It's the nostalgia effect, certainly, and it makes a lot of sense for Topps to go down this path. And, let's be honest -- when Topps tries to make something look good and puts some effort into the idea, it can turn out well. I mean, it worked well enough that I bought one of those "Robin Yount for Mayor" wall hangings earlier this year:
Since I bought that piece, Topps has kept me on its mailing list for all of its website-only specials on these wall decorations. Each time I get one of those e-mails, I think, "I wonder if there will be something that I will want to get for one of my collections."
I guess, though, that Brewers fans have not embraced these items because, well, the Brewers have hardly any items in the "limited edition" wall decoration group. Here's a screen shot of that store on Topps with only the Brewers team selected:
And those three items -- including one Seattle Pilots vintage sign -- are the only three items for Milwaukee in their limited edition Wall Art store.
I refuse to think that Topps has made some irrational decision to eschew the small market Brewers (which finishes solidly middle of the pack in attendance in years when the Brewers are not good and in the top 25% to 40% of the NL when the team is good) but rather a decision based off past sales of Brewers items.
In comparison, Yankees fans should be more than happy with what is available in the wall art store for them. It's not that they are over-represented in light of the long history that the Yankees have in baseball....okay, maybe it is since it just seems that these wall art items are just another way for Topps to separate Derek Jeter fans from their hard-earned money:
I circled the "16 items" number for comparison versus the 3 for the Brewers. Hell, just on that one page alone, you can see three Derek Jeter items.
The real problem, though, is that Topps is starting to churn out too many of these "limited edition" pieces. They are getting lazy here too. They are getting so lazy, in fact, that they couldn't be bothered to proofread these items. Check out the first item in that limited edition Yankees list -- the Gossage/Sabathia print. Now, setting aside the fact that about the only thing that Goose Gossage and CC Sabathia have is common is that they both pitched for the Yankees, making this a pretty clear money grab based off the 1975 Topps colors, Topps couldn't be bothered to check spelling.
I'm sure Goose Gossage won't mind that his name is spelled wrong on the print. Not at all. I just wonder how many of these prints have been sold and shipped with "Go Sage" on them.
Like I said at the beginning of this post, while in card sets I get a bit upset sometimes when the Brewers are underrepresented or unrepresented, I'm fine with Topps ignoring the Brewers here.
I don't want to have to purchase a "Cecil Coper" print.
I guess, though, that Brewers fans have not embraced these items because, well, the Brewers have hardly any items in the "limited edition" wall decoration group. Here's a screen shot of that store on Topps with only the Brewers team selected:
And those three items -- including one Seattle Pilots vintage sign -- are the only three items for Milwaukee in their limited edition Wall Art store.
I refuse to think that Topps has made some irrational decision to eschew the small market Brewers (which finishes solidly middle of the pack in attendance in years when the Brewers are not good and in the top 25% to 40% of the NL when the team is good) but rather a decision based off past sales of Brewers items.
In comparison, Yankees fans should be more than happy with what is available in the wall art store for them. It's not that they are over-represented in light of the long history that the Yankees have in baseball....okay, maybe it is since it just seems that these wall art items are just another way for Topps to separate Derek Jeter fans from their hard-earned money:
I circled the "16 items" number for comparison versus the 3 for the Brewers. Hell, just on that one page alone, you can see three Derek Jeter items.
The real problem, though, is that Topps is starting to churn out too many of these "limited edition" pieces. They are getting lazy here too. They are getting so lazy, in fact, that they couldn't be bothered to proofread these items. Check out the first item in that limited edition Yankees list -- the Gossage/Sabathia print. Now, setting aside the fact that about the only thing that Goose Gossage and CC Sabathia have is common is that they both pitched for the Yankees, making this a pretty clear money grab based off the 1975 Topps colors, Topps couldn't be bothered to check spelling.
Like I said at the beginning of this post, while in card sets I get a bit upset sometimes when the Brewers are underrepresented or unrepresented, I'm fine with Topps ignoring the Brewers here.
I don't want to have to purchase a "Cecil Coper" print.
Jealous. I had thought about picking up the Yount for Mayor print, but Topps shipping to Alaska is insane and the print itself was pricey, but it looks good all framed up. And your right, I get all sorts of emails from Topps and for some reason for Pirates, Cubs, and A's stuff. Never any Brewers stuff. Poor Goose.
ReplyDeleteI do like the Yount for Mayor print, but I wonder if they even sold 20 of them. I ended up with number 9 of 99, and I bought mine fairly close to the end of the time they had those available. I assume, of course, that they sent out the orders in numerical order...may be a leap of faith there.
DeleteI bought one of the Brooks Robinson prints. I thought it was kind of cool. But Topps seems to have gone crazy making new ones.
ReplyDeleteI agree that they have gone crazy -- it's like they have all these ideas for new wall art and they are afraid that they will go out of business by the end of the year if they don't print and sell all of them.
DeleteGreat post. I considered writing up something similar, based on my own opinion on these prints. But... I'll just leave my thoughts in your comments instead.
DeleteI really like the idea behind some of their prints. I picked up a 1972 Topps baseball wrapper print and the Major League movie pack. I considered a few other pieces too, but the pricing was a little too high for my taste... which I'm okay with as long as they're limited and have a chance of hold some kind of value. Normally I don't focus on future value... but when I dish out $36.62 for an oversized print of a wrapper... there's a part of me who likes the nostalgic aspect... but another part that wants it to be limited. Within a week of my purchase, these wrapper prints disappeared from their site (still figuring out what happened to all of them).
On the flip side... I worry that they're flooding the market with so many different prints... some that are cool.. but others that seem sort of overkill. The fact that I just used the word "worry", means that I care way too much and that I just need to go back in my hole, relax, and sort through my dime cards.