Comments on: Will Innovation Be Lost?

By: Terry Melia

Terry Melia — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 18:45:38 +0000

I’m neither discounting nor advocating the exclusivity factor. What I was merely trying to convey was whether or not the industry and its avid baseball card collectors will, in fact, as Major League Baseball’s mouthpieces stated, be better off without Upper Deck producing league-licensed cards. By the sheer volume of unique, first-of-their-kind innovations that UD brought to the hobby marketplace, that’s where I think the baseball card collector will now lose. This is not to say that Topps can’t go out and try and one-up its former competition. It’s just to say that Topps hasn’t done so to date, so I guess we’ll just have to wait and see if they can deliver. Let’s face it, Topps Chrome and Refractors cards were great when the came out, but that was more than 10 years ago and they really haven’t spiced things up a whole lot since.

As for Upper Deck being awarded the NHL license, there’s a little back story that might help you guys understand the nature of our industry at that time. Upper Deck was granted the exclusive hockey license following the NHL lockout in 2004-05. Plenty of card companies were looking to move away and distance themselves from hockey at that point, whereas Upper Deck saw it as an opportunity to rejuvenate and rebuild the category. We believed in the sport and its players and knew that we could deliver a superior product to its fans. And that’s just what we did. Beyond some of the incredible dinosaur bone cards found in Upper Deck’s recent Champs Hockey releases – where the Ice Meets the Ice Age – we’ve had other great sets come out including The Cup, O-Pee-Chee Premier, UD Black and even Collector’s Choice. Some of these sets didn’t even exist before the exclusive license was awarded to UD, but now they all perform like gang-busters with some really cutting-edge cards inside. And that’s a good thing for the industry.

By: Alex

Alex — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 00:26:45 +0000

Yep, Steve has it right. Stop being such hypocrits Upper Deck. Did the collector really win in the end when you were given the exclusive NHL license?

By: Jon

Jon — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 22:12:02 +0000

How can you go on and on about this when you guys have done the same thing with hockey cards? It’s very hypocritical for you to write something like then when you’re on the wrong end of things, but when you’re the winner you don’t care. Spare my sympathy.

By: Steve

Steve — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 21:27:48 +0000

Personally I find this article to be somewhat hypocritical. I will not dispute the fact that over the years, UD has had some amazing innovations that have sent the card-collecting hobby to great new heights because they really have. However, the final statement in this article, “Major League Baseball believes that collectors are now the real winners with its decision to limit the playing field to just one licensed manufacturer. But does the collector really win in the end?”
makes me laugh.

While I know it is the job of an Upper Deck employee to try and promote what is good for the company, I find it strange that with that statement. They’re pretty much complaining about it being unfair for Topps to have an MLB exclusive yet what they AREN’T mentioning is the fact that they have the exact same exclusive with NHLPA over hockey cards.

I agree that exclusives are bad for this hobby but PLEASE Upper Deck, don’t try and get your consumers to feel bad for something that happened to you that you are currently doing to hockey card companies like ITG. Thank goodness Upper Deck’s exclusive with the NHL expires soon…here’s hoping it doesn’t get renewed so other companies have the same fair chance.

Steve

By: Bruno P

Bruno P — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 21:16:58 +0000

There’s no “monopoly” here. Upper Deck can still produce trading cards, just not trading cards depicting baseball players in professional dress. A monopoly would be if the sole right to produce trading cards of any type was awarded to Topps. If Upper Deck wanted to produce a set of Derek Jeter trading cards depicting Derek Jeter in various states of dress, such as a nike tee-shirt and shorts or a pair of jeans and a sweater, they could do so, provided Derek Jeter authorized the set. They could even produce a full set of players depicted in street clothes, featuring all current major league baseball players. While I agree that it’s a sad day for Upper Deck, it’s a bittersweet time for the hobby, in general. But, the hobby thrived when only a handful of sets were produced by three different companies, and despite there only being one company producing MLBP licensed cards now, there are many more sets to choose from than there were back in the mid-1980s.

By: Kevin Petitpas

Kevin Petitpas — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 20:48:59 +0000

Interesting…

Since the NHL lockout Upper Deck has had the exclusive license to produce NHL/NHLPA cards, causing many companies to give up on hockey except for one (In The Game).

Don’t complain about exclusives when you’re doing the same thing yourselves, what Topps is doing with baseball you have been doing with hockey for years. Different tune when the shoe is on the other foot…

By: cody

cody — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 19:20:40 +0000

A legalized monopoly? Wow, sounds like a great idea…..
Maybe we can hand the banking system billions and it will help the US economy and it’s citizens?
Maybe we can take all the Mexican Americans out of California? And that would be a good idea because Americans need those jobs that NOBODY wants.
Maybe we shouldn’t offer health care to every American citizen? It’s a privilege not a right to be healthy.

Sure, the above ironic statements are nowhere near the gravity of a baseball card manufacturer being given a monopoly in a business. But this is apparent and obvious proof that things are headed down a slippery slope in every facet of American Business, culture, rights, responsibilities, etc.

By: mookie

mookie — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 16:11:23 +0000

A similar problem has existed at different times in different sports in the Video Gaming industry. Whilst it’s a commercial decision for the respective leagues — and no doubt a lucrative one — to go exclusive with one company, it’s a damaging one to the fans.,

Obviously, a monopoly causes complacency and lack of innovation through competition. Madden video games caused this problem for NFL fans, whilst in contrast, the competition between EA Sports and 2K Sports in the NBA arena has meant that one company’s faults were picked up by the efforts of the other.

The fans need to speak out against the problem to the league if they want to see change.

(By the way, I’ve just discovered the UD Blog today. I’ve been a big fan of UD trading cards throughout the years — an integral part to sports fandom!)

By: Ronfir

Ronfir — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 15:28:23 +0000

How true, how true. Upper Deck is simply the backbone of the hobby! Period!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

By: Richie Sliwinski

Richie Sliwinski — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 15:18:45 +0000

Wow, great article Terry! UD has been great with new, innovative products that made me exciting to purchase their cards, and now that Topps has exclusive rights to baseball cards and Panini has exclusive rights to basketball cards, we can’t see anymore of your great products! These exclusive rights are stupid. Collectors should have a greater variety of choice between whose cards they want to purchase.