Big things going down in the world of baseball products

[All The Hype]

I would think UD or Razor would come out with some kind of statement in the coming days - sooner than later seems like a logical PR step.

I sent an email asking Brian for a statement and got a no comment at this time.

I'm sure they are figuring out what angle to take. Hopefully for them it happens soon - silence does nothing but drive negative speculation.

Definitely, all "no comment" says to me is that the rumor is 100% true and he doesn't know how to try to defend himself yet.

Sure there are legal issues with this whole situation, but if the rumor is not true, it would be very easy for him to say "It's not true, more info to come"

 

[thefasterblade]

So if UD was running Razor, then why did things go down the way they did, I mean the product release methods were poor, quality was horrendous and communication with the market was bad. If I was the owner of a company (UD owning Razor) and I had tons of prior experience in the same market, I think I'd make sure those things didn't happen.

I'm not denying that something is going on, I'm just saying it doesn't seem to add up.

I would look at it like any other branch of business. Arista records might own LaFace Records, but that doesn't mean they are controlling every aspect of LaFace. They might have right or underlying control, but its still a different entity.

It would be no different than any other subsidiary or sister company.

I agree they may operate in different ways but not necessarily ways that are to the detriment of their business. If you've invested money in it, you are going to do your best to see return on that investment.

The company I work for has subs, they run day to day by themselves, but if they ran-off and started doing things to the detriment of themselves and the parent company it wouldn't take long at all to get them back in line.

I agree with what you're saying as long as one thing was in place, Razor losing money for Upper Deck.

I can't say if they were in the red or in the green, but UD was able to get itself back in the prospect market through Razor (Aside from team USA cards).

 

[Mahoody]

I would think UD or Razor would come out with some kind of statement in the coming days - sooner than later seems like a logical PR step.

I sent an email asking Brian for a statement and got a no comment at this time.

I'm sure they are figuring out what angle to take. Hopefully for them it happens soon - silence does nothing but drive negative speculation.

I can't wait for this.....should be almost as enjoyable as watching A-Fraud's steroid press conference

 

[beefycheddar]

I would think UD or Razor would come out with some kind of statement in the coming days - sooner than later seems like a logical PR step.

I sent an email asking Brian for a statement and got a no comment at this time.

He's actively talking to me about it in PMs, so you might try a PM.

He said he was pursuing the allegations and can not comment at this time. I told him to let me know when he can. Don't think I can do much more than that.

 

[Therion]

I would think UD or Razor would come out with some kind of statement in the coming days - sooner than later seems like a logical PR step.

I sent an email asking Brian for a statement and got a no comment at this time.

He's actively talking to me about it in PMs, so you might try a PM.

He said he was pursuing the allegations and can not comment at this time. I told him to let me know when he can. Don't think I can do much more than that.

My bad, I misread. You said you got a "no comment" but I thought you mean you got no comment. Like he didn't respond.

I'm a dope.

:lol:

 

[All The Hype]

So if UD was running Razor, then why did things go down the way they did, I mean the product release methods were poor, quality was horrendous and communication with the market was bad. If I was the owner of a company (UD owning Razor) and I had tons of prior experience in the same market, I think I'd make sure those things didn't happen.

I'm not denying that something is going on, I'm just saying it doesn't seem to add up.

I would look at it like any other branch of business. Arista records might own LaFace Records, but that doesn't mean they are controlling every aspect of LaFace. They might have right or underlying control, but its still a different entity.

It would be no different than any other subsidiary or sister company.

I agree they may operate in different ways but not necessarily ways that are to the detriment of their business. If you've invested money in it, you are going to do your best to see return on that investment.

The company I work for has subs, they run day to day by themselves, but if they ran-off and started doing things to the detriment of themselves and the parent company it wouldn't take long at all to get them back in line.

I agree with what you're saying as long as one thing was in place, Razor losing money for Upper Deck.

I can't say if they were in the red or in the green, but UD was able to get itself back in the prospect market through Razor (Aside from team USA cards).

Perhaps the main purpose was not to make a nice prospect product, but rather, to send a blow to Topps products, namely Bowman Draft.




In this case, it wouldn't matter as much if Razor was making them money because the overall goal would have been to hurt Topps sales by hurting Bowman sales (which had a weaker checklist than it otherwise would have had).



Then if they make money through Razor on the side, that's just an added bonus.

 

[rico08]

I would think UD or Razor would come out with some kind of statement in the coming days - sooner than later seems like a logical PR step.

I sent an email asking Brian for a statement and got a no comment at this time.

He's actively talking to me about it in PMs, so you might try a PM.

He said he was pursuing the allegations and can not comment at this time. I told him to let me know when he can. Don't think I can do much more than that.

What part about who did or didn't give "edgeman" or Razor $$ would need to be investigated?

 

[ru4scuba]

What part about who did or didn't give "edgeman" or Razor $$ would need to be investigated?

I'm assuming the source of the memo needs investigating. Has anyone asked if the memo is legit?

 

[uniquebaseballcards]

Definitely with you guys. I never understood why Milli Vanilli went away, I just liked their music.

Way too much drama on this IMO.

I would also like to say...

Whatever happened to just liking cards, regardless of who made them, and not caring about all the behind the scenes BS?

I was just thinking about that, very good point.

I've bought some razor metal parallels and one way or another, I think they look nice!

 

[moxacaine]

Personally i could care less if UD owns Razor. It doesnt change the fact that they have excellent customer service and were taking the time to listen to the consumer.

It also explains why Brian was always so defensive when people were making those claims last year. :lol:

 

[ChasHawk]

What part about who did or didn't give "edgeman" or Razor $$ would need to be investigated?

I'm assuming the source of the memo needs investigating. Has anyone asked if the memo is legit?

I don't know, but like I said before, If Steve Judd is calling this fact, then I'm leaning towards legit.

 

[thefasterblade]

What part about who did or didn't give "edgeman" or Razor $$ would need to be investigated?

I'm assuming the source of the memo needs investigating. Has anyone asked if the memo is legit?

 

[ru4scuba]

What part about who did or didn't give "edgeman" or Razor $$ would need to be investigated?

I'm assuming the source of the memo needs investigating. Has anyone asked if the memo is legit?

I don't know, but like I said before, If Steve Judd is calling this fact, then I'm leaning towards legit.

Judd has been referring to UD as Razor's "West Coast Sugar Daddy" for quite some time. I'm still going to wait for something official until I buy into all of this 100%.

 

[cgilmo]

The memo is quite legit.


As to the allegations in the memo, some of those are a bit muddy.

 

[i43770]

I would also like to say...

Whatever happened to just liking cards, regardless of who made them, and not caring about all the behind the scenes BS?

Its become a business and when people invest rather than collect this is what comes along.

So if UD was running Razor, then why did things go down the way they did, I mean the product release methods were poor, quality was horrendous and communication with the market was bad. If I was the owner of a company (UD owning Razor) and I had tons of prior experience in the same market, I think I'd make sure those things didn't happen.

I'm not denying that something is going on, I'm just saying it doesn't seem to add up.

Agreed, i just don't see why if UD had control, the simple problems like release and QC would be problems.

I don't understand the part about QC. You are referring to the company that has put out "Sweet Spot" autos that have faded still in the boxes (or tins). And some after a few years are completely gone.

 

[WaxHeaven]

What part about who did or didn't give "edgeman" or Razor $$ would need to be investigated?

I'm assuming the source of the memo needs investigating. Has anyone asked if the memo is legit?

I don't know, but like I said before, If Steve Judd is calling this fact, then I'm leaning towards legit.

The Sports Card File is doing a follow up story to the leaked memo which should go live in a couple of hours.

Basically, he told me it's 100% true and he has known about it for a long time.

 

[mredsox89]

I would also like to say...

Whatever happened to just liking cards, regardless of who made them, and not caring about all the behind the scenes BS?

Its become a business and when people invest rather than collect this is what comes along.

So if UD was running Razor, then why did things go down the way they did, I mean the product release methods were poor, quality was horrendous and communication with the market was bad. If I was the owner of a company (UD owning Razor) and I had tons of prior experience in the same market, I think I'd make sure those things didn't happen.

I'm not denying that something is going on, I'm just saying it doesn't seem to add up.

Agreed, i just don't see why if UD had control, the simple problems like release and QC would be problems.

I don't understand the part about QC. You are referring to the company that has put out "Sweet Spot" autos that have faded still in the boxes (or tins). And some after a few years are completely gone.

The QC problems with Razor seemed more extreme than just fading sweet spot autos. Maybe not in terms of value, but the majority of signature series cards were in terrible condition upon release.

 

[beefycheddar]

I would also like to say...

Whatever happened to just liking cards, regardless of who made them, and not caring about all the behind the scenes BS?

Its become a business and when people invest rather than collect this is what comes along.

So if UD was running Razor, then why did things go down the way they did, I mean the product release methods were poor, quality was horrendous and communication with the market was bad. If I was the owner of a company (UD owning Razor) and I had tons of prior experience in the same market, I think I'd make sure those things didn't happen.

I'm not denying that something is going on, I'm just saying it doesn't seem to add up.

Agreed, i just don't see why if UD had control, the simple problems like release and QC would be problems.

I don't understand the part about QC. You are referring to the company that has put out "Sweet Spot" autos that have faded still in the boxes (or tins). And some after a few years are completely gone.

The QC problems with Razor seemed more extreme than just fading sweet spot autos. Maybe not in terms of value, but the majority of signature series cards were in terrible condition upon release.

Have you ever looked at the condition on sweet spot cards? or USA autos?

 

[Rudzud]

Players will not be allowed to sign exclusive contracts with specific companies, therefore allowing all companies access to all players under the protection of MLBP (major and minor league players).

Therefore not allowing companies like Razor come in and "block" established companies with a license.

similar to the NFL

Does this mean Ichiro will now have autographs in Topps? No more player exclusiveness.

 

[rico08]

The memo is quite legit.

As to the allegations in the memo, some of those are a bit muddy.

Which is muddy?

1) That McWilliam provided cash that funded Razor
or
2) That McWilliam has de facto control over the company?