I think its bad.. Its just like a monopoly.. sure BAP can put out CHL products and cards of NHL Players with 0 NHL logos.. but most people don't want that. Upperdeck doenst have a product like Between the Pipes which is for the Goalie collector like BAP. Who is to say that UD wont try to buy out the licenses from other sports... there would be some HUGE football card staples missed like National Treasures..its just bad for the Hobby...
If you want a mirror image look at the video game industry.. Madden owned the sales football sector for a long time then comes along NFL 2k5 from 2k sports not only was it a great game endorsed by ESPN but it was only $19.99 and it rivaled Madden for a change..so EA quicly bought out the NFL license to put a stop to that and create a monopoly.. with the competition out of the way EA didnt have to try as hard to make updates to their games.. Madden 06 was a huge pile of Junk even missing some of the rosters in the 360 version, 07 didnt even have fantasy draft.. a feature that had been in Madden for YEARS, 08 the recievers could jump 10 miles in the air and they added annoying icons to clutter up the field (like brick walls for O line players etc), 09 is getting there but its still not as polished as Madden 2005 when EA really had to try to keep up with competition.
Competition fuels peoples minds to excell and create new things.. without it the hobby could come to a screeching hault.
