Monday, March 17, 2014

Topps Tek is Coming Back!


The big news this morning out of the Industry Summit according to Susan Lulgjuraj of Beckett Media is the return of Topp Tek. Few details have been announced so far, so I'm trying to hold off on reacting. Word is that autograph cards will be included, but that sums up everything we know. I don't own a single Topps Tek card, so thank you to Nachos Grande for the best Topps Tek scans on Google Images. 


Equally as big, Topps talked about 2014 Stadium Club. Now I'm no pessimist, but my instinct says Topps is going to do their best to make 2014 Stadium Club more like 2008 Stadium Club and nothing like 1990's Stadium Club. That was semi-confirmed when they announced that 2014 SC will come in a box of three mini-boxes with an autograph in each, just like Topps Finest. 

I don't know whether to be excited, scared or indifferent to this news. I want to be excited, but in reality I'm scared and all-in-all I should be indifferent because it sounds like Topps is once again aiming at high-end collectors and saying screw you to the little guys like myself. Thoughts?

8 comments:

  1. Thoughts? Couldn't agree more. A big reason that I left collecting (when everyone else seemed to) in about '97 is because things just started getting too expensive to continue to care. As an old man, I think even a pack of Topps flagship is too expensive these days, but all of this museum-quality (or least priced) stuff is way beyond my budget. And I'm an adult with a job. Can't imagine becoming a collector as a kid these days, and that's a crying shame.

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    1. Amen to that. Topps tells us that the prices are high because of the autograph costs on most products... My reaction to that is to LEAVE THE AUTOS OUT! Especially now that they use the same signers year after year in a dozen products each. A few less autos would be just fine if it meant cheaper products.

      In reality though, the autographs don't cost them much at all, that's why they shove so many at us. I'd be shocked if each autograph card cost Topps more than a quarter to produce, including paying the signer.

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  2. Like Willie Sutton, the famous bandit said when asked why he robbed banks, Topps is aiming at the high end collector and saying "screw you to the little guys" because that's where the money is right now. Its short term thinking on their part--long term, they need to cultivate a broad collecting base to thrive--but the collecting base is shrinking, right now, and I'm sure part of their thought process is you've got to get through today before you can worry about next week. None of the "technologies" bringing the high dollar, now, is new. All of these things were offered by Topps and Pacific and Fleer, et. al. in the 90s and at what we, today, would consider entry level prices. Even accounting for inflation, the profit margin per card of the high end stuff is enormous. I mean unbelievably so. Its a bit like records and CDs. It used to cost maybe $2 to press a vinyl album. It costs maybe ten cents to press a CD. So even if they charged the same price, the profit margin rises dramatically. And the ones that don't sell, heck, mark 'em down to $5 and you still make a killing. Topps has studied the secondary market. Print fewer, make them look a bit nicer, thicker card stock, include plenty of "hits", then slap an outrageous price on it and a certain class of collectors will go nuts for them. Some are paying for the extra hits, but many are just paying more because Topps is charging more. I've said elsewhere on the web that, Keyser Soze aside, the greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world you get what you pay for. There is no correlation. Topps' profit margin on the high end stuff is huge. Like a lot of what ails the hobby right now, MLB granting another license and severely limiting the number of products each can produce would go a long way towards healing it.

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  3. I totally agree with both of you. I have Topps Tek cards only because Chris at Nachos Grande ran a box break of them earlier this year. I don't particularly like or hate the cards, but if autograph costs are driving up the costs of cards, then don't include them.

    A monopoly inevitably results in higher costs to consumers for lower quality products. It's why the telephone companies were deregulated and Ma Bell was broken up -- and look what we have now: a plethora of choices with innovation and competition driving the market.

    Does baseball's antitrust exemption really extend to its licensing agreements?

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  4. I have never heard one person say that they missed Topps Tek. I have heard of people missing Stadium Club, Gallery, 206, Turkey Red, and especially Total, but not once did I hear of anyone missing Tek. I agree with you in that this is just another example of Topps caring about their wholesalers and not the people actually ending up with their product.

    What Topps is failing to realize is that all of the 30-50 year old guys that are their main market right now got into cards with very cheap wax packs. I was able to take my $5 allowance and buy several packs of cards and still have enough money for other things. Eventually us 30-50 year old guys will be leaving the market and Topps will not have the next 30-50 year old generation reliving their youth because they aren't able to buy cards in their youth. I hate to think of the card industry as being in a death knell, but you have to target the youth market every now and then or it's over.

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    1. Oooooh... Topps Total, now there's a nice cheap set I wish they would bring back. No autos, of course.

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  5. As a big fan of Acetate cards, I am pretty pumped for Topps Tek to be coming back. The thing I don't like is "that autographs will play a big role in Tek", hopefully this doesn't mean an expensive "high-end" style set.

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  6. As long as its formatted like 1998 and not 2000, It will be a hit!
    Topps needs to make different price points for different buyers...
    Doesnt every other industry do the same?
    How many different cereal boxes are there? are they all the same? there are some geared for kids, some for adults, some are healthly, etc. What about car industry? Do they just made KIAS? No, they make cars for all types of people, from $10,000 cars to $100,000 (& more) cars... I cant afford to buy a HUMMER, so they should not make it? I cannot afford a mansion, so they should not make them either..
    Point is, if you can't afford it or don't like it, Don't buy it. Stick to the base Topps or Opening Day and be happy..

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