Razor Collectibles is beating Topps at it's own game
FrodoBaggins
Posts: 60
For years, Topps has had a distinct competitive advantage over other manufacturers due to their ability to sign individual players to contracts. This allowed them to sign minor leaguers and produce cards of them long before Upper Deck (who had to wait for the player to make his MLB debut) could. Since a huge portion of the modern market revolves around "prospecting," Topps was always the top selling manufacturer. There's a lot more money to be made buying Bowman Chrome than UD products where you get 3rd and 4th year "rookie" cards.
Not anymore, it seems.
http://www.razorcollectibles.com/
Razor Collectibles has signed #1 overall pick Tim Beckham, #6 Kyle Skipworth, and #22 Reese Havens to exclusive three year contracts....Meaning Topps can't produce ANY cards of them for the next three years. No autographs, no inserts, no base cards. And this is apparently only the beginning for Razor. They plan on signing many other 2008 FYP draftees to exclusive deals, including several first rounders. This effectively kills Topps' most popular product, Bowman (w/ Chrome) Draft Picks & Prospects. BCDP always has the top draft picks from that years' draft. Without having access to the top draftees, their product is essentially dead in the water.
How do you guys feel about this? I personally love it. I'm not very familiar with Razor other than they produced a poker set awhile back, but some of their ideas seem pretty cool - Chrome type cards with on card autographs. I think that the more guys they sign, the higher their desire will be to produce a knockout set. The ball is in their court now and they have an excellent chance to make a strong first impression with the hobby. As for Topps, I think it's great. For the last few years, they've had no competition in the prospecting field and have gotten extremely lazy. Quality control issues, incorrect sell sheets, not signing top guys like Matt Weiters (although that might have to do with Weiters' agent, Scott Boras), a watered down autograph lineup....they just seem like they've been on cruise control and half assing everything for too long now. Competition is always good, and Topps is facing their biggest challenger yet and Razor has come out of the gate swinging.
It's also mildly amusing to watch the whiny prospectors on Beckett's message boards flip out. BCDP is their biggest swindler/moneymaker, and now they're freaking out because it won't be as profitable to them. Boo hoo.
Not anymore, it seems.
http://www.razorcollectibles.com/
Razor Collectibles has signed #1 overall pick Tim Beckham, #6 Kyle Skipworth, and #22 Reese Havens to exclusive three year contracts....Meaning Topps can't produce ANY cards of them for the next three years. No autographs, no inserts, no base cards. And this is apparently only the beginning for Razor. They plan on signing many other 2008 FYP draftees to exclusive deals, including several first rounders. This effectively kills Topps' most popular product, Bowman (w/ Chrome) Draft Picks & Prospects. BCDP always has the top draft picks from that years' draft. Without having access to the top draftees, their product is essentially dead in the water.
How do you guys feel about this? I personally love it. I'm not very familiar with Razor other than they produced a poker set awhile back, but some of their ideas seem pretty cool - Chrome type cards with on card autographs. I think that the more guys they sign, the higher their desire will be to produce a knockout set. The ball is in their court now and they have an excellent chance to make a strong first impression with the hobby. As for Topps, I think it's great. For the last few years, they've had no competition in the prospecting field and have gotten extremely lazy. Quality control issues, incorrect sell sheets, not signing top guys like Matt Weiters (although that might have to do with Weiters' agent, Scott Boras), a watered down autograph lineup....they just seem like they've been on cruise control and half assing everything for too long now. Competition is always good, and Topps is facing their biggest challenger yet and Razor has come out of the gate swinging.
It's also mildly amusing to watch the whiny prospectors on Beckett's message boards flip out. BCDP is their biggest swindler/moneymaker, and now they're freaking out because it won't be as profitable to them. Boo hoo.
0
Comments
WTB: 2001 Leaf Rookies & Stars Longevity: Ryan Jensen #/25
<< <i>Unless these kids make it to the majors during their 3 year contract with Razor, I don't think it's going to matter, as the cards will be viewed as minor league cards. >>
And can the amount that they pay for the exclusive rights to any number of draft picks, offset the costs to produce a quality set and even compete with Topps? It sounds like a great idea, but with Topps' current place in trading cards, I just don't see an underdog (at least a completely unproven one) making even a small dent. I'm sure they'll sell some of the player cards (and yeah, they're still minor league cards until they get to the bigs), and I'd probably buy some, but in the end I see it as a futile attempt.
ebay i.d. clydecoolidge - Lots of vintage stars and HOFers, raw, condition fully disclosed.
<< <i>Unless these kids make it to the majors during their 3 year contract with Razor, I don't think it's going to matter, as the cards will be viewed as minor league cards. >>
Have you ever seen the money that is dropped on Bowman Chrome?
Do the same wholesalers that ship TOPPS also handle RAZOR?
thanks
<< <i>Have you ever seen the money that is dropped on Bowman Chrome? >>
Just Minors comes out with cards before Bowman does sometimes, but the collective hobby doesn't recognize Just Minors cards to be anything other than Minor League cards.
As I said, unless these kids bust out of the gates in a hurry and are in the majors before their contract is up, I don't think that the hobby as a whole will accept Razor as anything but another minor league card manufacturer.
WTB: 2001 Leaf Rookies & Stars Longevity: Ryan Jensen #/25
<< <i>
Just Minors comes out with cards before Bowman does sometimes, but the collective hobby doesn't recognize Just Minors cards to be anything other than Minor League cards.
As I said, unless these kids bust out of the gates in a hurry and are in the majors before their contract is up, I don't think that the hobby as a whole will accept Razor as anything but another minor league card manufacturer. >>
Alright, I got ya now. I thought that you meant something along the lines of no cards, no matter what the brand, aren't rookie cards or don't matter until they hit the bigs. Thanks for clearing that up.