Do Gimmick Cards Help The Hobby?

Mike

TP9 | VC15
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http://upperdeckblog.com/2013/11/br...g-content-to-exquisite-collection-basketball/

So, Upper Deck is making a card with 16 autographs of the same player! Say what?! All on a single card?! Yeah, my thoughts exactly.

There will be 2 of said cards. One will feature Lebron James (16 times), and the other featuring Michael Jordan (yeah, 16 times).

I couldn't be less happy about this move from Upper Deck, but I'm not a big fan of gimmicks anyways. This is great for people who buy boxes because they want to flip the cards they get. Imagine how much one of these cards will sell for when it hits the market. The sad part is that it's likely exactly what Upper Deck is hoping will happen! Will it create talk about the hobby when these cards are sold? Sure, absolutely! What happens, though, after those cards are sold? There are only 2 of them. Will 2 cards really create enough hype to send people running to their LCS in search of boxes of cards? People who otherwise wouldn't have bought any? I think not!

Why don't card companies focus their efforts on things that encourage actual collectors to get more involved in this hobby, rather than just gamblers. Do we really want this hobby to become its own little stock exchange? I, for one, do not! I actually collect cards, though. I've sold VERY few cards, and when I have it's usually been to someone who actually wanted to collect the card I had and didn't have anything to trade for it, or because I just needed the money. All of this buy/sell crap really seems to be killing true collector's interest and it's definitely taken its toll on trading.

So, what do you guys think about this move? Is this good for the hobby and collectors, or is this just one more thing that we'll look back on years from now as if it were a big joke?
 
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Well..

I was going to tweet this, but it ran too long. I'll tweet it as a screen grab instead, not that I think the companies responsible will listen.


"I'm predicting a trading card crash in the next few years. Right now we have 80% of "collectors" trying to sell everything they open to the 20% who actually collect cards. A ton of cards are just sitting at peoples houses who doesnt care about them(and often don't even collect any player, team or set), only wants to make money and over charging for the cards because some card companies over charge for their products.

It MUST stop. We need a crash. Now.

#TheHobby #Collect #GetBackToTradingAndGiving"

So guess how I feel about it.
 
The problem with gimmick cards is the card companies think that every one of them are hits, when most of them are strike-outs looking.
 
Why would you need 16 of the same autograph on a single booklet? I mean whats the point? Obviously its all about the money and not the hobby

That is the big problem with the entire hobby right now. The card companies and as Mark said the 80% of the "collectors" who just open stuff to sell to others seem bent on keeping trading cards strictly a business and not a HOBBY.

Also the companies need to back off on:
Short Prints
Super Short Prints
dozens of sub-sets for just one 100 card set most of which are parallels
Parallel minis for every set
 
Im guessing the hobby has turned into a lottery for some people, instead of enjoying buying a box and feeling the rush for what you might get,they already have in their mind what they want to get,ignoring all the other great cards others would love to get
 
These are obvious a ridiculous gimmick, and one of the biggest problems with the hobby. I actually sell quite a few cards if they are not from my PC, but usually to pick up extras from my PC. My biggest addiction is that I LOVE to open packs myself, which rarely gets me any PC, then I either sell the top hits or trade for my PC. Until I got on this site, I had very few trade partners, so I do more trading now than I have since I was young. It would be great to go back to those days when all of my friends and I would sit in the middle of the floor and trade cards for hours. I actually remember trading a Jordan rookie card for some of my favorite Reds players of the time, but the memory of trading is great and I don't regret any of the trades that I made. Finally, if I were to pull one of these I would sell it and but a case of my favorite cards.

just my 2 cents worth (y)
 
And see @franklinguy52 thats commendable, your intentions whether you get the hit or not is to keep it in the hobby and grow your pc, I just hope with this gimmick I can still pull some great cards either in boxes I buy or boxbreaks instead of ebay, considering that most people are gonna buy this product up looking for those monster hits and everything else they'll throw on ebay
 
Oh, I don't see a problem with anyone who sells cards to turn around and buy more. The problem, as I see it, is the people who buy cards and don't collect any. There are becoming more and more of those types of people, and they're the ones who are driving the manufacturers around. It's good business for the manufacturers, but it stinks for true collectors. I remember when I was a kid how possible it was to collect every card from a set, including insert sets. These days, it's next to impossible. A lot of the non-autograph and non-game used inserts are just thrown out with yesterday's garbage.
 
I think this 16x Lebron signature card should be the death of Upper Deck. The only reason they are living is because they do college products and they have contracts with LBJ and Jordan. Honestly I do not mind people that sell their cards for profit when the cost of getting a box with more than one guaranteed hits is over $100! that is some crazy money! Nowadays a $100 box is just for a box with 2 autos most of the time. Don't even get me started on the crap Bowman does with their stuff. Seriously $80 a box for draft picks and prospects (that's what the cost is at my LCS) for one #$%&^#* autograph?!?! To make it even better they are PROSPECTS. Half of these guys don't pan out anyway! Then you sell a jumbo box for twice the price? Seriously Bowman??? Get your crap together.
 
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