Thursday, December 23, 2010

Retro Rant

Do we really need another retro set from Topps? Chicle and Topps 206 were never really a success among collectors; honestly they were just half-assed attempts in the end hoping to drum up some sales dollars from the vintage collectors. Now Topps thinks that Gypsy Queen will help bolster their stale lineup?

Allen & Ginter has run its course; they really need to let the series die with dignity but Topps keeps beating the old horse hoping there is still one more race out of the old gal. I cannot understand why Topps, which has 20 different products this coming year, feels it is necessary to add another retro to the lineup.

Instead of putting out stale products and hoping to tie in to nostalgia why not cut the list down in half and focus on product design instead? Stick to a base series, a mid-level series and a high end product for each licensing. Cut the sticker autographs, gimmick cards, redemptions and parallels and put out a quality lineup, trust me people will buy boxes if the cards look good.

3 comments:

  1. I agree... they need to cut down the # of products put out onto the market AND focus on product design. I also agree that they should have their standard base series... a mid-level series, and a high-end product... however... they should be allowed one more product. A vintage series. I'm a huge fan of vintage remakes... however Topps has taken advantage of collectors. I'd be happy if they just focused on producing Heritage or A&G.

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  2. I haven't bought base of Topps baseball this year which is a rarity. I only picked up AG and Heritage and that's about it for baseball. Topps exclusive license is just making me cut down on purchases

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  3. If Topps cut down to a base, mid and high end baseball product I am all for a well designed vintage release.

    Unfortunately they seem to toss the retro sets to add parity and that is all. In a recent video on their Facebook page Topps PDM Clay Luraschi even talks about how having two retro sets balances everything out.

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