50,000 for a redemption for a water bottle... company doesn't have water bottle, so they send you a salt shaker instead... I guess that's ok? Or is your point the value of the salt shaker is minimal? Sorry but your post is pretty redic

Plus the "inclusion" of the gold balls is a selling point for the entire run of their product. They probably made millions in profit off of the product, so simply using the production cost of the gold balls is absurd. The perceived value of the gold balls aided in their hefty profit. They aren't making their money off of base cards. They get the sales due to inserts like the gold balls.
 

uniquebaseballcards

New member
Nov 12, 2008
6,783
0
Way to go over the deep end...

Your examples make ZERO sense and are so open-ended it's hard to even reply...

So you paid $50,000 for a redemption for a water bottle... company doesn't have water bottle, so they send you a salt shaker instead... I guess that's ok? Or is your point the value of the salt shaker is minimal? Sorry but your post is pretty redic

Most people would clearly see here that it doesn't matter how much one paid for it at auction and that all that matters is how much it took for the manufacturer to make it.

But if you just want to continue to draw this discussion out... and out... and out... I can see why you're saying this.
 

MansGame

Active member
Sep 25, 2009
15,324
20
Dallas, TX
Most people would clearly see here that it doesn't matter how much one paid for it at auction and that all that matters is how much it took for the manufacturer to make it.

But if you just want to continue to draw this discussion out... and out... and out... I can see why you're saying this.

I'll copy/paste my post from earlier because I think you can comment on it...

What if we get off the "value" discussion and just talk about market manipulation and how regardless of "value", someone was promised a very unique item and instead got something very common and cheap... when said company putting out the promotion has the means to make it right or make the situation much better.

This is like buying a promotional ticket for a said item and instead getting something totally different, in a larger quantity but only because it was a cheaper product and you needed more of it to make up the difference... just is terrible way to run a business and try and make the situation right.
 

JoshHamilton

Well-known member
Aug 7, 2008
12,205
320
Most people would clearly see here that it doesn't matter how much one paid for it at auction and that all that matters is how much it took for the manufacturer to make it.

But if you just want to continue to draw this discussion out... and out... and out... I can see why you're saying this.

Topps uses Beckett value, not production cost.

Beckett gets "book value" by looking at eBay. I don't know if they paid attention to what this redemption has sold for, but if they did, they made a blurb about it.

So as usual, you're wrong
 

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