Anyone changing their collecting plans when Topps is gone?

[deweyinthehall]

Originally Posted by Bigdaddy

So a couple of predictions:

• The Topps name will live on, either bought out by Fanatics or licensed by them. It has value, but only if it is producing cards
• Fanatics will not produce cards for the demographic on Net54
• Fanatics will not produce cards for kids
• Fanatics will go in directions that Topps has started, but with vigor - severely limited releases, shiny stuff, NFTs, electonic cards, etc.
• We (Net 54ers) will clamor for the good ol days, but it is demand from collectors that forced the market to where it is today

Pretty much. The only thing I might quibble with is the use of the terms "demand" and "collectors". The hobby has created at least some of the demand themselves in the same way the tobacco industry creates "demand" for that next smoke or the gaming industry creates "demand" for that next spin of the wheel or roll of the dice. Like an earlier commenter said, few if any "collectors" were sitting there saying - "what this hobby needs are some hyper expensive offerings and an end to real distribution". Though I have strong personal feelings on this, I really don't mean it prejudicially when I say the people in the market for these $$ things and for the lottery mentality aren't collectors in any sense of the word as it's been used in this hobby. They're investors or, perhaps less kindly, if not more accurately, gamblers. A Venn Diagram would should show some overlap between them and the traditional collector base, but I'm not certain it's significant.

It would be interesting to see what would happen if, after Fanatics takes over and does whatever they're going to do, some company could get the rights to produce a single, comprehensive (say, 800 or so cards) with wide and varied distribution channels, a handful of inserts, a few autos, a few parallels, and a traditional, almost Topps Heritage-like quality - I think there'd be a HUGE market for it.

[clydepepper]

I have never been so glad to be a 'little fish'.






.

[Bigdaddy]

Originally Posted by deweyinthehall

Pretty much. The only thing I might quibble with is the use of the terms "demand" and "collectors". The hobby has created at least some of the demand themselves in the same way the tobacco industry creates "demand" for that next smoke or the gaming industry creates "demand" for that next spin of the wheel or roll of the dice. Like an earlier commenter said, few if any "collectors" were sitting there saying - "what this hobby needs are some hyper expensive offerings and an end to real distribution". Though I have strong personal feelings on this, I really don't mean it prejudicially when I say the people in the market for these $$ things and for the lottery mentality aren't collectors in any sense of the word as it's been used in this hobby. They're investors or, perhaps less kindly, if not more accurately, gamblers. A Venn Diagram would should show some overlap between them and the traditional collector base, but I'm not certain it's significant.

It would be interesting to see what would happen if, after Fanatics takes over and does whatever they're going to do, some company could get the rights to produce a single, comprehensive (say, 800 or so cards) with wide and varied distribution channels, a handful of inserts, a few autos, a few parallels, and a traditional, almost Topps Heritage-like quality - I think there'd be a HUGE market for it.

I think you're Venn diagram comment is spot on. In earlier times, there was much more overlap between collectors (the majority) and investors/gamblers (the minority). But as $$ have flowed into the hobby, those two circles have separated and now the overlap is much smaller. And if the investors become disillusioned with their returns or distracted by some other shiny object, their money will flow out of the hobby, distressing prices. I think the modern market (and somewhat the high end vintage market) is the most prone to this occurrence. And it's not a matter of if, but rather when.

[skil55voy]

I started collecting in 1962. I had completed sets from 1960 thru 1986 (Partials 1954-1959) I sold all my sets in 1986 to purchase my first house. I kept my Post Cereal and Jello cards and a few oddballs. (Goudey Wide Pens, Topps World Series cards, Butterfingers etc....) After I got settled I decided to build only Detroit Tiger team sets and finish my Post and Jello sets. So, I have been buying new cards and and rebuilt the Tiger team sets from the Fifties up. I tried to build a couple of Heritage sets but, all the SP's and everything... I gave up. I am now working on a 2012 Topps Gypsy Queen set (my 50th year of card collecting) I like the new cards but building a set is way to hard. So, I stick to Tiger Team sets including Heritage, A&G and Gypsy Queen. If the Topps brand stops or gets transferred I will probably quit because whoever ends up with it....well there would be huge changes given the current market. I would probably work on vintage Detroit Red Wing cards. (Sorry for the length of this)

[53toppscollector]

I don't really have any interest in modern cards at this point, but if I were running Fanatics, this would be my strategy:

* Try to purchase both Topps and Panini
* Create one true flagship product for each of the 3 sports, print a lot of that product, but keep that product simple. It is called flagship for a reason, so it should be a true base set. Limit the insert sets to 1 per product, remove the autos and parallels from the flagship product, and make it an actual set again that people will want to build. A base set should be a base set, it should be buildable for everyone. There was no 1954 Topps Hank Aaron red parallel numbered to 5. That stuff should not be part of the yearly flagship product, imo.
* Create a number of other products in each sport that are filled with parallels, refractors, autos, patches/relics, and all the other hits that people are chasing, make them limited runs, and be clear about what the print runs are. Charge more for these "premium" products
* Create a new product for each of the 3 sports that is specifically targeted for kids. Print the everloving hell out of it, for as much demand as there is, and price it cheaply, like $20 for a hobby box. Give young kids something where they can buy a pack for $1 again and get cool cards. This set should not be aimed at adults, or flippers, or breakers. Target it toward kids.
* Sell everything direct to customer on the website, cutting out distributors and middle men. Allow LCS to still order product, but devise a better system than the one currently in place. They'd need to figure out a strategy to eliminate bots and the like, but product shouldn't only be available in the first 10 minutes of launch, and the bulk of it shouldn't be going to distributors and wholesalers. Fanatics does not need distributors, they have an infrastructure in place. Make acquiring product more fair and less about what connections you have.

[deweyinthehall]

Originally Posted by 53toppscollector

I don't really have any interest in modern cards at this point, but if I were running Fanatics, this would be my strategy:

* Try to purchase both Topps and Panini
* Create one true flagship product for each of the 3 sports, print a lot of that product, but keep that product simple. It is called flagship for a reason, so it should be a true base set. Limit the insert sets to 1 per product, remove the autos and parallels from the flagship product, and make it an actual set again that people will want to build. A base set should be a base set, it should be buildable for everyone. There was no 1954 Topps Hank Aaron red parallel numbered to 5. That stuff should not be part of the yearly flagship product, imo.
* Create a number of other products in each sport that are filled with parallels, refractors, autos, patches/relics, and all the other hits that people are chasing, make them limited runs, and be clear about what the print runs are. Charge more for these "premium" products
* Create a new product for each of the 3 sports that is specifically targeted for kids. Print the everloving hell out of it, for as much demand as there is, and price it cheaply, like $20 for a hobby box. Give young kids something where they can buy a pack for $1 again and get cool cards. This set should not be aimed at adults, or flippers, or breakers. Target it toward kids.
* Sell everything direct to customer on the website, cutting out distributors and middle men. Allow LCS to still order product, but devise a better system than the one currently in place. They'd need to figure out a strategy to eliminate bots and the like, but product shouldn't only be available in the first 10 minutes of launch, and the bulk of it shouldn't be going to distributors and wholesalers. Fanatics does not need distributors, they have an infrastructure in place. Make acquiring product more fair and less about what connections you have.

We'd need to hash out some details and make a couple compromises, but if you and I were masters of the trading card universe, we'd be pretty much ready to go!