So...why no uproar?

[uniquebaseballcards]

Simple answer. When Stras went down, people couldn't make money on the over-inflated price of Chrome. So they found everything they could to blame on why it sucked.

People are making money on Draft just like they always do because Stras didn't tank it, so they are overlooking the same things.

It's always about money in prospect products. If you can't make money, then it's a horrible product. Even if they might have the same issues.

Topps sucked all year supposedly, but now it's not a problem because Draft is out and the same old thing keeps rolling and all is well. Nothing to see here.

The simple answer is you're wrong. The expanded answer is:

1: Centering is beyond horrible.
2. The cards come straight from the pack bent like a gymnast doing a reverse arch.
3. The autos are smudged
4. The autos are missing
5. The ink from the autos show up on the backs of other cards
6. The cards are scratched
7. The "one per case" U.S.A. cards were not one per case
8. The production run was amped up like mad
9. A slew of autos were added last minute
10. Some white powder unkown to the Hobby was on the cards
11. The colors were HTF because the production was doubled-tripled
12. The EXCLUSIVE colors were EASY to find in retail.........RETAIL!

Topps has been making Chrome cards since 1996.
Topps has been making auto Chrome cards since 2001.
In other words, I would assume they know what they are doing, this isnt new to them, they arent a brand new company. Yet they fracked this up beyond belief with rookie mistakes by the shat load.

But yeah, its really the dealers who lost money on the product who messed it up ::facepalm:: ::facepalm::

I forgot to add in my previous post...all the extra production because of Stras (preproduction) likely led to the Q/C issues you're speaking of. Has any other Chrome product been as massed produced as this one? Isn't production related to pre-ordering?

 

[JoshHamilton]

Simple answer. When Stras went down, people couldn't make money on the over-inflated price of Chrome. So they found everything they could to blame on why it sucked.

People are making money on Draft just like they always do because Stras didn't tank it, so they are overlooking the same things.

It's always about money in prospect products. If you can't make money, then it's a horrible product. Even if they might have the same issues.

Topps sucked all year supposedly, but now it's not a problem because Draft is out and the same old thing keeps rolling and all is well. Nothing to see here.

The simple answer is you're wrong. The expanded answer is:

1: Centering is beyond horrible.
2. The cards come straight from the pack bent like a gymnast doing a reverse arch.
3. The autos are smudged
4. The autos are missing
5. The ink from the autos show up on the backs of other cards
6. The cards are scratched
7. The "one per case" U.S.A. cards were not one per case
8. The production run was amped up like mad
9. A slew of autos were added last minute
10. Some white powder unkown to the Hobby was on the cards
11. The colors were HTF because the production was doubled-tripled
12. The EXCLUSIVE colors were EASY to find in retail.........RETAIL!

Topps has been making Chrome cards since 1996.
Topps has been making auto Chrome cards since 2001.
In other words, I would assume they know what they are doing, this isnt new to them, they arent a brand new company. Yet they fracked this up beyond belief with rookie mistakes by the shat load.

But yeah, its really the dealers who lost money on the product who messed it up ::facepalm:: ::facepalm::

I forgot to add in my previous post...all the extra production because of Stras (preproduction) likely led to the Q/C issues you're speaking of. Has any other Chrome product been as massed produced as this one?

That isn't a valid excuse on Topps' part.

 

[uniquebaseballcards]

I forgot to add in my previous post...all the extra production because of Stras (preproduction) likely led to the Q/C issues you're speaking of. Has any other Chrome product been as massed produced as this one?

That isn't a valid excuse on Topps' part.

In a way it is, Topps isn't obligated to produce perfect cards all the time suitable for investment purposes. They produced cards with pictures and stats like they said they would, and they had to produce a lot to meet demand.

Q/C is just another part of the hobby many people like to make business assumptions on.

This is relevant here because of what the other poster said.

 

[JoshHamilton]

I forgot to add in my previous post...all the extra production because of Stras (preproduction) likely led to the Q/C issues you're speaking of. Has any other Chrome product been as massed produced as this one?

That isn't a valid excuse on Topps' part.

In a way it is, Topps isn't obligated to produce perfect cards all the time suitable for investment purposes. They produced cards with pictures and stats like they said they would, and they had to produce a lot to meet demand.

This is relevant here because of what the other poster said.

You really don't get it

Frito-Lay isn't obligated to produce geometrically round Cheetos.

But when Frito-Lay starts putting out half-smushed bags full of crushed and tiny Cheetos, where some bags were improperly hermetically sealed, they're putting out a garbage and half-assed product.

 

[uniquebaseballcards]

You really don't get it

Frito-Lay isn't obligated to produce geometrically round Cheetos.

But when Frito-Lay starts putting out half-smushed bags full of crushed and tiny Cheetos, where some bags were improperly hermetically sealed, they're putting out a garbage and half-assed product.

How can I not get it when it already happened? I'm just not complaining about it. And its going to happen again.

As harsh as it may seem Q/C is just another part of the hobby many people like to make business assumptions on and in this case some people's assumptions were proven to be wrong. They're just cards with pictures and stats, and that's what was delivered.

Its not like every card had Q/C issues, and people are still going to buy cards regardless.

 

[011873]

I forgot to add in my previous post...all the extra production because of Stras (preproduction) likely led to the Q/C issues you're speaking of. Has any other Chrome product been as massed produced as this one?

That isn't a valid excuse on Topps' part.

In a way it is, Topps isn't obligated to produce perfect cards all the time suitable for investment purposes. They produced cards with pictures and stats like they said they would, and they had to produce a lot to meet demand.

Q/C is just another part of the hobby many people like to make business assumptions on.

This is relevant here because of what the other poster said.

Unique...when did you start working for Topps?

 

[JoshHamilton]

I'm not expecting every card in my box to be 50/50 gem mint. That's unreasonable and frankly a pipe dream. But as a paying consumer of a product, I expect the cards I buy to be presentable (60/40, I build sets and put them in binders).

My last box of TC had 80/20 centering on every card, horrible curling, and three packs had 2 cards instead of 4.

That's a crap product.

 

[uniquebaseballcards]

Unique...when did you start working for Topps?

What I said isn't necessarily going to help Topps sell more cards LOL. While I'm sure more than a few people are employed by 'special' interests here, I'm not one of them.

Simpler is just better IMO, that's all. Fewer assumptions are needed this way.

I'm not expecting every card in my box to be 50/50 gem mint. That's unreasonable and frankly a pipe dream. But as a paying consumer of a product, I expect the cards I buy to be presentable (60/40, I build sets and put them in binders).

My last box of TC had 80/20 centering on every card, horrible curling, and three packs had 2 cards instead of 4.

That's a crap product.

Not saying 80/20 is something *I* would want, but I wonder how many people who would buy cards don't mind 80/20, they're out there.

 

[JoshHamilton]

Not saying 80/20 is something *I* would want, but I wonder how many people who would buy cards don't mind 80/20.

Umm...very few to none.

When I opened my first pack in '85, I knew nothing about cards or value. But I got a Rick Reuschel that was way o/c and immediately decided it was ugly and tossed it aside.

I was 5 years old. Even then, I knew a crappy card when I saw one

 

[uniquebaseballcards]

Not saying 80/20 is something *I* would want, but I wonder how many people who would buy cards don't mind 80/20.

Umm...very few to none.

When I opened my first pack in '85, I knew nothing about cards or value. But I got a Rick Reuschel that was way o/c and immediately decided it was ugly and tossed it aside.

I was 5 years old. Even then, I knew a crappy card when I saw one

Plenty of 5-year old kids wouldn't mind an O/C card, you were just a special 5-year old I guess.

At the very least cards provide education/information and a picture and that's what these cards provided. Collectors and investors may want more out of their cards, but its fair to say that probably not all collectors do.

 

[JoshHamilton]

Not saying 80/20 is something *I* would want, but I wonder how many people who would buy cards don't mind 80/20.

Umm...very few to none.

When I opened my first pack in '85, I knew nothing about cards or value. But I got a Rick Reuschel that was way o/c and immediately decided it was ugly and tossed it aside.

I was 5 years old. Even then, I knew a crappy card when I saw one

Plenty of 5-year old kids wouldn't mind an O/C card, you were just a special 5-year old I guess.

Plenty of 5 year olds picked their boogers and ate Elmer's

I didn't like off centered cards because I had good taste.

 

[RZimm11]

Simple answer. When Stras went down, people couldn't make money on the over-inflated price of Chrome. So they found everything they could to blame on why it sucked.

Um, no, maybe because the centering on most of the cards were god awful. Dude, go away, people with actual brains are trying to have a discussion.

I haven't seen you discuss anything in this thread, so, dude, thank you for your one post here to police the place.

Anyway...

Just a couple points to summarize how I've noticed things.

I Agree
Quality control was horrible with bad mis-cuts and curling.
Collation was worse than we've been accustomed to.

Many Probably Disagree
Everyone in the pipeline assumed, after Bowman blew up, that every product would do the same, so most everyone inflated their pre-orders to take advantage. Strasburg went down shortly after, which tanked the over-inflated products.

My point is, that the points I agree with everyone on are things that happen year-in and year-out. Maybe not as much as 20-30 years ago, but they happen. There was just a bigger uproar this year because there was nothing else licensed to go to.

Of course I wish all cards were in better shape straight from the pack, but they aren't, which is why grading is so popular. I don't want a box full of 80/20 cards either. It shouldn't be acceptable, but it can and does happen, and will continue to happen. And people will still buy it.

Again, I'm not trying to defend Topps and the problems they've had most of the year, I'm just glad there's a site like this around where we (dealers, distributors, collectors, etc.) can discuss stuff like this civilly. Even though our viewpoints may be completely opposite.

 

[muchuckwagon]

There is nothing wrong with those cards....well, according to Topps. A few years ago I got two cases of BCDP with centering similar to the cards below.

I had a manager at Topps tell me the cards are considered acceptable from a quality control standpoint if the entire image of the player is visible. Clearly, the border is visible on all four sides of the cards below which is acceptable to Topps. The manager told me the only reason I was unhappy was grading companies had fooled me into thinking every card needed to be perfect.

I returned two cases worth of cards and wrappers....only to get more crap as a replacement. It took several months but I got all the cards replaced via a mix of BCDP, Bowman Sterling and an assortment of autographs.

It was a painful process that consumed countless hours of my time...but I finally reached a level within Topps where I found someone willing to fix the problem and ensure I was a happy customer.

Basically, if you get garbage like the cards below you need to continue to work your way up the food chain in Topps until you find someone willing to correct the situation.

I've not quite seen anything like this come out of Draft yet, but I could be wrong. The Fielder has must've been on the border of the sheet as it has a nice streak of silver down the side.

 

[danboone2006]

This may be a dumb question.

But does anyone know if Topps prints the cards, or do they contract the cards out to a few print shops throughout the country?

 

[jmc62190]

As long as all the fools keep buying the junk, then they will keep selling it. Typical economics goes like this....you stop buying a product, they will start wondering why and eventually Have to improve it. You keep buying, they won't change. I know opening packs is like crack to some people, but if 90% of buyers are hoping to just break even, that's messed up. My advice....save the money, buy the cards you want on ebay, and go to rehab for that expensive habit.

 

[rico08]

Whether or not you're bothered by the fact that Topps did a poor job producing cards this past year (something that isn't being debated) it is clear that Topps was not ready for exclusivity.

And yes, people are going to continue to buy Topps' junk because they want baseball cards. It just isn't fair that Topps is taking advantage of being the only licensed producer of MLB cards.