RANT: Are you guys tired of the junk?

[tribefan]

I don't know about you guys but I've had it with these "World Baseball Classic" cards. 20% of my box was guys I've never heard of and will likely never see again.

Does anyone in the U.S. even care about the games (outside of the two markets that host games and even that's debateable)?

Are these for our international collectors? Does ANYONE trade for them? Is there a dude in Japan right now grumbling about his Grady Sizemore pull because he was hoping for my Norichika Aoki?!

I don't think I've moved a single WBC card that I've, unfortunately, pulled. And, the "Previews" for the 2012 games should be out any day now.

Last night, I pulled a "Robbie Cordemans" REFRACTOR - woo hoo! Anyone interested in a 35-year-old prosprect out of THE NETHERLANDS! - that hotbed of baseball?! Thanks for one of the promised hits, Topps.

I bet his claim to fame is the hit he got off Bert Blyleven in grade school. Sheesh!

Then there's the guitar heroes, hotdog eating champs and female track stars (who look like men) in prom dresses. I'm assuming it was the ESPYs. I screamed out loud when I pulled the card and have been paying for therapy ever since. I still wake in the middle of the night screaming.

There was even an SP of the dude who was one of six people who even attempted to decode the Alllen and Ginter game. A short print! I'm sure his Mom is quite proud. I tried to trade it to her for one of those home-made loom potholders and she shot me down!

For those collectors that like the sillyness in A&G, fine. It makes it more like the old-day A&G collectibles. Because that is a popular set doesn't mean we want the sillyness in all the sets!

Thank you. I feel better.

Now, does anyone want any of this?

http://mmtrade.webs.com/tradenon.htm

 

[BiggioDiogu759]

I am kinda sick of it.

 

[mindbinge]

I am more sick of it, than not sick of it.

 

[Myerburg311]

The problem is that there are SOME people who want them so they will keep making them.. And after all money cures all tears from customers according to companies

 

[cmcjr99]

i don't care for all the non-sports material , but i for one love the wbc cards even though i have very few...

 

[Taliasen]

I am VERY interested in collecting WBC cards of the Chinese National Team (NOT Chinese Tai Pei) for my adopted son. Pleae let me know what you may have!

Tal

 

[bfd13]

Tribefan;
I'm with you 100 percent. They are junk to me.

 

[abncal]

That's why I stick with Topps Chrome brother! (oh geez I hope I didn't just ginx myself )

 

[theplasticman]

One thing I've learned... they will produce what they think the masses will buy. The "core" people that this stuff really matters too will never be fully satisfied in their minds so they roll with whatever they "think" will sell.

I am involved in marketing pretty much every day of the year with my work. It wouldn't take much for a card company to wise up and make some dominant moves with the collector base. But... that takes effort and "thinking outside of the box"

 

[bblair_2002]

I'm still waiting for the cast of the original Bad News Bears to sign cards for a baseball set (with Walter Matthau cut autos obviously). I think that would be awesome especially in a product like Allen and Ginter and would be a set I would try for.

As far as non-mainstream athletes who have signed,I think the companies are starting to dig from the bottle of the barrel in the last couple years and it's losing it's novelty real fast.

 

[Motown G]

I don't even know where to start....I know some are interested in non-sports stuff, but I am not. I sure would like to know what products don't have these "non-sports" cards in them so I could stay away from them. The only product I open every year is Topps chrome. Tired of the absolute JUNK!!!!

 

[quambomb]

I like the bowman chrome WBC cards. I saw the Japanese WBC team play the Giants during spring training in AZ with Lincecum on the mound and it was pretty cool. I think the set is kinda lame for alot of collectors, but I'm sure some people enjoy it for one reaosn ro another. I dislike all of the non sport cards though, so I haven't bought any spectrum or Piece of hsitory when they were released. I do like the ***** league cards in A&G though

 

[75zito]

I don't mind the WBC cards.. but the presidents, actors, and other sports stars in my baseball boxes make me mad!! I could care a less about pulling a Barrack Obama card! I busted a box last week and pulled a boxing auto!! I hate that!


Christopher

 

[basebal1fan]

Yeah, baseball products should have baseball cards in them... period. If they want to include those stupid extra cards, they can be inserted as extras (eg. there's 7 cards in the pack and if you're lucky enough to get one, there's 8). That's just my opinion. Some nonsport A&G's are interesting to look at, but I wouldn't want to pull one out of a pack.

 

[loftheb]

The popularity of 2006 A&G is what opened the floodgate to nonsport or nonbaseball stuff in a baseball product, I think. It would be very interesting to see if a baseball-only checklist in an A&G set would sell better than their current stuff. I'm not sure it would.
I guess I don't mind it. It's fun to look at, although it really doesn't move. When it got the most ridiculous to me was when I bought a box of SP Authentic, and I got George W. Bush, The Crash of the Market in 2008, and Oil Tops $100 Per Barrel. That was a depressing box!
As for the WBC stuff, I think there's an actual market for that... even though it may not be as mainstream as MLB.
-Casey

 

[Meliah]

While I don't agree with you 100% I give that rant an A+

 

[mrmopar]

I actually have purchased a variety of non-sports stuff, both when I was a kid and as an adult. HOWEVER, when I buy it, it is online, usually as singles, lots or sets.

I DO NOT want to buy a new product for baseball (all I would buy these days, even if I bought new packs...which I don't) and pull any of it. That is wasted space in baseball card packs as far as I am concerned.

Presidents, Movie Stars, Oddities, Countries, animals, flowers and plants, rivers, space, World Leaders and any of those other subjects would make for an interesting set or sets and would even be a good thing for kids (and adults) to see and open their eyes to something different. Learning from cards...what a concept!!!

I would like to see if they could survive stand-alone w/o sports cards to carry them.

 

[pfosset]

it was a little nice at first, but enough is enough, 2009 bowman prospects---there is 2009 wbc prospects and we have jeter, ichiro, bernie williams, etc---i would have much better have more actual prospects in the set

rob

 

[OriolesFan8]

I agree. I do like the Presidents and History cards, but I think they should be separated from regular issues (like 2009 Topps Heritage Americana).

I think placing these type of cards in a regular baseball set is a waste for a baseball collector. Keep these type of cards for the A&G issues and remove them from the others.

Todd

 

[JamesNevans]

It really all started with 2001 Topps American Pie, but that was a nostalgia set, so including iconic figures such as Presidents and Movie Stars was appropriate and fun. I didn't think it really was accepted well by the hobby because they stopped after the next year, but I see where people are coming from if the box hit isn't even a crummy low minors guy but some even more worthless X-Games type of sport nobody.