I'll go for one of the questions you mentioned. Why does Topps have its monopoly again? Does MLB really think this is healthier for the industry? What does MLBPA think about all this? Weren't the multiple baseball card producers supposed to be the source of their strike war fund back in '94 (as insinuated, I believe, in Card Sharks)?
If you look closely, you'll also notice that baseball video game producers have a similar monopolistic deal. Last I checked was a year ago or so, and, as I recall, every major system has a single game that has both the MLB and MLBPA licenses. Why did MLB change its practice from the late 80s and early 90s, when you'd see multiple licensed baseball video games, multiple card sets, team and league names on APBA envelopes, etc.?
I asked this once on a random Baseball Think Factory thread, but nobody could give me a satisfactory answer. Not only are these developments troubling to me, but it seems that we may see a constant, gradual reduction in the numbers and varieties of baseball cards produced in the coming years. If only they would get rid of the annoying refractor-type one-off cards in the process...
|