1st off, I want to start by telling you guys something you probably didn’t know. I used to be a huge collector. I used to also be somewhat of a dealer. I worked at a card store in Seattle (for free) and I used to set up a booth at flea markets in Guam and Corpus Christi, Tx. One of the final blows that pushed me out of collecting was the “premium” brands. When a pack of cards costs you $100 each, it’s time to hang it up. The market became saturated with product. Each company was putting out 3-10 or more sets per year. To collect all the cards for a single player was ridiculously hard to accomplish. My last conquest was trying to collect every single Maurice Williams (Mo) cards during his rookie season. He played at Alabama and I knew he’d do well in the NBA. I did pretty well, but there were lots I still needed. (link)

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That was the season I pretty much hung it up. The amount of subsets, the cost of the pack, it was getting out of hand… add to that an incident that happened with Topps that had me boycott buying their products as well and you have a disgruntled old dude. I really loved collecting. I started in 1978 and had a great collection, including complete, hand collated Topps sets from 1981 to 1991. Oh well. I still buy a pack here and there for grins, but nothing like I used.to.

Finally, here is where things get ugly. I saw a tweet this morning that caught my eye. Topps getting an exclusive MLB contract? That’s complete bullshit. It’s as stupid as Upper Deck getting an exclusive “Autograph” deal with Lebron and Jordan. It’s as stupid as Barry Bonds wanting to sign an exclusive with Topps. It’s just plain stupid, or it?

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