It's for the Kids Stupid - Topps Exclusive MLB Deal part 2.

In this installment of our look back on Topps' 3 year exclusive MLB deal I want to look at the what was said  3 years ago and what actually came to pass.  The deal was first reported in the New York Times back in August 2009.  From what I could find almost every other entity that reported on it used the Times as their source, at least at the start.  So if your interested where I get my quotes and other talking points it's from that article by Richard Sandomir.  You can read it HERE.

First lets start with a little more history.  This time with the Topps company.  I'm not going to go back to the start of Topps. You can read the full history here on the wiki page.  No we start with Topps as a publicly traded company that soon found itself in financial trouble and along comes Michael Eisner, yep that guy, and his investment company Tornante with Madison Dearborn Partners,  in 2007, they were able to acquire Topps.  I've really glossed over the history here, but the point is now we have Topps as a privately held company, headed by Michael Eisner.

 The article is full of pomp and pride as Eisner and Tom Brosnan, the Executive VP for Business of the MLB try to sell us on this great new transpiration.


“This is redirecting the entire category toward kids,” said Eisner, “Topps has been making cards for 60 years, the last 30 in a nonexclusive world that has caused confusion to the kid who walks into a Wal-Mart or a hobby store.It’s also been difficult to promote cards as unique and original.  ”

First off how condescending is this quote.  Kids aren't stupid.  Trust me if a kid is interested in something, they know all about it.  Trust me, ahem dinosaurs.

What gets me from this Eisner quote is just how blatantly false it is or was or is. Let's dissect it.

“This is redirecting the entire category toward kids."  What category is that? Baseball card?  OK lets say Baseball cards.  Now how is it Topps having the only license redirecting baseball cards to kids?  Especially the entire category?  By offering $300 packs of cards?

"It’s also been difficult to promote cards as unique and original."  Because you've been making cards for 60 years!!! And lets face it the last 3 years has really shown nothing unique or original.

Let look back at 3 years of Topps products and see how they redirected the entire category to kids.

In 2010 the first year of their exclusive deal Topps put out about 20 products not counting eTopps,  Minor League sets, or other online exclusives.  I'm not sure how many products Topps was allowed to produce or if the Flagship, that's broken down into Series counts as one or two, or if the Update series is rolled in with that as well.  I've divided Topps products into 3 categories.  Low end under $3.00-3.50 a pack (remember when jumbo cello packs were 75 cents or less?), mid end $3.50 to about $10.00 a pack, and High end anything over $10.00 a pack.  I'm going to use estimations and current pack prices on Blowout.  Due to the lack of product in 2010 a lot of hobby packs when through the roof with Strasmania hit.

Bowman - Mid
Bowman Chrome - Mid
Bowman DPP - Mid
Bowman Platinum - Mid
Bowman Sterling - High
Finest - High
Topps - Series 1 Low
Topps - Series 2 Low
Topps - Update Low
Topps 206 - Mid
Topps Allen and Ginter - Mid
Topps Attax - Low
Topps Heritage - Mid
Topps National Chicle - Mid
Topps Opening Day - Low
Topps Sterling - High
Topps Tribute - High
Topps Triple Threads - High

Low end: 5
Mid-end: 8
High-end: 5

2011 Topps sets.  There really wasn't too much change in 2011, but we did see the start of a new brand in Gypsy Queen  which was immensely popular and under ordered, so box prices skyrocketed after it's initial release. Topps didn't release another 206 or National Chicle.

Bowman - Mid
Bowman Chrome - Mid
Bowman DPP - Mid
Bowman Platinum - Mid
Bowman Sterling - High
Finest - High
Topps Series 1 - Low
Topps Series 2 - Low
Topps Update - Low
Topps Allen and Ginter - Mid
Topps Attax - Low
Topps Chrome - Mid
Topps Gypsy Queen - Mid then High( I still put this in the Mid category as Topps released it as a mid priced release and the secondary market took it up to high-end)
Topps Heritage - Mid
Topps Lineage - Mid
Topps Marquee - High
Topps Opening Day - Low
Topps Stickers - Low (I was torn to include this one, but it is a Topps baseball product geared toward kids)
Topps Tier One - High
Topps Tribute - High
Topps Triple Threads - High

Low-end: 6
Mid-end: 9
High-end: 6

2012 Topps sets. The only thing that really changed here was the Lineage was replaced by Achieves and Topps replaced Marquee with 5 Star and just got rid of the Attax line.

Bowman - Mid
Bowman Chrome - Mid
Bowman DDP- Mid
Bowman Platinum - Mid
Bowman Sterling - High
Finest - High
Topps Series 1 - Low
Topps Series 2 - Low
Topps Update - Low
Topps Allen and Ginter - Mid
Topps Archives - Mid
Topps Chrome - Mid
Topps Five Star - High
Topps Gypsy Queen - Mid
Topps Heritage - Mid
Topps Opening Day - Low
Topps Stickers - Low
Topps Tier One - High
Topps Tribute - High
Topps Triple Threads - High

Low-end: 5
Mid-end: 9
High-end 6



But let's look at what was offered in 2009 the last year of multi-company card manufacture. I won't list all the different sets, but using the same critirea here is the break down of Topps offerings in 2009

Low = 5
Mid =11
High= 4


So basically what we can see here is that Topps thinks that redirecting the hobby towards kids involves offering packs of cards that go for more than $3. As a matter of fact instead of raising the number of affordable packs they raise the number of higher end cards, of course they didn't really decrease the  number of low end offerings, just mid-level.

  I have no idea what a kid gets for an allowance in this day and age, but I will tell you that spending it on a couple of packs of cards probably rank really low.  And we've already had this discussion about the trends in the hobby.  But the simple fact it kids aren't going to save the hobby or the industry.  At least not right away. Because kids don't have money! Kids get  money from their parents or whomever and then spend that money one all sorts of things and maybe a few packs of cards, but the majority of baseball and other sports cards are bought by adults.   It's getting these kids interested in trading cards that might bring them back to baseball cards in say 7 to 10 years though.  Think about it.  A kid collects with his dad or brother, or even on his own, but eventually other interests more than likely take precedent.  Girls, cars, college.  But what I've seen from a lot of stories about the blogosphere is that eventually a guy or gal might pick up a pack on a whim, finds his/her old collection, or some other catalyst gets them back in the hobby.  This is where the getting kids interested now, might pay off down the road.  But even Topps gets it.  While they might say it's for the kids, from looking at what's offered it's most definitely not.  I don't think kids today would be happy with what's offered in their price range.  Not when you can look on Youtube and see box breaks of these $300 packs and what's inside.

Alright I've rambled and bitched enough for one post.

Next up I'm going to talk about the lack of innovation that Topps calls progress.

cb out.