Which card company would you bring back from the dead and why?

elsnorto · March 31, 2008 2:17AM

Those of us who were in the hobby during the boom years have seen it change quite a bit, including the players... and I don't mean just those on the field... but the companies in it. Many merged or were acquired, while others suffered a far crueler fate. Which of these companies would you resurrect if you could and why? I have not included those companies whose brand remains in the market (i.e. Fleer or Score) and have limited the poll to major modern manufacturers. Let me know if I missed any and I will consider adding them.

Snorto~

Edit to add Wild Card and Action Packed.

Stingray · March 31, 2008 2:27AM

I thought that Pacific had some really nice sets, one of my faves that I would love to own is the 2003 Pacific hockey set, nice design and some of the best photography on a set, IMO.

MeteoriteGuy · March 31, 2008 2:33AM

I had to give it to Pacific as well. For several years, Pacific was the card innovator, as far as new types of base cards and inserts.

CDsNuts · March 31, 2008 2:42AM

Wild Card. The company that showed us you can never have too many stupid gimmicks.

digicat · March 31, 2008 2:46AM

Wasn't Pinnacle just another Donruss/Leaf brand name?

mcolney1 · March 31, 2008 2:54AM

<< I thought that Pacific had some really nice sets, one of my faves that I would love to own is the 2003 Pacific hockey set, nice design and some of the best photography on a set, IMO.

>>

What every happened to Mike Cramer of Pacific Cards? He started in Seattle, actually Edmonds, WA with a mail order business in the 70's then a real high end retail outlet and then card manufacturing. I heard he went bankrupt, had to sell everything at auction and could be in jail now. Just rumors, anyone know what really happened to Mike.

BTW - he had one of the most amazing collections. Must have been something to go on one of his cross country buying trips.

digicat · March 31, 2008 2:54AM

<< Wild Card. The company that showed us you can never have too many stupid gimmicks. >>

Heh, Topps took that idea and ran with it. Hence the Josh Gibson HR card insert set: every card is the same (front and back) except for the number on the front.

All they need to do now is come out with all the parallels.... Chrome (Regular, red, orange, black, blue, yellow, green, white) (regular, refractor, xfractor, superfractor, atomic refractor). That makes for 40 different versions of each card, from Hr 1 through .

Collect them all!!!!

elsnorto · March 31, 2008 3:24AM

I am surprised to see Pacific pulling ahead early... they were an innovator with the diecuts certainly and they really ran with that almost to a fault. They also were huge on parallels... those are the two thing I remember most about them. All and all though, for me, they released a ton of unspectacular releases that blend together in my mind.

I can't believe I forgot Wild Card originally! I still remember how hot the Superchrome product was, selling over $100 a box at a time when few other products crossed that threshold... SP and Finest are the only others that I remember being over $100 a box back in 1993/1994. Wild Card had a neat gimmick with the different stripes... but I remember them most for one of the ugliest releases ever, 1993 Wild Card Superchrome Rookies.

Pinnacle was their own brand and had no affiliation with Donruss/Leaf. I believe you are thinking of Playoff, who now owns the Donruss brands. I actually voted for Pinnacle because they were innovators in bringing oddball items to the market (albeit largely greeted with collective apathy) and raised the bar for in pack autos with 1996 Laserview Inscriptions.

Snorto~

BobaFett72 · March 31, 2008 3:31AM

Fleer is dead right?

bring them back!

Allen · March 31, 2008 3:31AM

Classic/Scoreboard was actually good in some aspects. Towards the end they made some horrible "Chase for the Wagner" type products like All Sport PPF. The idea to sign Shaq to an exclusive contract was pretty smart. They really pushed autos when others usually only had one per set with 1:500,000 odds. The had some good signed items they distributed through retailers. They had the idea for redemptions for signed memorabilia and actual memorabilia boxes with a signed ball and such. It sucked they went under and left many holding the bag. Most of the fake autos associated with them are from dealers havin Score Board embossing stamps made in Asia aswell as fake certificates. Did I mention Ken Goldin was great when he called in to Shop at Home?

bigfische · March 31, 2008 3:33AM

action pakced

when you saw one of those cards you knew who made it. They brought something new to the table.

elsnorto · March 31, 2008 3:38AM

Upper Deck now owns the Fleer brands, Boba.

The Scoreboard redemption fiasco only further solidified Ken Goldin's dubious hobby reputation... quite a feat considering his regular appearances with Don West on SAH.

Action Packed was indeed something very unique when they hit the market with embossed cards. They got lost in the glut of products by the time Pinnacle acquired them before closing their doors a few years later.

Snorto~

Allen · March 31, 2008 4:01AM

I liked the action packed braile cards. I also like the fact that drive thru ATMs have braile numbers.

NHLfightguy · March 31, 2008 4:24AM

I liked collector's edge with those plastic looking cards. I think they even serial # every single card, even base cards. Has some wicked die cut inserts as well.

elsnorto · March 31, 2008 4:56AM

<< I liked collector's edge with those plastic looking cards. I think they even serial # every single card, even base cards. Has some wicked die cut inserts as well. >>

I believe that was CE's gimmick when they entered the market... every card was serial numbered to "only 100,000" if memory serves. CE got a bad rap, but they put out some pretty cool stuff over the years and raised the bar on game used offerings. Their Time Warp insert set is still one of my all-time favorites.

Snorto~

SoonerCowboy · March 31, 2008 5:31AM

Collector's Edge of course. But they didn't not serial # the base cards only the base parallels in most of the sets. Serial #'d to 100,000? O C'mon! That is crazy but the 1992-93 sets were #'d/100,000. I will admit they did get a little out of hand with serial numbering on some of the sets. I have several of the plastic inserts. Feel free to check out my bucket at the bottom to check out some of the interesting cards that they offered in the 2000 CE Supreme set plus the different numbering or non-numbering of the inserts and parallels. Hey I have to defend them since they've been my passion for 8 years going.

Brian48 · March 31, 2008 5:35AM

Is Fleer back? I thought they went defunct last year (or the year before).

elsnorto · March 31, 2008 5:41AM

<< Is Fleer back? I thought they went defunct last year (or the year before). >>

FSB Acquisition Company, LLC (now known as "Fleer, LLC", an affiliate of The Upper Deck Company) recently purchased the trademarks, copyrights and other intellectual property of Fleer/Skybox International, LP (“Fleer/Skybox”) and Fleer Collectibles, LLC.

In other words, Upper Deck feasted upon the carrion that was Fleer.

Snorto~

fkw · March 31, 2008 5:53AM

None .......... because the modern hobby is driven by predetermined preset value even before the pack is opened (if it ever is). And pseudo hype of cards purposely made rare (1/1) have modern young and old collectors thinking profit over fun.

Cards were originally intended to be collect to enjoy and to be used and played with (naturally becoming rare over time), not hoarded (many unopened) in pristine condition for future profit.

As the Father of Card Collecting, Jefferson Burdick once said....... A "true collectible card" is ALWAYS issued Free with a Product or Service.
This changed in the early 1980s when plastic pages replaced rubber bands and thats exactly when the hobby took a change for the worse.

Blame the Price Guide #1, and a little later the grading companies for killing the true baseball card.

TheHun · March 31, 2008 6:32AM

none.

I don't think we ned any more companies in an already saturated market.

just my two lincolns.

Brian48 · March 31, 2008 6:50AM

<< 

<< Is Fleer back? I thought they went defunct last year (or the year before). >>

FSB Acquisition Company, LLC (now known as "Fleer, LLC", an affiliate of The Upper Deck Company) recently purchased the trademarks, copyrights and other intellectual property of Fleer/Skybox International, LP (“Fleer/Skybox”) and Fleer Collectibles, LLC.

In other words, Upper Deck feasted upon the carrion that was Fleer.

Snorto~ >>

Ah. In that case, none of the above. The only company I might not mind seeing again, is the original Star Co. (before the fiasco with Jordan rookies). I thought they produced great cards at their peak, but towards the end just before they tanked, they were awful.

mafoliq · March 31, 2008 7:48AM

Piedmont and Sweet Caporal for sure, but my favorites are Broadleaf and Carolina Brights.

Blackborder · March 31, 2008 8:37AM

Old Judge.

RawPlusSlabbed · March 31, 2008 9:25AM

Where is the none of the above option. Still too much product out there. The last thing we need is more.

Leiascards · March 31, 2008 9:29AM

<< Collector's Edge of course. But they didn't not serial # the base cards only the base parallels in most of the sets. Serial #'d to 100,000? O C'mon! That is crazy but the 1992-93 sets were #'d/100,000. I will admit they did get a little out of hand with serial numbering on some of the sets. I have several of the plastic inserts. Feel free to check out my bucket at the bottom to check out some of the interesting cards that they offered in the 2000 CE Supreme set plus the different numbering or non-numbering of the inserts and parallels. Hey I have to defend them since they've been my passion for 8 years going. >>

The first Collectors Edge sets were all serialed numbered to 100,000. This was 92 or 93 then in 94 they released the infamous Excalubur set which was one of my favorite sets of the 90s. In their later issues they dropped the SN from the base cards.

SportsItUpCards · March 31, 2008 9:35AM

I voted for Action Packed because they came out with some pretty nice Basketball HOF autos, such as Ray Meyer, Red Holzman and many others.

Giovanni

MeteoriteGuy · March 31, 2008 10:00AM

<< None .......... because the modern hobby is driven by predetermined preset value even before the pack is opened (if it ever is). And pseudo hype of cards purposely made rare (1/1) have modern young and old collectors thinking profit over fun.

Cards were originally intended to be collect to enjoy and to be used and played with (naturally becoming rare over time), not hoarded (many unopened) in pristine condition for future profit.

As the Father of Card Collecting, Jefferson Burdick once said....... A "true collectible card" is ALWAYS issued Free with a Product or Service.
This changed in the early 1980s when plastic pages replaced rubber bands and thats exactly when the hobby took a change for the worse.

Blame the Price Guide #1, and a little later the grading companies for killing the true baseball card. >>

You said it! We were so much better off when we were trying to find $1.50 Wally Joyner RC's from $20.00 boxes.

Which card company would you bring back from the dead and why?

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