For my birthday, my parents bought me 10 packs of Topps baseball cards. I felt like I had hit the jackpot. I was excited to read the stats on the backs of the cards, excited to put the cards in order and excited at the prospect of getting some Mets. Honestly, was as giddy at 30 as I was at 10.
Then the sad thing happened - I found myself disappointed. When I was younger 8 cards meant 8 cards towards your set. Completing a set was the ultimate goal. Then as I got older, the business started to change and more special inserts started popping up in packs. At first it was one special card per 5 packs, then 3 packs, then a special card in every pack. Now today, there are tons of inserts - so many that I got 5 regular cards per pack and 3 special inserts in each pack. The monetary value has never been the driving force for me. That is why I have only bought Topps over the past few years - to me, they represented cards in their purest form. They had a simple design and minimal inserts. Now even Topps has gone the route of special inserts.
The 26 special inserts were from 7 different sets. One of the sets called 'Cards Your Mom Threw Away' is a cool concept as it replicates classic Topps cards of years past, but none of the rest are even remotely interesting. I would rather have a set of cards that show the major league stats of the players on the back than a card that says the following: "Evan, a skinny non-prospect while in high school, is now devoted to weightlifting and conditioning programs, including yoga and pilates in the offseason."
Maybe I'm just old (I still wear my Mets hat with a curve in it afterall) but I am increasingly wanting simpler things these days. This goes for cards as well.
I miss collecting cards too. I loved it up until i was about 15 or so. The companies totally jumped the shark when they went the way of the insert. I mean, they were making money hand over fist at the time, but they made the mistake of thinking it would never end no matter what. They forgot about basic economics. Too much supply. They blew it and the industry might never be the same....that is of course unless all the mothers of this generation throw out our cards just like their predecessors.
ReplyDeleteYeah man, open up a Beckett's and the sets from 1965-1995 take up like 3 pages max. But the sets from 1996-present are like 20 pages long. So many stupid brands I can't even name them.
ReplyDeleteWhat about the gum????
ReplyDelete-Dlib
I can claim that I don't think I ever chewed any of that gum. Don't get me wrong, the idea was awesome but I just wasn't into it. Probably because by the time it got to me it was hard enough to break my teeth.
ReplyDeleteAnyways, Topps actually tried to bring back the gum a few years ago. Don't think it worked out but it was a nice try.
Also, just read that Topps is now the official trading card on MLB, which I hope means the business will be getting back to its roots within a few years