Whats Next?

We have seen insects, fossils and hair strands imbedded on to cards in various releases, what are next… human bones? It just seems that this may be the way that card companies are going to draw collectors in on the next big thing. If you cannot get collectors to buy cards with jerseys and sticker autographs let us move down the shock value scale.

The Japanese seem to be leading the pack in this category. Over the years sets like Racing Queen, Japan Model and Juicy Honey have pushed the envelope and you wonder if Topps, UD and Donruss/Panini are considering similar avenues. Not long ago Mario at Wax Heaven wrote about the Juicy Honey set, which beginning with the 11th series included some interesting, and perverse, hits such as lingerie swatches, nipple stamp cards and pubic hair DNA cards. I don’t see American companies releasing sets of this extreme nature due to a small portion of the American population feeling the need to censor the rest of the country but I do think that some companies are considering the next level.

We have seen Kiss cards throughout various wrestling releases, so this is nothing really new, we have also seen various clothing relics in almost every set based on a movie or television show. The thing is that many collectors tire of the dime sized bland white jersey swatch and bit-player autographs that have become commonplace in every release. Something has to be done to keep collectors buying your product. Many people have even pointed out that unless the hobby changes collectors may end up moving away from collecting because the sets have become cookie cutter sets. The inserts are even worse, often time the insert is the same cookie cutter base card with a jersey or sticker auto forced in to the design ruining anything aesthetically pleasing that remained.