A few:
Agreed about lack of competition for Topps. Not sure giving Panini logos would help that as it seems neither have been real innovative in the last 2 years in their baseball releases.
Number of releases - I don't think we need 1-3 per year like the junk years, but I think 15 or whatever is too much. 10 would seem more reasonable to give collectors something to collect and cover at least one each product for the various bases (kids, flagship, retro, medium end, high end).
Base cards that have 20 (number exaggerated) parallels. I hate busting a box and having to consult a website or reference guide to find out what the parallels are and if they have numbering, etc. A base card and 2-3 parallels is easier to remember and keeps it simpler.
Boxes that are not likely to deliver the value paid for them. For instance, if you are going to have a box with a MSRP $80, how about $65-80 of estimated market value of cards/inserts/hits in that box that delivers on a regular basis?
Overproduction of Topps reprints and topps designs - I'm a 1971 baby but I admit Topps is killing the 1971 design for me with its overuse in reprints and current players on 1971 design. Ditto 1987 design. Additionally, is there a topps product anymore that doesn't feature a vintage topps reprint even if just in an advertisement insert form?
Lack of a patch imaging system - if the USPS can email me each day the images of my mail that have gone through their sorters, why cant card companies image their patches somehow whether as large uncut sheets or individually like COMC so one can check the authenticity of the patch they are looking to purchase at a card show or online? Manufacturers could even pay the expense of imaging/storing the patch card images by offering the authentication as a cheap $1-2 per card service where a collector submits the desired card info online and the automated request system delivers an image of the card or emails the image of the card to the collector.
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I disagree on the brian gray comments - I know you ripken jr. and rose collectors must hate him for flooding the market with their autos, but I like it as it made it affordable for me to obtain their autos for my collection.
Agreed about lack of competition for Topps. Not sure giving Panini logos would help that as it seems neither have been real innovative in the last 2 years in their baseball releases.
Number of releases - I don't think we need 1-3 per year like the junk years, but I think 15 or whatever is too much. 10 would seem more reasonable to give collectors something to collect and cover at least one each product for the various bases (kids, flagship, retro, medium end, high end).
Base cards that have 20 (number exaggerated) parallels. I hate busting a box and having to consult a website or reference guide to find out what the parallels are and if they have numbering, etc. A base card and 2-3 parallels is easier to remember and keeps it simpler.
Boxes that are not likely to deliver the value paid for them. For instance, if you are going to have a box with a MSRP $80, how about $65-80 of estimated market value of cards/inserts/hits in that box that delivers on a regular basis?
Overproduction of Topps reprints and topps designs - I'm a 1971 baby but I admit Topps is killing the 1971 design for me with its overuse in reprints and current players on 1971 design. Ditto 1987 design. Additionally, is there a topps product anymore that doesn't feature a vintage topps reprint even if just in an advertisement insert form?
Lack of a patch imaging system - if the USPS can email me each day the images of my mail that have gone through their sorters, why cant card companies image their patches somehow whether as large uncut sheets or individually like COMC so one can check the authenticity of the patch they are looking to purchase at a card show or online? Manufacturers could even pay the expense of imaging/storing the patch card images by offering the authentication as a cheap $1-2 per card service where a collector submits the desired card info online and the automated request system delivers an image of the card or emails the image of the card to the collector.
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I disagree on the brian gray comments - I know you ripken jr. and rose collectors must hate him for flooding the market with their autos, but I like it as it made it affordable for me to obtain their autos for my collection.