Strasburg fiasco at National

011873 · Aug 10, 2010

Leave it to Topps to totally botch up a good idea.
I didnt have interest in trying to get one but I assumed youd get a code and enter it and see if you won the card.

So my friend went down late Saturday and caught the end of that day's show but he spoke with someone at Topps and asked the procedure for trying to get the Strasburg on Sunday.

Topps guy told him that the first 200 people on line at the start of the show will get one.
My friend told him thats pretty unfair considering that menas only VIPs will get it. Somehow Topps didnt see this coming and told him that instead itll be when gen admission starts.

So Sunday came and my friend got to the show like two hours early and was one of the first on line outside the show. He started talking to a guy who said that once the doors open he is going to RUN to the Topps booth. My friend actually ran to the booth and he told me he never felt so stupid as a 40 year old gorwn adult running for a Baseball card.

Doors open and a hoard of people start walking fast/running to the booth. When they got there, security started yelling saying soemthing like "theres no need to stand here because the line wont form until we say so."

But no one left and everyone just started standing around that area as if they were browsing tables looking to buy. This got one dealer pretty mad and he shouted at the crowd to "stop acting like animals" and to either buy something from him or split.

Again, everyone stuck around and then, loudly and clearly, someone at security got on their walkie talkie and said "tell them to line up for the card" and everyone heard it so they rushed the Topps booth again.

Again, security got upset and told everyone to line up against the wall...HANDS ON THE WALL..."if you're hands dont touch the wall youre not getting the card."

My friend ended up getting one and graded it. His friend got one too but it ws so badly off centered he didnt bother to grade it.

He also said that Topps miscalculated the amount of cards left over on Sunday and several people didnt get one who were "supposed to" and they caused a problem because of that.

I dont know how Topps could have messed this up. Something so simple to do became a mess.

Bob Loblaw · Aug 10, 2010

Not serializing the card and printing 50,000 of them would have reduced the mess, yet kept the traffic flowing.

jeff550 · Aug 10, 2010

that was after they threatend to call the cops on this 14 year old kid :benson:

yanxchick · Aug 10, 2010

OP, what would have been your solution to make it an easier process?

ronfromfresno · Aug 10, 2010

No matter how badly Topps handled the situation, the problems were fueled by greed, everyone trying to make a buck on free cards. If greed was out of the picture, then no one would have been "running" to get in line or disregarding security to get their hands on the cards.

JoshHamilton · Aug 10, 2010

yanxchick said:
OP, what would have been your solution to make it an easier process?

As Jeff said, print a ton of them so supply exceeds demand.

It's a stupid promo card. It shouldn't be limited

phillyfan0417 · Aug 10, 2010

ronfromfresno said:
No matter how badly Topps handled the situation, the problems were fueled by greed, everyone trying to make a buck on free cards. If greed was out of the picture, then no one would have been "running" to get in line or disregarding security to get their hands on the cards.

For most it was, I know Blan and myself got in line the last day to get one for the PC. I talked to a few others in the same boat. My biggest issue with Topps is they did it 4 different ways and I think didnt learn from the day before.

allstarauction · Aug 10, 2010

I was there everyday and this was a debacle to say the least... On Thursday the first full day they did it, they were not smart enough to start the line against the far wall, instead a line was forming at the Topps booth and running back through dealers tables. Needless to say all of the dealers were yelling and upset because no one could get to their tables because the "Topps Line" had them blocked.

I never bothered, it was not worth the wait to try to get one.

All The Hype · Aug 10, 2010

Jeff N. said:
Not serializing the card and printing 50,000 of them would have reduced the mess, yet kept the traffic flowing.

Exactly.

Topps is really over-milking the limited Strasburg cards. What's the point? Their products are already going to sell out because there's nothing else to buy. The situation with the National giveaway just sounds stupid.

yanxchick · Aug 10, 2010

Many of the promo cards were limited. Just not as popular as this one.

The problem was that Topps did not inform security about their promotion and just how popular it would actually be. On the first day of the show, security was not prepared for what happened. I also think that security was just agitated afterward about the whole thing.

011873 · Aug 10, 2010

yanxchick said:
OP, what would have been your solution to make it an easier process?

Very simple.

They had two "code machines" there. Everyone, from VIP to gen admission would get a ticket each day ( so VIP would get 5 tickets) and when you present it to Topps, they hand you a code card.

Swipe the card and either you "win" the Stras card or you dont (or maybe some "vintage" card).

Thats it, really easy and Topps could still have only had 998 of them OR 9,998 of them.

No fighting, no problems, no bad feelings and no posts like mine telling how dumb a move this promotion wound up being for a card that sells for only $100 or so (BEFORE needing spending $20 in packs).

moxacaine · Aug 10, 2010

i completely agree. it was an absolute mess. i pitched the idea on wednesday to move the line to the wall but they still turned it into a mess. the only issue was them not letting people line up right away. had they done that then it wouldnt have been a problem with all the yelling of the security guards and such. And there was a lot of room for them to line up against the wall and not be in the dealers way.

yanxchick · Aug 10, 2010

So another lottery?

Don't you think there is far too much gambling going on with trading cards as it is right now?

phillyfan0417 · Aug 10, 2010

011873 said:
yanxchick said:

OP, what would have been your solution to make it an easier process?

Click to expand...

Very simple.

They had two "code machines" there. Everyone, from VIP to gen admission would get a ticket each day ( so VIP would get 5 tickets) and when you present it to Topps, they hand you a code card.

Swipe the card and either you "win" the Stras card or you dont (or maybe some "vintage" card).

Thats it, really easy and Topps could still have only had 998 of them OR 9,998 of them.

No fighting, no problems, no bad feelings and no posts like mine telling how dumb a move this promotion wound up being for a card that sells for only $100 or so (BEFORE needing spending $20 in packs).

Would you have bought 10 packs and been ok with a 1982 vida blue?

Topps sold tons of low end packs and helped the sellers at the National, it was beneficial on so many levels. Topps just needed to organize it better...

craftysouthpaw · Aug 10, 2010

The crux of the problem (as is so often the case) is that Topps was unable or uninterested in putting together a plan. All four days had four different procedures and it seemed they were just flying by the seats of their pants.

I wasn't planning on dealing with the madness at all but by Sunday, I had managed to see every booth at least once and spent way too much money so I decided to give it a go. I was a VIP so that would have allowed me to get in 30 minutes early but the FCB crew was kind enough to get me in even earlier than that but it ended up not making a difference because security refused to let a line form before the GA crowd was allowed in because it wasn't "fair". Of course, the VIP crowd retorted it wasn't "fair" that they paid $120 and then not allowed to take advantage of the investment. And the line had formed before the GA crowd was let in on other 3 days.

So instead, the folks that were in the building before the GA crowd milled around the booths closest to where the line would be pretending to look at stuff. I tried to tell Topps/Security that this was just going to lead to a stampede once they decided to allow the line to form - so instead of organized chaos, they set themselves up for disorganized chaos or worse. Security announced there was no chance the line would form at any point before 10 (when GA was allowed in) so I wandered a bit too far from the line. For some reason, the GA crowd was allowed in 15 minutes early and once I saw the people sprinting by, I made my way towards the aforementioned wall. What a zoo.

Once the line had formed, a guy walked past me counting us out (he was trying to decide if he was going to bother to get in line) and I was around number 140. They supposedly had 225 to give out but somehow the tickets stopped around 10 people behind me. So I got very lucky - but obviously Topps messed up the numbers somehow.

The real problem was that the dealers were able to get a large chunk of the cards. There needed to be some way to ensure their chances were no better than anyone elses. It was really infuriating to be the first VIP in the door, go straight to the line, and already see 100+ people there. Of course, I became part of the problem by using my FCB ties to get me in when I did (even though it didn't make a difference in the end). But mine is going to the PC and not to Ebay for whatever that is worth.

Promos have been causing insanity at the National for 20 years and won't be stopping anytime soon. But it really shouldn't take much intelligence to work out an equitable way to do this that doesn't risk anyone's safety and doesn't provide dealers with built in advantages over the attendees. To steal a well known writer's idea, Topps/The National needs to hire a collector to be the Director of Common Sense for stuff like this. Can't wait for the Harper madness in Chicago!

Wes · Aug 10, 2010

phillyfan0417 said:
ronfromfresno said:

No matter how badly Topps handled the situation, the problems were fueled by greed, everyone trying to make a buck on free cards. If greed was out of the picture, then no one would have been "running" to get in line or disregarding security to get their hands on the cards.

Click to expand...

For most it was, I know Blan and myself got in line the last day to get one for the PC. I talked to a few others in the same boat. My biggest issue with Topps is they did it 4 different ways and I think didnt learn from the day before.

My issue is that you didn't tell me you were going to wait in line so I could give you my last six packs of Topps crap to open.

Wes · Aug 10, 2010

Full disclosure BowmanChromeAddict and I waited in line 40 minutes and paid $15 for what turned into our Strasburgs.

That being said, they should have just formed a line against the wall - told people show up whenever you want, we'll hand out tickets as soon as there are X number in the line. Bring your ticket and 10 packs to the Topps booth at anytime during the day and get your Stras. That way you eliminate the line running through the dealer area and don't waste people's time.

yanxchick · Aug 10, 2010

I stood on line for the Strasburg card on Thursday. There were similar situations with people milling about the tables near the wall. Security would not allow people to line up until they said so. I think a bigger problem, which no one has pointed out is that they allowed the people to line up two hours early than the initial time stated. So, perhaps there were some people who thought they could get on line at 5 p.m., but the line started at 3 p.m.

However, on Thursday there weren't even 225 on the line. People who walked up 15 minutes after the line started were able to get on the line and get a Strasburg. Only about 10 people were left off the end of the line by the time they counted out 225.

Security told everyone if they saw pushing and if anyone got trampled, they would take them out of the line.

Given the short amount of time they to plan for the Strasburg card (I'm talking about security), they did as best as they could. But you can't control 200 running people with just 10.

Wes - that was actually suggested by someone at Topps, and apparently was how the Strasburg line was going to run. This old man was talking to people at the Topps booth and told them how he couldn't stand for two hours. So, one of the Topps employees said he would get a ticket and come back when he wanted, but the woman in the booth, whose name I believe was Linda, said: "I did not approve that. That's now how it's going to work."

Then, she told the old man with the bad back, "too bad."

bmc398 · Aug 10, 2010

craftysouthpaw said:
The crux of the problem (as is so often the case) is that Topps was unable or uninterested in putting together a plan. All four days had four different procedures and it seemed they were just flying by the seats of their pants.

I wasn't planning on dealing with the madness at all but by Sunday, I had managed to see every booth at least once and spent way too much money so I decided to give it a go. I was a VIP so that would have allowed me to get in 30 minutes early but the FCB crew was kind enough to get me in even earlier than that but it ended up not making a difference because security refused to let a line form before the GA crowd was allowed in because it wasn't "fair". Of course, the VIP crowd retorted it wasn't "fair" that they paid $120 and then not allowed to take advantage of the investment. And the line had formed before the GA crowd was let in on other 3 days.

So instead, the folks that were in the building before the GA crowd milled around the booths closest to where the line would be pretending to look at stuff. I tried to tell Topps/Security that this was just going to lead to a stampede once they decided to allow the line to form - so instead of organized chaos, they set themselves up for disorganized chaos or worse. Security announced there was no chance the line would form at any point before 10 (when GA was allowed in) so I wandered a bit too far from the line. For some reason, the GA crowd was allowed in 15 minutes early and once I saw the people sprinting by, I made my way towards the aforementioned wall. What a zoo.

Once the line had formed, a guy walked past me counting us out (he was trying to decide if he was going to bother to get in line) and I was around number 140. They supposedly had 225 to give out but somehow the tickets stopped around 10 people behind me. So I got very lucky - but obviously Topps messed up the numbers somehow.

The real problem was that the dealers were able to get a large chunk of the cards. There needed to be some way to ensure their chances were no better than anyone elses. It was really infuriating to be the first VIP in the door, go straight to the line, and already see 100+ people there. Of course, I became part of the problem by using my FCB ties to get me in when I did (even though it didn't make a difference in the end). But mine is going to the PC and not to Ebay for whatever that is worth.

Promos have been causing insanity at the National for 20 years and won't be stopping anytime soon. But it really shouldn't take much intelligence to work out an equitable way to do this that doesn't risk anyone's safety and doesn't provide dealers with built in advantages over the attendees. To steal a well known writer's idea, Topps/The National needs to hire a collector to be the Director of Common Sense for stuff like this. Can't wait for the Harper madness in Chicago!

Panini didn't have any Strasburgs, but they had no problems giving away what probably amounted to 10x the cards Topps did. Some companies care about the little guy, some don't.

Some know how to run a promo, some don't.

200lbhockeyplayer · Aug 10, 2010

I chose to not wait and not care about the Strasburg card, as I would rather go around and mill around the National instead. Plus I spent a lot of time at various booths talking to people so that was more fun than sitting in a line for a card that would just end up on eBay.

For me, I made the right decision. Plus, those FCB printing plates for the promotional set weren't going to cut themselves.

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