Game Used Cards Where Team Photos Do Not Match the Jersey Used

[uniquebaseballcards]

If anyone's worried about this thread's topic, how about where the player is pictured in a jersey of a team he was never on the roster on?
This includes just about every Bowman card showing a minor league player.

 

[MansGame]

my guess is cash flow


no company wants to sit on inventory.

I agree "no company wants to sit on inventory" BUT their "inventory" is really indirect revenue, no? They don't sell car tires or cell phones, where there is a direct sale to consumer of their inventory, their "inventory" in this case is really a value-add to their actual product, which is baseball cards.

If they were still a public company, they'd get torn up for a lot of this. There is NO reason they can't keep a solid inventory of what game used items they have to include in baseball cards, and the like.

All in my opinion again.

 

[bear0555]

While I certainly appreciate the perspective of a former Topps employee and enjoyed reading the article, I really could care less as to how much work goes into creating a game used card. If it's not going to be made properly, I would not buy the final product for my collection. And imo, the card should not be created at all.

I began collecting the 2005 Absolute Jumbos because the set consists of a high quantity of cards that are more impressive than your typical jersey swatch (ie. 300 Hank Aarons are available, etc). What I did not realize at the time, and have really come to appreciate now, is that in the original set (first half, before the memorabilia dump off), Donruss/Playoff made a significant effort to not only match the swatch to the team the player was on, but also the color of the swatch.

Photo and swatch feature dark red pinstripes:

Both photo and swatch are a black Mets jersey:

I could go on with the examples and this product shows matching the swatch with the photo can be done. On top of the Jumbos, there are many variations of the game used sets, and these sets usually feature a swatch of jersey matching the color of the jersey in the photo as well.

If you are happy with a mismatched card, go get it. If not, don't. Even if you are the biggest player collector of XXXXX, you don't need to own something you enjoy less because the manufacturer didn't make the effort to create it better.

 

[dp33]

I think what I found most striking in the article is(was) how independent each of the people working on the sets worked from each other. In different locations, no less. I can easily see how the process could become complex in a hurry, considering that the editor was not even able to contact the purchaser or the printer or anyone else working on the set. Thanks for the informative article!

 

[bcubs]

I think what I found most striking in the article is(was) how independent each of the people working on the sets worked from each other. In different locations, no less. I can easily see how the process could become complex in a hurry, considering that the editor was not even able to contact the purchaser or the printer or anyone else working on the set. Thanks for the informative article!

I would think Topps is big and advanced enough to have leveraged technology and make development more of a collaboration between all the resources contributing to the product delivery. That's what smart companies do. Oh wait, nevermind.

 

[Mario1975]

I think the mismatched cards have nothing to do with logistics or mistakes and have everything to do about getting rid of inventory, getting the cheapest prices and making the cheapest cards. I would be absolutely shocked if Topps does not buy jerseys and bats in bulk. I'm sure by doing so they receive a much cheaper price than having to buy individual jerseys as needed. In fact if I remeber I think the article pointed this out as one reason fake jerseys were being sold to the card companies, sellers were being asked for so many jerseys that there simply were not enough available, especially at the prices they were asking for. I am also sure that if given the choice they are going to buy the uniform that is the cheapest. For instance I'm sure with Henderson it is much cheaper to get his Mets jersey than his A's or yankees jersey. I am also sure that they are not going to just hold on to a jersey or throw it out if a player switches teams and will still use up what they have. I think Topps just made a decision that people would prefer to have cards showing their favorite players on the team they are best known for with a patch from a team they played with for a short time, than to have that player pictured in that teams uniform to match the patch. It was either Ricky in a Mets uniform with Mets patch or Ricky in an A's or Yankees uniform with a Mets patch. They picked the lesser of two evils. Of course if they were really concerned about the collector and their product, they would have purchased the Ricky Yankees or A's Jersey and shown him pictured in that uniform on the card, even if it meant more money.

 

[uniquebaseballcards]

I really do not think the reason for the mismatched cards has nothing to do with logistics or mistakes and has everything to do about getting rid of inventory, getting the cheapest prices and making the cheapest cards. I would be absolutely shocked if Topps does not buy jerseys and bats in bulk. I'm sure by doing so they receive a much cheaper price than having to buy individual jerseys as needed. In fact if I remeber I think the article pointed this out as one reason fake jerseys were being sold to the card companies, sellers were being asked for so many jerseys that there simply were not enough available, especially at the prices they were asking for. I am also sure that if given the choice they are going to buy the uniform that is the cheapest. For instance I'm sure with Henderson it is much cheaper to get his Mets jersey than his A's or yankees jersey. I am also sure that they are not going to just hold on to a jersey or throw it out if a player switches teams and will still use up what they have. I think Topps just made a decision that people would prefer to have cards showing their favorite players on the team they are best known for with a patch from a team they played with for a short time, then to have that player pictured in that teams uniform to match the patach. It was either Ricky in a Mets uniform with Mets patch or Ricky in an A's or Yankees uniform with a Mets patch. They picked the lesser of two evils. Of course if they were really concerned about the collector and their product, they would have purchased the Ricky Yankees or A's Jersey and shown him pictured in that uniform on the card, even if it meant more money.

First thing I thought of when I read this is that contracting with the lowest-price bid is a requirement in many industries and/or sectors - and especially with governments.

 

[SouthSideSluggers]

This is a great post, very informative and well written...Kudos

 

[bobthewondercat77]

Good article -- new information, well written.