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I've been reading a lot about how Topps is to blame for the latest products. Here are some things to consider:
Production: Bowman came out a few months ago and was a smashing hit. Stras mania hit and prices went sky high. There was much more demand than supply. So Topps uses presells to judge the demand for the following products. They ramped up production on TC/BC to meet consumer demand. Topps can's foresee the future and can only hope that the presells are a good indication of how much product to make. Making too little of a product is bad for business.
Exclusivity: Not only is this new for baseball collectors, but it's new for Topps. There are less products on the shelves and less competition. If Topps had the same production runs as 2009, then there would be a shortage of overall baseball cards. More product had to be made in 2010 to help fill the void of UD. But Topps didn't know how to gauge how much more to make, so they used presells as a test.
Strasburg: Stras going down to injury is what ultimately hurt the products. When he was playing, more people came into the hobby to grab his stuff. This is something that Topps had no control over.
Hobby shop: Topps quickly realized that the ramped up production could hurt Hobby shops. So they created a hobby only wrapper redemption program. With TC, they sweetened the deal by adding auto's. It looks with BC, it will be the USA Buybacks. So Topps is trying to bring more value to the product.
Is it really a fail? Only time will tell. Stras making a comeback will obviously help. There could be other prospects in the set that have a break out year. Or even with the ramped up production, it may turn out far less than what was produced in 2009 (Topps and UD combined). The product could dry up faster as other players make their name with less product lines to choose from.
Ultimately Topps produced the amount of cards that the market was initially demanding for. Hopefully the hobby learned it's lesson by this and will be a bit more cautious on pre-orders. I'm not saying Topps is completely faultless. Not to mention their QC has no doubt hurt some of these products.
Production: Bowman came out a few months ago and was a smashing hit. Stras mania hit and prices went sky high. There was much more demand than supply. So Topps uses presells to judge the demand for the following products. They ramped up production on TC/BC to meet consumer demand. Topps can's foresee the future and can only hope that the presells are a good indication of how much product to make. Making too little of a product is bad for business.
Exclusivity: Not only is this new for baseball collectors, but it's new for Topps. There are less products on the shelves and less competition. If Topps had the same production runs as 2009, then there would be a shortage of overall baseball cards. More product had to be made in 2010 to help fill the void of UD. But Topps didn't know how to gauge how much more to make, so they used presells as a test.
Strasburg: Stras going down to injury is what ultimately hurt the products. When he was playing, more people came into the hobby to grab his stuff. This is something that Topps had no control over.
Hobby shop: Topps quickly realized that the ramped up production could hurt Hobby shops. So they created a hobby only wrapper redemption program. With TC, they sweetened the deal by adding auto's. It looks with BC, it will be the USA Buybacks. So Topps is trying to bring more value to the product.
Is it really a fail? Only time will tell. Stras making a comeback will obviously help. There could be other prospects in the set that have a break out year. Or even with the ramped up production, it may turn out far less than what was produced in 2009 (Topps and UD combined). The product could dry up faster as other players make their name with less product lines to choose from.
Ultimately Topps produced the amount of cards that the market was initially demanding for. Hopefully the hobby learned it's lesson by this and will be a bit more cautious on pre-orders. I'm not saying Topps is completely faultless. Not to mention their QC has no doubt hurt some of these products.