Strasburg Signs Exclusive Multi-Year Deal With Topps!

[Sean_C]

I didn't realize it was 1992 again

or 1990-91 even

First, Kudos to Topps for taking the gamble to sign Strassy exclusive. Whether it works out well or not, nice to see them finally ponying up to play. Funny part is, last year Topps complained to MLB and MLBPA what a terrible thing exclusive deals are. They said it was "ruining the industry". I guess times they are a changin'. This should be interesting.

How does it feel to have made the "E" word a buzz-word, Brian? :mrgreen:

As for the signing of Strasburg, I guess they had that Barry Bonds exclusive $ burning a hole in their pocket. I hope it works out for Topps, and am glad to see that they aren't just resting on their "only game in town" status.

 

[subject to change]

I don't think Prior's hype is comparable what we have seen with Strasburg, for both in the national media, and more importantly, in the card world.

In 01, the landscape of the game was different than it is today. In a pre-Moneyball game, coming off the huge winter signings of ARod, Manny, Hampton, etc, the media coverage and fan interest in the game was just not so prospect driven. Even in non-collecting circles, I find that due to fantasy baseball and other factors, even casual fans have a greater knowledge of a team's top prospects than they did 5-10 years ago. Today, there is a greater emphasis placed on young, cost-controlled players both in the game and in the media.

Also, in the card industry, I think the market had at least some impact on the attention around Prior. When the late season releases came out, there were a number of incredibly hot true RC's to divide the market. Between Pujols, Ichiro, Prior, and even the likes of Drew Henson, there were a number of to divide the hobby's money and attention. Today, Stras is really the only huge name on that Ichiro/Pujols/Prior level to attract that kind of attention. Most of the game's other big prospects have numerous cards, often scattered across a number of years and releases for collectors to chase.

While the comparison between the two is strong from a pure baseball perspective, I think there are just too many factors that have changed in the card industry and in the way the public and media view the game to use the two to compare potential prices or hype.

 

[NECpilgrims8]

Hey, Stephen. You should probably spend some time in the Minors.

Sincerely,
Todd Van Poppel

Pessimism towards a young player just to feel the empowerment of "I told you so!" later on.

The new prospecting!!!

 

[sportscardtheory]

Hey, Stephen. You should probably spend some time in the Minors.

Sincerely,
Todd Van Poppel

Trash talking a young player just to feel the empowerment of "I told you so!" later on.

The new prospecting!!!

I don't understand how you got "trash talking" out of that.

 

[NECpilgrims8]

Hey, Stephen. You should probably spend some time in the Minors.

Sincerely,
Todd Van Poppel

Trash talking a young player just to feel the empowerment of "I told you so!" later on.

The new prospecting!!!

I don't understand how you got "trash talking" out of that.

I fixed it for you. Trash talking was too harsh.

 

[sportscardtheory]

Hey, Stephen. You should probably spend some time in the Minors.

Sincerely,
Todd Van Poppel

Trash talking a young player just to feel the empowerment of "I told you so!" later on.

The new prospecting!!!

I don't understand how you got "trash talking" out of that.

I fixed it for you. Trash talking was too harsh.

I was simply implying he should spend some time in the minors or he could end up like Todd Van Poppel. I certainly have no intentions of saying or any reason to say "I told you so" if he is a bust. I would like to see him succeed.

 

[NECpilgrims8]

Hey, Stephen. You should probably spend some time in the Minors.

Sincerely,
Todd Van Poppel

Trash talking a young player just to feel the empowerment of "I told you so!" later on.

The new prospecting!!!

I don't understand how you got "trash talking" out of that.

I fixed it for you. Trash talking was too harsh.

I was simply implying he should spend some time in the minors or he could end up like Todd Van Poppel. I certainly have no intentions of saying or any reason to say "I told you so" if he is a bust. I would like to see him succeed.

OK, then my mistake. I read your post the same as the ones from js0000001 and others.

I just find it funny when people can't just go with the flow regarding high hype prospects.

 

[Topnotchsy]

Prior the hype was huge, though most people I've heard claim the hype for Strasburg is even greater.

Prior had just a few RC Auto's, Leaf Limited, SPx, Ultimate Collection and Prospect Premieres. I remember the SPx was a $250+ card early, and while price dropped, they were at $125 a long time after.

While Prior's first season ended with a 6-6 record, it pays to remember he was 21, had a 3.32 ERA. and struck out 147 guys in 116 2/3 innings, so everything still pointed to serious stardom.

There are a lot of variables now that were not there then though.

1. Prior was the most hyped pitcher to have had a RC Auto at that time, and that was a huge deal.
2. He did not have any cards from before like the USA and UD auto's Strasburg has.
3. The card market was in better shape than (I believe.)
4. Prior did not have nearly as many RC auto's as Strasburg will likely. For Prior there were only 3250 total RC Auto's (1500 in SPx, 1000 in Prospect Premieres, 500 in Limited and 250 in Ultimate Collection) with no parallels. It's a different world now.
5. The market is different than it was. Back then only the biggest names in the Minors got any attention, and when a player did it was big news. Because of this, many solid prospects were close to worthless, while the big names received the lion's share of the attention. Now there is far more coverage of everyone in the Minors and the discrepancies in prices that were then are simply not seen nowadays.

 

[bballcardkid]

Does that mean all his upper deck USA stuff just fell 50% instantly?

Yes.

Sounds fantastic! I'd love to pick up a few more Ultimate Collection auto's for under $200!!

 

[bballcardkid]

I anticipate Topps using him a ton in their product as they should

Try 3-4 months before then.

 

[matfanofold]

Does that mean all his upper deck USA stuff just fell 50% instantly?

Yes.

Sounds fantastic! I'd love to pick up a few more Ultimate Collection auto's for under $200!!

Like everything in this hobby, there is a time to buy and a time to sell....

 

[matfanofold]

I anticipate Topps using him a ton in their product as they should

Try 3-4 months before then.

ok.

 

[allstars]

First, Kudos to Topps for taking the gamble to sign Strassy exclusive. Whether it works out well or not, nice to see them finally ponying up to play. Funny part is, last year Topps complained to MLB and MLBPA what a terrible thing exclusive deals are. They said it was "ruining the industry". I guess times they are a changin'. This should be interesting.

How does it feel to have made the "E" word a buzz-word, Brian? :mrgreen:

With all due respect Jaypers, Upper Deck did that over a decade ago.

I give Topps credit for signing Strassy while being the only game in town. They could probably blow him off for a year & it would have little ill-effect on them. They're knocking the naysayers right out of the park with this move, they are not resting on their laurels are they?

 

[P_Manning 18]

First, Kudos to Topps for taking the gamble to sign Strassy exclusive. Whether it works out well or not, nice to see them finally ponying up to play. Funny part is, last year Topps complained to MLB and MLBPA what a terrible thing exclusive deals are. They said it was "ruining the industry". I guess times they are a changin'. This should be interesting.

How does it feel to have made the "E" word a buzz-word, Brian? :mrgreen:

With all due respect Jaypers, Upper Deck did that over a decade ago.

Baseball starts and stops with Brian (Razor). We all know that.

 

[allstars]

Well make no mistake about it, 2010 will be the year of Strasburg, like it or not.

 

[Jaypers]

With all due respect Jaypers, Upper Deck did that over a decade ago.

I didn't say Brian invented the concept.

 

[bballcardkid]

First, Kudos to Topps for taking the gamble to sign Strassy exclusive. Whether it works out well or not, nice to see them finally ponying up to play. Funny part is, last year Topps complained to MLB and MLBPA what a terrible thing exclusive deals are. They said it was "ruining the industry". I guess times they are a changin'. This should be interesting.

How does it feel to have made the "E" word a buzz-word, Brian? :mrgreen:

With all due respect Jaypers, Upper Deck did that over a decade ago.

I give Topps credit for signing Strassy while being the only game in town. They could probably blow him off for a year & it would have little ill-effect on them. They're knocking the naysayers right out of the park with this move, they are not resting on their laurels are they?

I still don't like the timing of this press release. The announcement is on the heals of BDP releasing to the public, a product that should have included Strasburg anyway. Something about this just feels like it was prepared. Topps may be doing a service by including Strasburg in Topps products, but at the same time they are milking the consumer's pocket too much by recycling popular names and selling out mediocre wax only to distribute the good names throughout 3 different products.

 

[sportscardtheory]

First, Kudos to Topps for taking the gamble to sign Strassy exclusive. Whether it works out well or not, nice to see them finally ponying up to play. Funny part is, last year Topps complained to MLB and MLBPA what a terrible thing exclusive deals are. They said it was "ruining the industry". I guess times they are a changin'. This should be interesting.

How does it feel to have made the "E" word a buzz-word, Brian? :mrgreen:

With all due respect Jaypers, Upper Deck did that over a decade ago.

I give Topps credit for signing Strassy while being the only game in town. They could probably blow him off for a year & it would have little ill-effect on them. They're knocking the naysayers right out of the park with this move, they are not resting on their laurels are they?

I still don't like the timing of this press release. The announcement is on the heals of BDP releasing to the public, a product that should have included Strasburg anyway. Something about this just feels like it was prepared. Topps may be doing a service by including Strasburg in Topps products, but at the same time they are milking the consumer's pocket too much by recycling popular names and selling out mediocre wax only to distribute the good names throughout 3 different products.

Sounds familiar. *cough* *cough* *Matt Wieters* *cough*

 

[nyc3]

With all due respect Jaypers, Upper Deck did that over a decade ago.

I didn't say Brian invented the concept.

Yeah you just gave him credit for making it a buzz-word :lol:

 

[Jaypers]

With all due respect Jaypers, Upper Deck did that over a decade ago.

I didn't say Brian invented the concept.

Yeah you just gave him credit for making it a buzz-word :lol:

So, you just knock it off to coincidence that after he did his thing with his baseball products, Topps got exclusive rights to both MLB and Milb licensing, the WBC and now Strasburg, all within the space of a year.

Uh huh.