Opinion time re: future products.... FREE AUTOGRAPH PRIZES

[Leaf]

I am struggling with some recent emails I have received from consumers. Over the last 6 months, we have received well over 100 emails/calls requesting we do a Legends of the Diamond product (like Razor did) and maybe another 100 or so calls/emails asking us to do another rookie retro (like Razor did).

I had pretty much decided NOT to do any more of these products, however, now Distributors and dealers are asking for more products like this.

So, I am struggling with what to do. I learned some good lessons before about making these products less feast or famine, but want your feedback:

(a): should we make another Legends of the Diamond product?
if so, what should minimum grade and years be? Lowering minimum grade allows more pre-war and bigger names.
also, what price point should we shoot for? Knowing that the worst hit is probably 25% of box factory cost.
any other suggestions?????

(b): should we do another rookie retro????
if so, please provide suggestions that make this product more appealing without regard to price.....
also, what is ideal price point knowing the worst card will be 25% of box factory cost????
any other suggestions????

PLEASE keep comments constructive. I am not sold on the idea of doing either of these again, but want feedback from those who bought before or might buy them with changes.....
Regardless, no need to comment if you have never been or cannot foresee yourself buying these sorts of products under any condition...

BG

P.S.- 3 RANDOM POSTERS WILL GET AUTOGRAPHED PRIZES FOR PARTICIPATION....

 

[izzyfiles]

(a): should we make another Legends of the Diamond product? YES
if so, what should minimum grade and years be? Lowering minimum grade allows more pre-war and bigger names. 1950s-present w/gradings no less than 9 on modern era stuff and lower for older stuff
also, what price point should we shoot for? Knowing that the worst hit is probably 25% of box factory cost. I thought they were overpriced last time. I would say depending on what you get $50-75 per box
any other suggestions????? Maybe some auto rcs or older rcs with psa/dna autos

(b): should we do another rookie retro???? Yes
if so, please provide suggestions that make this product more appealing without regard to price..... Less duds
also, what is ideal price point knowing the worst card will be 25% of box factory cost????
any other suggestions???? same as above just depends on what is offered

 

[Yankees1218]

I agree with EVERYTHING stated above... It would have been nice if i had more $$$ when rookie retro first came out....

 

[StrasburgMania]

1. Definately Rookie Retro that was a great idea because people could not say i dont like the year or the players in it. Who doesent want a chance of pulling a Albert Pujols 01 Chrome Auto. Great Idea no reason not to buy product with the chances of pulling a card thats worth more than 10X what you paid for the box. Its also a very nice product because their is no base cards everyone hates dealing with base cards people just want to get to the point what did i get? what will i get? who will i get? in my opinion Razor Rookie Retro is a great item that is my opinion! Thank You

 

[Erich]

(a): should we make another Legends of the Diamond product? Yes if so, what should minimum grade and years be?8 or 9 for newer stuff and below 6 for pre war Lowering minimum grade allows more pre-war and bigger names.
also, what price point should we shoot for? Knowing that the worst hit is probably 25% of box factory cost.
any other suggestions?????

(b): should we do another rookie retro???? No if so, please provide suggestions that make this product more appealing without regard to price.....
also, what is ideal price point knowing the worst card will be 25% of box factory cost????
any other suggestions????

PLEASE keep comments constructive. I am not sold on the idea of doing either of these again, but want feedback from those who bought before or might buy them with changes.....
Regardless, no need to comment if you have never been or cannot foresee yourself buying these sorts of products under any condition...

BG

P.S.- 3 RANDOM POSTERS WILL GET AUTOGRAPHED PRIZES FOR PARTICIPATION....[/quote]

 

[dannyboy19]

I think a product like Razor Rookie Retro is certainly a great idea, however there really needs to be a way to limit the amounts of each card put into the product. It seemed as if a lot of the breaks I saw had ALOT of the same cards. I really think this hurt the value of the product. Also, I believe members complained about getting the same card twice in one case. That obviously needs to be prevented from happening. What was cool seeing come out of those products were some of the higher grade vintage cards that were pulled. Definitely include those in the product.

I am not very familiar with the other product so I don't want to leave any feedback on that one!

 

[StrasburgMania]

adding on to my other idea i think it would be a good idea to randomly insert packs from other products
(modern or vintage) maybe like a pack from the 50s if it could be obtained

 

[Moonlight Graham]

I'm all for a premium autograph mix... a few presidents, movie stars & actors, sports, and other people that are TRULY famous (and deceased).

 

[FortyFour]

(b): should we do another rookie retro???? Yes
if so, please provide suggestions that make this product more appealing without regard to price..... No really bad hits...all average at least
also, what is ideal price point knowing the worst card will be 25% of box factory cost????
any other suggestions???? $150
Thanks!

 

[A_Pharis]

(a): should we make another Legends of the Diamond product?
-Yes.
if so, what should minimum grade and years be? Lowering minimum grade allows more pre-war and bigger names.
- Do it in tiers. Allow minimum grades, but try to keep the minimum grades relative to the age of the set. Sort of like Bronze, Silver and Gold tiers.


also, what price point should we shoot for? Knowing that the worst hit is probably 25% of box factory cost.
any other suggestions?????
- I would say keep it below $100, but I wouldn't think that you'd be able to go as cheap as $50 without loading the products with sub-$50 value cards. I'd say keep it around $100 but why not try to see if you can add incentives to the main hit without making overhead go up too much? Maybe work with BVG/SGC/PSA on grading packages?


(b): should we do another rookie retro????
- Personally, I would say no. The only reason I do say this is because you'd have to go further back to get some "must have" rookies now. You'd get to the point where you're making a Legends of the Diamond, Rookie Edition.

 

[ThoseBackPages]

Rookie Retro 2011

i think it should NOT be limited to "Gem Mint". Mint and Gem Mint should be combined

Each Pack should contain one BGS and one PSA slab to even out the weight of the pack.

IF putting one of each 9/10 slab is too costly, then include one 10 rc, and one 9/10 "star power" card.
a nice touch, but not really "valuable", but a great way to throw off those that like to "search" packs

 

[steve-a-reno]

If the demand is there, and it obviously is w/ the direct emails/calls you're getting, go for it. You know how well the first run of legends of the diamond and rookie retro did, so you know if there is money to be made.

I remember you posting about another vintage type of product similar to l.o.t.d. perhaps focusing on specific sets or specific decades. That would be cool too.
I also really like the idea of the Ali stuff you have coming out. Perhaps a product w/ Ali and other boxing greats......a "heavyweight champs" type set would be great.

a)yes, as low as possible if it gets in t206s, and other high end rare vintage.
b) $100 I'd say. You limit the # of people buying in past that amount I'd guess.

 

[olerudfan]

I think Rookie Retro was neat idea but would have been better if the packs or boxes were themed similar to topps sterling. You could split up a pack per sport so cases less likely to have two or three of same cards.

 

[howardpwr06]

I personally would love to see another Legends of the Diamond product. I think that is a great product for collectors because it not only gives older collectors a chance at the stars that played when they were growing up but also for new collectors to learn more about the history of the game and to me thats what collecting is about; being able to stay connected with the game and learn more about it.

a): should we make another Legends of the Diamond product? Absolutely
if so, what should minimum grade and years be? Lowering minimum grade allows more pre-war and bigger names. 2 good
also, what price point should we shoot for? Knowing that the worst hit is probably 25% of box factory cost. I think $150-175 is a fair price with the worst hit around $35-40
any other suggestions?????
See above

I never really got big into prospecting, so you can take my opinion on Rookie Retro with a grain of salt but I might as well give my 2 pennies. I think products like Rookie Retro allow collectors to stay current with the game and gives them a chance to do research and its something like playing the stock market with some (trying to make the big score) and others its about collecting players they played against/with, hometown guys that get drafted, and/or a way for them to see what the future for their favorite team is. With that being said, here are my answers.

(b): should we do another rookie retro???? If the profit margin is there for the company
if so, please provide suggestions that make this product more appealing without regard to price.....Try not to water down the checklist with prospects that dont really have a shot. I know that there are the guys that come out of no where but most dont. Also, rookie products are hard to do but try to keep a simplist look to the cards. Products like Bowman Chrome, that keep the same basic design year to year, really make it and have a visual appeal to collectors. Also, ON CARD AUTOS are a major plus.
also, what is ideal price point knowing the worst card will be 25% of box factory cost???? I would said, shoot for a 75-85 SRP.
any other suggestions????
See above

 

[StrasburgMania]

why would they lower price and put better cards in????? This is just my opinion but if they do either of those it should be Raise price put better cards or lower price and keep the odds and value. Ofcourse we want it cheaper and better odds with better cards but if we want this hobby to last shouldnt we keep the companys on the upside. I dont want to just get a product and know what im getting i want low odds but if worst comes to worst not loose your ass on it just my opinion.

 

[muskiesfan]

I definitely say yes to the Legends of the Diamond. For grades, anything that falls into the modern category should be 9s. I wouldn't go with a lower grade than that. For Pre-War, I would say a low(er) grade would be accpetable for a big name. How low, I wouldn't go lower than a 4.

As for a price on it, if you could keep to $100 or less it would fly off the shelves. I'm sure that at a higher price it would still sell well, but at the $100 or less price point, more people would be able to take a shot at it.

I think it's a good product and would appeal to collectors that are being overlooked. With Topps being the only game in town and the rules associated with it, they have to put prospects in every product. There are a lot of people who don't prospect and they are getting turned off by not having retired themed products. A product like this would give them something to look forward to as well and you would be the only company catering to that part of the market.

 

[Halonut]

(a): should we make another Legends of the Diamond product?
if so, what should minimum grade and years be? Lowering minimum grade allows more pre-war and bigger names.
also, what price point should we shoot for? Knowing that the worst hit is probably 25% of box factory cost.
any other suggestions?????

i am up in the air on this one but if you were to do it again, i would break the minimum grades down as such; pre war vg/ex, 40's ex+, 50's/60's exmt+, early 70's nm+, mid-late 70's nm/mt, 80's mint, 90's gem.

(b): should we do another rookie retro????
if so, please provide suggestions that make this product more appealing without regard to price.....
also, what is ideal price point knowing the worst card will be 25% of box factory cost????
any other suggestions????

i liked the idea of the set but many collectors, myself included, focus on 1 sport. you could break it down by sport and perhaps include redemptions for various unopened boxes, say 1 per case (1984 donruss, 1985 topps, 1989 upper deck low series, 1990 leaf series 1 and 2, 1992 bowman, 1993 and 1994 sp, 1995 bowmans best, etc). you could even have redemptions for unopened racks/cellos with star rookies on top.

 

[AKA Coastal]

Label what the sport is on the pack. They can choose to open it or sell it.

 

[ChasHawk]

I wasn't the biggest fan of RRR, but another LotD could be awesome, especially if you lower the minimum grade.
Hell, if you lower it to 1 or 2, you could easily include some T206s, Allen & Ginters, Cracker Jack, Goudey, etc.
And you could still keep the price point at $100 or less, with the worst card being a $25-40 hit.

 

[henwo]

For Rookie Retro, I would love to see the additiion of PSA/DNA certified buyback rookie autographs. The endeavor could include buying back ungraded copies of star player rookies, obtaining autograph contracts to have athletes sign them, then get them PSA/DNA certified to be included in the set. Breaking Rookie Retro into sports would also help the focused collector.