(10-05-2012, 07:56 PM)oneofakindcards Wrote: Sure, so this means you're not buying cards... you're buying licenses. I only buy cards myself LOL, but I certainly understand and appreciate the fact that people collect different things.
Any licensing body has the right to protect their interests the best way they see fit. There's only one officially licensed soft drink and anyone can choose not to buy it, this really isn't any different.
What I am saying is, Topps knows it has the most desirable and widely collected cards because of the officially licensed logos and game photos ... certainly to each his or her own as far as anyone who likes the unlicensed stuff, but most people buy/prefer the licensed stuff. It's a fact.
This would be different if I could go to the card aisle at Target or WalMart like in the old days (well, a couple of years ago anyway) and decide between a box of Upper Deck, a box of Topps or a box of Fleer (or whatever).
If I didn't like the photo/design/product makeup of a certain card or brand overall — like the Harper Update card — I could simply choose to buy a different product.
Now I can't ... if I only collect the "legit" licensed cards.
So, you're right, it may not be a monopoly in the technical sense, but to me it is in terms of options for the collector.
It just bothers me that they couldn't come up with a grand total of like 11 different photos.