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Greg EcklundEverything was still alright when it was just Topps, Donruss, and Fleer (although I never knew any different as I started collecting in 1988). Upper Deck's arrival is what screwed things up because they pushed the envelope on prices and forced the other companies to come out with "premium" brands of their own. That spiraled out of control and resulted in "premium", "super-premium", "super-duper premium", and "ultra premium" products, some with refractors of refractors and those ridiculous 1/1 cards.
The current hobby has totally shafted single player collectors, which is likely another reason for weaker sales today. Back in the early 1990's a single player collector could still put together his guy's cards for the year at a reasonable price, but with the advent of the chase cards limited to 1, 5, or 10 it isn't possible to complete a player set anymore.
MLB should have exercised more control over their license and restricted the number of sets that each manufacturer could produce to two at the most. They also should have immediately yanked the licenses of companies that cut up priceless relics like Babe Ruth's bat.