So is Razor done with Baseball?

[braden]

You would think that with all the design and other complaints on this board that people would either quit collecting or get into design.

Nah, everyone's too busy trying to become a GM so they can give their favourite prospect regular playing time.

 

[uniquebaseballcards]

For a moment, let's see who is paying attention to NCAA baseball or even MiLB before talking about Razor.

Any mention of NCAA Baseball or MiLB on ESPN.COM - on the front page, even a menu drop-down today? No.
On FoxSports? No.
CBS Sportsline? No.

Must be on TV. SportsCenter? Nope, MiLB in reference to an MLB rehab assignment if lucky. CWS gets some coverage when it happens, but not much.
National news? Never except maybe for CWS if lucky on premium channels.
My/most local news? No way!

Newspapers? Nah. Never.

How many people know where to get scores, or see standings? Know who won last year's championships?

I did see a menu link for the WNBA, does that make the WNBA more popular??

NCAA baseball and MiLB just aren't mainstream enough, they're the niche of niche sports. Doesn't mean they're not interesting to watch, unimportant or you shouldn't know about them, it just means they're not popular and the casual fan won't know anything (or care) about them.

The casual collector isn't.

The casual collector has never heard of Razor, and if they ARE paying attention to minor league ball or NCAA ball (no casual collector is paying attention to high school ball. Most prospectors aren't paying attention to high school ball), they're going to buy BDP or EEE, because BDP has a pedigree back to 2000 and EEE has one back to 2004; Bowman has a pedigree back to '48 and Donruss to '81. The casual collector has never heard of Razor and will immediately equate it with the garbage that Just and Tristar puts out.

 

[justinmandawg]

But Razor only makes a tiny amount of product compared to Topps, etc., so they don't need a massive following of casual collectors. Even if they are a niche product, there are enough people when the amount of product is 1 or 2 thousand cases compared with 7 thousand of bdp.

For a moment, let's see who is paying attention to NCAA baseball or even MiLB before talking about Razor.

Any mention of NCAA Baseball or MiLB on ESPN.COM - on the front page, even a menu drop-down today? No.
On FoxSports? No.
CBS Sportsline? No.

Must be on TV. SportsCenter? Nope, MiLB in reference to an MLB rehab assignment if lucky. CWS gets some coverage when it happens, but not much.
National news? Never except maybe for CWS if lucky on premium channels.
My/most local news? No way!

Newspapers? Nah. Never.

How many people know where to get scores, or see standings? Know who won last year's championships?

I did see a menu link for the WNBA, does that make the WNBA more popular??

NCAA baseball and MiLB just aren't mainstream enough, they're the niche of niche sports. Doesn't mean they're not interesting to watch, unimportant or you shouldn't know about them, it just means they're not popular and the casual fan won't know anything (or care) about them.

The casual collector isn't.

The casual collector has never heard of Razor, and if they ARE paying attention to minor league ball or NCAA ball (no casual collector is paying attention to high school ball. Most prospectors aren't paying attention to high school ball), they're going to buy BDP or EEE, because BDP has a pedigree back to 2000 and EEE has one back to 2004; Bowman has a pedigree back to '48 and Donruss to '81. The casual collector has never heard of Razor and will immediately equate it with the garbage that Just and Tristar puts out.

 

[beefycheddar]

For a moment, let's see who is paying attention to NCAA baseball or even MiLB before talking about Razor.

Any mention of NCAA Baseball or MiLB on ESPN.COM - on the front page, even a menu drop-down today? No.
On FoxSports? No.
CBS Sportsline? No.

Must be on TV. SportsCenter? Nope, MiLB in reference to an MLB rehab assignment if lucky. CWS gets some coverage when it happens, but not much.
National news? Never except maybe for CWS if lucky on premium channels.
My/most local news? No way!

Newspapers? Nah. Never.

How many people know where to get scores, or see standings? Know who won last year's championships?

I did see a menu link for the WNBA, does that make the WNBA more popular??

NCAA baseball and MiLB just aren't mainstream enough, they're the niche of niche sports. Doesn't mean they're not interesting to watch, unimportant or you shouldn't know about them, it just means they're not popular and the casual fan won't know anything (or care) about them.

The casual collector isn't.

The casual collector has never heard of Razor, and if they ARE paying attention to minor league ball or NCAA ball (no casual collector is paying attention to high school ball. Most prospectors aren't paying attention to high school ball), they're going to buy BDP or EEE, because BDP has a pedigree back to 2000 and EEE has one back to 2004; Bowman has a pedigree back to '48 and Donruss to '81. The casual collector has never heard of Razor and will immediately equate it with the garbage that Just and Tristar puts out.

MILB is MLB, the players in MILB are followed here because of their potential to be in Major League Products. That's all. People follow these guys due to their MLB teams that drafted them for the most part.

 

[uniquebaseballcards]

Yes, this is a good point. Understanding the market is key

But Razor only makes a tiny amount of product compared to Topps, etc., so they don't need a massive following of casual collectors. Even if they are a niche product, there are enough people when the amount of product is 1 or 2 thousand cases compared with 7 thousand of bdp.

 

[uniquebaseballcards]

MiLB is different from the MLB by definition, otherwise MiLB would be called MLB and the MiLB wouldn't exist Players desperately WANT to get out of the minor leagues or wherever they are playing and into to the MLB. The MLB isn't called 'AAAA' although some people joke and say some MLB teams play like AAAA clubs!

I agree some people obviously do follow these players, but compared to those who follow MLB players, its a very small percentage, particularly with regard to fringe prospects. A player is basically a novelty at best prior to going into the MLB whereever he came from, and this includes Japan for the most part.

MILB is MLB, the players in MILB are followed here because of their potential to be in Major League Products. That's all. People follow these guys due to their MLB teams that drafted them for the most part.

 

[mchenrycards]

Fleer and Donruss put out crappy products in 1981. Razor is far ahead of how those companies did after one year, at least in my opinion. I still think it could be something pretty awesome.

I dont know... I personally liked the 1981 Fleer design and still do. I opened thousdands of those packs then (yes thousands) and really liked what I saw. Simple fronts and simple backs with nice colors and decent pictures. Yes some where out of fucus but I actually liked them. They are great for autographs.

Has anyone taken into cosideration that all of these products are selling so crappy because maybe people just dont have the disposable income to speculate on a risky investment like minor league baseball players who might break a leg, shove coke up their nose or just plain "go big league" before they hit the majors? Maybe people are getting back to the origins of this hobby and collecting because they want to collect and not for the investment value. That might explain why Razor, and Bowman Chrome etc have taken a tumble in terms of popularity. Although I have never prospected I have held onto some rookie cards I thought would increase in value. I have purchased a box of Bowman Chrome or 2 hoping for the big hit on occasion. I am no longer doing that and getting back to when I was a kid and collecting those sets from my younger years. I cant help but wonder if more and more people are not getting discouraged with losing money on prospecting and just getting back to what they like.

 

[Razor]

While we will not respond on message boards, I am in the chat room now to orderly answer questions.
BG