Kids Call Topps Shenanigans .... Same Card different serial numbering WTF???

My kids call Shenanigans on Topps....something #'d to 10 there should ONLY be 10 produced / made / in existance RIGHT...... How do you make another print of the exact same card & then # that print run to 15 & another to 30 & another to 35 (WTF) ???? Am I & my kids are the only ones who see this ??? To me this is called a Sucker's Bet !!!!

Examples of what I'm talking about:

#'d to 10 ....

http://www.ebay.com/itm/2013-Topps-Five-...35cf49c856

#'d to 15 ....

http://www.ebay.com/itm/2013-Topps-Five-...485df0e5f9

#'d to 30 ....

http://www.ebay.com/itm/2013-Topps-Five-...19e6016ce8

#'d to 35 ....

http://www.ebay.com/itm/2013-Topps-Five-...461744cefd

I showed this to my kids (10 & 12) & they asked...

(My 10 year old Daughter) "Are adults dumb enough to think one card is more valuable than the other even though they are the exact same card with just different serial numbering on it....I can't believe people get roped into this kind of stuff! How can you have 10 but 15, 30, & 35 more exist ???? THAT EQUALS 90 ALL DAY LONG !!!!

( My 12 year old Son) "If something is advertised as #1 & only 1.....and there is another exact same model of the exact same thing doesn't that mean there would be 2 ? This is basic children's arithmetic!!!"

If this is what we have to teach our children now days then NO WONDER our country is going down the drain....Hell my kids already struggle with the concept of going into a place to eat & they ask for a small order but they are told they don't serve small orders only medium & larges....then my kids ask how is that even possible (ROTFLMFAO) ....This is the same concept as the cards above...

I told them lets just post this & you'll see someone out there will try to defend or justify this way of thinking.....Let the comments & replies begin.....................Like the game show: Are you smarter than a 5th grader???

yup topps blows

It would be nice to see Topps go back to the model of only having a base set with no parallels. But this hobby long ago became a chase for prospectors/money makers than it did for collectors. Why would Topps change the model if they sell their product?

Do you think your McFarlanes would have the same wow factor if it was just base cards?

It's a parallel. I see where you are coming from and get your point but they are not the exact same card and you should explain to your children why that is. The have different color borders and lettering color (bronze, silver, gold, etc).

It is no different than say multi colored refractors. It's the same picture, same auto, but different tiers of #ing based on color.

It's like making a color rainbow, but the paralleling in say museum collection isn't as appealing (at least lot to me).

Anyway, I hope this helps explain why they are not the same exact card, though the concept of changing foil colors on a card is a really lame way to create "scarcity." Like everything in life, this concept will appeal to some and not others. I for one don't care for it.

As long as collectors treat them differently and want one of each, Topps will print them. These shenanigans are almost 20 years old and they continue because collectors buy them.

I don't disagree, it is getting old, but the cards are not, the exact same. By adding different color print, foil, or ref, they can be defined as different.

Are the honda civic ex and dl the exact same car??? Right or wrong, a few small changes allows topps/honda to call them different.

Your son is smart enough to call math, children's arithmetic, but didn't notice the different colors on the cards?? Seams odd to me. Did you point out the different colors? If not, ask him what he thinks about the different colors in the foil/borders, and let me know if his opinion changes as to whether they are technically the same card.

I don't ask this to be an a$$ either, just curious.

I too am getting tired off all the tiers. Especially in this years bowman draft, with 3 different bowman chrome ref autos #'d/50. At least the color on them is much more pronounced, but it lowers the value on all of them.

My question is where did the green relic come from on their jersey?

BiggioBrooks755 said:

My question is where did the green relic come from on their jersey?

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I was wondering the same thing.

Looks like he sent a piece of his pool table to topps, instead of his jersey.

gmsieb said:

I was wondering the same thing.

Looks like he sent a piece of his pool table to topps, instead of his jersey.

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HAHA OMG I cant stop laughing

OP, your children are correct. I've tried explaining that different colors of foil mean the card is different to adult friends and they often laugh. Yes, parallel should mean different picture ala 1997 Ultra Gold and Platinum Medallion parallels.

Dodger green? http://www.dodgersblueheaven.com/2013/12/puigs-five-star-jerseyrelic-cards-have.html?m=1

That was my guess, for the green jersey.

This is a good time to discuss manufactured scarcity and the social construction of value. Talk to your children about the value of a one dollar bill versus the value of a ten or a hundred. Now, why are these "worth" these numbers, and what do these numbers mean? It is not directly analogous to these cards, but its not as far off as many would immediately believe.

Of course, a basic discussion of why baseball cards hold any value at all is in order first, as none of them have any intrinsic value whatsoever. Totally socially constructed.

The coloring around the relic is also different so they are not exact

youseekyoda421 said:

OP, your children are correct. I've tried explaining that different colors of foil mean the card is different to adult friends and they often laugh. Yes, parallel should mean different picture ala 1997 Ultra Gold and Platinum Medallion parallels.

Dodger green? http://www.dodgersblueheaven.com/2013/12/puigs-five-star-jerseyrelic-cards-have.html?m=1

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I kinda remember these, wasn't the difference, just the foil around the name and the word ultra???

Bill Menard said:

It's a parallel. I see where you are coming from and get your point but they are not the exact same card and you should explain to your children why that is. The have different color borders and lettering color (bronze, silver, gold, etc).

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This. They're parallels.
RollX makes it sounds like Topps is reprinting the same exact cards with the same numbering.
He's getting way to worked up about something he's not even correct about.

Plus, no 12 year old since the '60s has ever called math "arithmetic."
Nor do 10 year old girls say, "I can't believe people get roped into this kind of stuff! That equals 90 all day long!"

I call shenanigans.

For me, UD started the downward spiral with the 2004 UD SP Legendary cards. 99 different 1/1 cards where the only difference was a new accomplishment on each card. talk about a scam way to sell a product with excessive 1/1 cards in it!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Steve-Garve...0804746117?pt=US_Baseball&hash=item5401a38385

One of the reasons, if not the main reason, why parallel cards exist is to give collectors extra value.

If triple threads didn't have parallels, each jersey or bat card would be numbered into the hundreds.

Instead, each one is numbered very to extremely low while having a different color.

These inserts have been part of the hobby for over 20 years and are popular so they continue to be made.

Sent from my HTCONE using Freedom Card Board mobile app

Mighty Bombjack said:

This is a good time to discuss manufactured scarcity and the social construction of value. Talk to your children about the value of a one dollar bill versus the value of a ten or a hundred. Now, why are these "worth" these numbers, and what do these numbers mean? It is not directly analogous to these cards, but its not as far off as many would immediately believe.

Of course, a basic discussion of why baseball cards hold any value at all is in order first, as none of them have any intrinsic value whatsoever. Totally socially constructed.

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I think we've been down this road before but I believe cards hold a value to people who wish to own them. The only real question in my mind is do we really want/value them as much as we end up having to pay for them? I know I don't. To me, I'd rather not pay as much money as I end up having to for a lot of cards. I simply know that if I want it, I have to pay whatever is asked though. Which leads me to a collection I'm happy with, but one I know I have and continue to overpay for. Which, between that and sellers trying to treat every auto or patch or 1/1 as a ton of gold and asking a lot for them, ends up making a lot of collectors eventually leave the hobby.

When you are talking flat sell prices, then you either pay what the seller wants, offer a lesser price or you pass on it. The real question would be, if you pass will the item still sell and the answer is probably yes most of the time. Most collectors who want something and "overpay" are probably afraid that if they don't pull the trigger, the item will sell to someone else and they won't get the chance to buy it again. if that is true, then are they really overpaying to begin with? If someone is behind you waiting to pay the same or more than you are, then I'd have to say you are paying a fair market value for something.

It might also seem that we overpay for items, but we really won't know for sure until we try to sell that same item later. Will we get more than we paid, less or about the same? I have plenty of 90s Frank Thomas inserts that I paid market at the time and can now be had for pennies on the dollars. At the same time, I can resell things that I paid very little for because the supply has dried up or the demand has increased greatly since I bought it.

The reality is that most of us will not see increases in everything we buy. Some things will be a personal buy to make you happy and you'd be lucky to get a percentage of your purchase price back, but that can be said for many things in life as well. As a collector (not a dealer), I don't worry about what my collection is worth and when it comes time to sell, I will try to maximize my return, but need to be happy with what I can get for it regardless of whether or not I win some and lose some individually.

that being said, I'd be one of those suckers who bought the same card #'d 10, 15, 20, 30, etc. within reason. After a while, even a 1/1 card is only worth so much to me and I have passed on several that i wanted to own, but just weren't willing to pay what someone else was or what the seller wanted.

predatorkj said:

I think we've been down this road before but I believe cards hold a value to people who wish to own them. The only real question in my mind is do we really want/value them as much as we end up having to pay for them? I know I don't. To me, I'd rather not pay as much money as I end up having to for a lot of cards. I simply know that if I want it, I have to pay whatever is asked though. Which leads me to a collection I'm happy with, but one I know I have and continue to overpay for. Which, between that and sellers trying to treat every auto or patch or 1/1 as a ton of gold and asking a lot for them, ends up making a lot of collectors eventually leave the hobby.

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Silly topic. Obviously four different parallels - even being colorblind would reveal there are still some differences.

And I agree with Austin. I don't see those words coming out of kids that age.