Bad ideas by card companies.

Stingray

I wanted to start this thread before, but slipped my mind. Name something that card companies have done that just did not make sense.

I will start off: I am not sure when it started, but I believe Upper Deck started it and Topps did it with football, but making the rookie cards short printed in their base sets!! I can see that in higher end sets, but in the base sets. That one made no sense to me.

drewsef

animal "autographs" 2007 Allen & Ginter

kcballboy

Insert cards that highlight every single homerun by Alex Rodriguez or Mickey Mantle and every card looks the same. What's next a 4,000+ card set for every Ty Cobb hit?

2dueces

Any card company that cuts up vintage one of a kind sports memorabilia. Uniforms, bats, gloves all of it is a shame. IMO.

bigfische

Factory sets

mikeschmidt

Ridiculous amounts of parallel sets.

the 2007 Topps Co-Signers issue will have a grand total of THIRTEEN parallel base sets.

cwazzy

This one I have mixed feelings about and most will probably disagree with me but game used jersey cards. I can uderstand using jerseys of current players because they seem to get a new uniform every few games and thus have ample suppy of jerseys. But using historically significant jerseys from players like Babe Ruth and Jackie Robinson seems irrisponsible. Yes you are giving people a chance to own a piece of history that normally wouldn't be able to but you are also destroying something that should be in a museum for all to enjoy. That is just my opinion though.

Chris

Southerncards

EWWWWWWWWWWW!

cwazzy

<< <i>Any card company that cuts up vintage one of a kind sports memorabilia. Uniforms, bats, gloves all of it is a shame. IMO. >>



Guess I should learn to type faster.

Chris

drewsef

the ridiculous numbers of sets produced. it should be limited to 10 sets maximum per sport total, the number of cards still produced is way too many.

LWMM

<< <i>the ridiculous numbers of sets produced. it should be limited to 10 sets maximum per sport total, the number of cards still produced is way too many. >>



It will be down to 12 per company in a couple years, I believe.

LWMM

These are pretty bad:



Part of the patches are actually cut out to place the autos in.

Boopotts

Boopotts

<< <i>the ridiculous numbers of sets produced. it should be limited to 10 sets maximum per sport total, the number of cards still produced is way too many. >>



If you do that then the number of cards printed for each set will go up dramatically, and you'll end up with a situation just like what we had in the late '80's and early '90's, which I think we can all agree would be a very bad thing.

Boopotts

<< <i>These are pretty bad:



Part of the patches are actually cut out to place the autos in. >>



This goes along with my 'bad idea', which is sticker autos. I still can't see what the appeal of these could possibly be.

gotsparks09

<< <i>Factory sets >>



While I agree with pretty much everything listed, especially cutting up vintage memorabilia and the rediculous number of sets. parallels, inserts, etc produced every year, I have to agree that factory sealed sets are horrible. What ever happened to the thrill of the chase?

I can still remember being 7 years old and my dad buying me a complete set of 1990 Fleer at a card show. I thought it was wrong then...and I was 7!

rbdjr1

George Washington and Thomas Jefferson signature cuts on a Topps trading card?

rd

edit: Well, at least ebay didn't pull the auction, 'cause it was a true Pop: 1/1 !!

Publius

<< <i>Geo. Washington and Thomas Jefferson signature cuts on a Topps trading card?

rd


>>



Ive always hated the "free frank" signatures. Its a shame to cut them out of historical documents.

btw, thats not Geo's signature. ( I collect presidential land grants, 4 ship papers etc)

joe

Mefer

"<< the ridiculous numbers of sets produced. it should be limited to 10 sets maximum per sport total, the number of cards still produced is way too many. >>"

"If you do that then the number of cards printed for each set will go up dramatically, and you'll end up with a situation just like what we had in the late '80's and early '90's, which I think we can all agree would be a very bad thing. "

I respectfully disagree with this. We have the same thing today. With the exception of some select high end inserts each year, a ton of cards over all of the sets are produced and don't hold any value. Modern collector mentality, speaking in generalties here, goes from year to year to hot item to hot item. Once the new hot item comes out, all is almost forgotten on the "older" issues. The number of sets issued a year also makes it difficult to keep things straight and it just adds to confusion. As such, I don't think having a large number of different sets has really changed the dynamics of the situation from the late to early 90s.

Companies are going to print as many cards as they can that will sell whether it be through one set or 30 sets. In a perfect world, though, I would much prefer having the sets reduced in number and having more cards produced of those particular sets. Going hand in hand with that, I would like to see emphasis placed on set building rather than insert chasing. Topps Heritage is probably the best example of a set building emphasized issue. It also has just enough inserts to appease those who also enjoy chasing inserts. I would personally prefer to see just a few sets, patterned after the Topps Heritage model, issued each year, instead of a gazillion insert driven sets.

drewsef

<< <i>If you do that then the number of cards printed for each set will go up dramatically, and you'll end up with a situation just like what we had in the late '80's and early '90's, which I think we can all agree would be a very bad thing. >>



I agree, but something has to be done, it is ridiculous that each year some players are on more than 100 cards. I know the old cliche 'to each his own' but a reasonable amount to me is each major company having 3-4 sets each year tops, say topps for instance: 1) lower end cheap: regular Topps 2) middle of the road: Finest or Topps Chrome 3)high end product: Paradigm or whatever else they are putting out here, and if need be 4) historical retro set: Heritage.

Jdurg

1): The inclusion of inserts which really have absolutely nothing to do with baseball. (See Topps' Constitution, Declaration of Independance, etc. insert series).
2): Having more inserts in your sets than you do base cards. (See any Topps set in recent years. For 2007 Series 1, there are 330 cards, yet there are over 600 "different" insert cards.)
3): 1/1 parallels such as the Platinum Parallels and the printing plates. I have no problem with 1/1s, but when you have base set parallels that are 1/1s it's just stupid.
4): Base Card variations. (See the EXTREMELY short-printed 2007 Topps Series 1 variations, or the 1999 Sosa/McGwire HR Chase cards, the 2000 Magic Moments cards, the 2002 Bonds Race to 70 Cards, etc.).
5): Hobby/Retail/Bum-on-the-side-of-the-street/KMart/Wal-Mart/Joe-Schmoe Exclusive inserts. There should just be one type of pack out there and it should be available to everyone. All inserts should be available to anyone who buys a pack of cards. The way it is now, if you don't have any hobby shops around you simply can NOT get certain inserts or parallels.
6): Multi-year/Series Insert sets. All this HR History crap is absolutely friggen ridiculous. Why don't you just release these cards as their own series instead of stretching it out over multiple years, multiple series, and in some cases multiple brands of cards? Do you want to collect the A-Rod road to 500 series? Then you need to buy every single friggen brand of cards that Topps puts out each year and hope that you get all of the inserts. What next, the Pete Rose Hit Parade series where every hit he ever had will be "commemorated" on a card that looks exactly like every other friggen card in this 'special series'?
7): Turning the base cards into 'filler' in the packs. In the past, you bought a pack of cards for the base cards. Now, thanks to all this insert/parallel hoopla, the base cards are just filler material and mean nothing anymore.

mercurynut

<< <i>Insert cards that highlight every single homerun by Alex Rodriguez or Mickey Mantle and every card looks the same. What's next a 4,000+ card set for every Ty Cobb hit? >>

scooter729

<< <i>

<< <i>Geo. Washington and Thomas Jefferson signature cuts on a Topps trading card?

rd


>>



Ive always hated the "free frank" signatures. Its a shame to cut them out of historical documents.

btw, thats not Geo's signature. ( I collect presidential land grants, 4 ship papers etc)

joe >>



It's not Washington's "signature" per se, but it is written by him, as if he were just writing his name, not signing his name. So it's cut from the text of something (probably one of his land surveys he wrote up earlier in his life). So I don't think Topps has a bogus sig on the card - it's just not the preferred version of his name most people would consider his autograph.

BobaFett72

"Any card company that cuts up vintage one of a kind sports memorabilia. Uniforms, bats, gloves all of it is a shame. IMO."

I could not agree more. What a ridiculous concept, destroying real memorabilia and sending into the wood chipper to create artificial rarities.

cohocorp

too many different brands within 1 company. just plain overkill. industry is still just too confusing for anyone just entering the hobby. the fewer the better.

also, redemption cards. very bad idea, unless there is no expiration date which of course is not realistic.

too many common mantle cards in modern products. let it go.

yankeeno7

I have to agree with historical patch/jersey/game used cards. Rare vintage jerseys and bats cut up for cards...ridiculous. Modern players no big deal. Those guys have worn jerseys one inning and have taken them off for the card companies.

I also have to second the autographs on stickers. That stuff is a load of crap. Eventually, the glue will dry up and they will fall right off the cards. If they want to do something like that, I would rather have some sort of cut imbedded in the card rather than a sticker.

stown

<< <i>also, redemption cards. very bad idea, unless there is no expiration date which of course is not realistic. >>



Funny you mention that. For poops and grins, I bought a Mario and D-Brick redemption card about a month ago for +/- $20 (it was a baked snipe )

After I submitted the number, honestly, I forgot about it. Based upon what I've read, I was under the impression that they take FOREVER to receive.

A little package came for me today





Date Received
3/26/2007 MARIO WILLIAMS / DBRICKASHAW FERGUESON
2006 NFL SPA AUTO CHIROGRAPHY DUALS CD# CH2-WF
Status Date
Item in process of shipping along with other projects, expect within 14 days 4/11/2007

BTW - The tape is from them.

I'm willing to bet that I'm an exception to the rule

Goot

Wouldn't you think that Topps would cut the George Washington signature a little bit straighter than that. Looks like an 8 year old did it.

262Runner

Sticker Auto's HATE THEM!!!!!