OT: Trout vs. Mantle

[the 'stache]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

The difference speaks volumes, to me. A 21 year old being paid megamilions can't even bother to sign his 9 letter name. Pathetic.

You know I was just giving you a hard time. We're on the same page. Though, I don't know how much of the fault I'd lay at Trout's feet. When they had him come in to sign, he likely did the nearly 3,000 Bowman Chrome cards in one sitting. Then he had to do the Bowman Sterling and Platinum stickers, though they were probably done at a different time.

I think the most blame should be laid at the feet of the card companies. Autos sell their ridiculously expensive boxes. Something like Topps Museum, or Topps Tier 1, will cost upwards of $200 a box. And you get like 8 cards per box.

Topps owns Bowman. They are the only company with the MLB license agreement. The other card companies cannot use team logos. So Topps can print as many different sets as they want every year, and they're out of control. Per my count (and I may be missing something), Topps will have released a total of 25 different baseball lines by the end of the season. Think I'm kidding?

Sports Card Radio release calendar 2014

Bowman, Bowman Chrome, Bowman Draft Picks & Prospects
Bowman Sterling
Bowman Platinum
Topps Chrome
Topps Series 1 & 2
Topps Elite
Topps Museum
Topps Tier 1
Topps Heritage
Allen & Ginter
Topps Tribute
Topps Turkey Red
Gypsy Queen
Topps Opening Day
Topps MLB Chipz
Topps Pro Debut Baseball
Topps Archives Baseball
Topps Finest Baseball
Topps Heritage Minor League
Topps Supreme Baseball
Topps Update Baseball
Topps Stadium Club Baseball
Topps Dynasty Baseball
Topps High Tek Baseball
Topps Five Star Baseball

And almost all these lines will want Trout to sign. Yes, Trout signs the contract, but think of how many stupid autos he has to sign. It's ridiculous.

Remember when you collected as a kid, Peter? Remember when it was possible to do a master collection of your favorite player? You may have had only Topps. You may have had Topps, Donruss and Fleer. You may have also had Upper Deck. But each released one set. It wasn't hard to get the 4 cards for your favorite player.

Now it's next to impossible to get all the players, or even anywhere near all the players. Trout is in his third season. Know how many cards are listed on his Beckett checklist?

2,282
The number of Mike Trout cards in Beckett's database.

Good luck trying to get those, kid.