Hobby in Trouble, Part XXXVII

Thanks, MIFA. That was a thoughtful and informative response.

"MIFA23" wrote in message
...
Check out Beckett.com's newsgroups, they are BIGGER than this group ever
was.

While your suggestions are good, they can't be totally executed for
several
factors.

I have spoken to top card company execs (in person ) over the few recent
years
and have learned their stance on certain issues, such as game used cards
and
inserts:
But
now the problem has become too many sets, too many parallels, too many
inserts, too much game-used
The first thing MOST collectors and all dealers look for when an order
form or
sell sheet comes in is "how many game used are in a box"? You cannot sell
a
high end product withiout game used cards. Parallels and inserts are also
needed because they add value in a product. Proof of that can be seen in
this
years Leaf Baseball.

One manufacturer needs
to say enough! and have the guts and self-discipline to print onlyTHREE

It is NOT up to the companies to decide how many sets they make per year.
They have a "minimum" they have to produce in order to meet the sports and
leagues requirements.
Theres only one way your idea can happen and that's if the leagues
DRAMATICALLY cut their fees and as stated by Gene Upshaw, "that aint going
to
happen".

An 750-card set similar to the pre-1995 Topps sets. The set should focus
on the 25-man roster players, and have very few "special" cards. The
cards
should be released in 3 series,
You should be able to buy a pack of 10 for one dollar. This set
should be generously produced.

They make this set already, its called Topps Total. The only difference is
that
there is only one series. The reason for that is because collectors and
dealers
alike have expressed their dislike of multi series issues.
While I too like the Total issues, Topps recently told us that the line is
in
trouble due to the lack of support from collectors.



"Support your local card store and ENJOY the greatest hobby in the
world"
Mike
Member of 2 good dealers groups
(TIC) and CDN#99

Funny you mention Milwaukee just when the new Beckett has an article
about them being "hobby hot".



Between overproduced game-used, parallel cards and dwindling fan
interest because of non competitive teams such as Milwaukee, Detroit,
and MANY other teams, collectivity has to take a hit sooner or later.

I hate the clunkiness of the beckett forums. For instance I reported about
finally getting screwed for the first time by paypal about a week ago but in
order to find the thread and read replies it would take me 10-20 minutes.

There are also far too illiterate kiddies over there for me. It's nice to have
1 or 2 morons in a group (paging Blackjet) sort of like a pet, but over there
it seems like they make up the majority.

Mike

Check out Beckett.com's newsgroups, they are BIGGER than this group ever was.

While your suggestions are good, they can't be totally executed for several
factors.

I have spoken to top card company execs (in person ) over the few recent
years
and have learned their stance on certain issues, such as game used cards and
inserts:
But
now the problem has become too many sets, too many parallels, too many
inserts, too much game-used
The first thing MOST collectors and all dealers look for when an order form
or
sell sheet comes in is "how many game used are in a box"? You cannot sell a
high end product withiout game used cards. Parallels and inserts are also
needed because they add value in a product. Proof of that can be seen in this
years Leaf Baseball.

One manufacturer needs
to say enough! and have the guts and self-discipline to print onlyTHREE

It is NOT up to the companies to decide how many sets they make per year.
They have a "minimum" they have to produce in order to meet the sports and
leagues requirements.
Theres only one way your idea can happen and that's if the leagues
DRAMATICALLY cut their fees and as stated by Gene Upshaw, "that aint going to
happen".

An 750-card set similar to the pre-1995 Topps sets. The set should focus
on the 25-man roster players, and have very few "special" cards. The cards
should be released in 3 series,
You should be able to buy a pack of 10 for one dollar. This set
should be generously produced.

They make this set already, its called Topps Total. The only difference is
that
there is only one series. The reason for that is because collectors and
dealers
alike have expressed their dislike of multi series issues.
While I too like the Total issues, Topps recently told us that the line is in
trouble due to the lack of support from collectors.



"Support your local card store and ENJOY the greatest hobby in the world"
Mike
Member of 2 good dealers groups
(TIC) and CDN#99

The young kids though is where all of the fresh money keeps coming in from.
Where as years ago collectors ran out of cash, there will always be a kid
with $ or grandmas $ to buy a pack of cards. Back in the early 1980's it was
the investor $ and then slowly changed over to kids impulse buying. Chances
are for the most part is it will never change since kids play sports at such
young ages now. It is in trouble though for kids cannot buy every set or
afford every card they want. Just a big game with NO winners. I have been in
this since the 1970's and enjoy it to a certain degree on the new stuff but
mainly interest has gone to pre 1948 stuff back to the 1800's. It is more
fun and harder to find.
"MikeCouil" wrote in message
...
I hate the clunkiness of the beckett forums. For instance I reported
about
finally getting screwed for the first time by paypal about a week ago but
in
order to find the thread and read replies it would take me 10-20 minutes.

There are also far too illiterate kiddies over there for me. It's nice to
have
1 or 2 morons in a group (paging Blackjet) sort of like a pet, but over
there
it seems like they make up the majority.

Mike

Check out Beckett.com's newsgroups, they are BIGGER than this group ever
was.

While your suggestions are good, they can't be totally executed for
several
factors.

I have spoken to top card company execs (in person ) over the few recent
years
and have learned their stance on certain issues, such as game used cards
and
inserts:
But
now the problem has become too many sets, too many parallels, too many
inserts, too much game-used
The first thing MOST collectors and all dealers look for when an order
form
or
sell sheet comes in is "how many game used are in a box"? You cannot sell
a
high end product withiout game used cards. Parallels and inserts are also
needed because they add value in a product. Proof of that can be seen in
this
years Leaf Baseball.

One manufacturer needs
to say enough! and have the guts and self-discipline to print onlyTHREE

It is NOT up to the companies to decide how many sets they make per year.
They have a "minimum" they have to produce in order to meet the sports
and
leagues requirements.
Theres only one way your idea can happen and that's if the leagues
DRAMATICALLY cut their fees and as stated by Gene Upshaw, "that aint
going to
happen".

An 750-card set similar to the pre-1995 Topps sets. The set should focus
on the 25-man roster players, and have very few "special" cards. The
cards
should be released in 3 series,
You should be able to buy a pack of 10 for one dollar. This set
should be generously produced.

They make this set already, its called Topps Total. The only difference
is
that
there is only one series. The reason for that is because collectors and
dealers
alike have expressed their dislike of multi series issues.
While I too like the Total issues, Topps recently told us that the line
is in
trouble due to the lack of support from collectors.



"Support your local card store and ENJOY the greatest hobby in the
world"
Mike
Member of 2 good dealers groups
(TIC) and CDN#99