[oneofakindcards]

As much as I wish they would....Topps is not going to spend money dropping extra cardboard or dummy cards with stickers into a pack. They don't care who buys the packs or how they're searched....they just care that they get sold to someone....anyone.

I will say they did take a *small* step this year with the rack packs....I'd see people in the aisle wiggling the 3 card retail exclusive refractor packs down under the other pack to see the player on the front. This year they got a little smarter and printed a solid front so people can't do that anymore.

Topps' actions are dictated by this (thank god):
"Topps does not, in any manner, make any representations as to whether its cards will attain any future value."

[petillo64]

I don't think that they should "force" retailers to keep things over the counter (not that they could).

I am an elementary school teacher, and as I got back into collecting I started bringing my cards in to class to reward students etc... It was remarkable how out of touch my students were with baseball, and professional sports in general... As a kid, I saw George Brett play one time, but knew that his .390, in whatever year, was the highest I had seen on any of my baseball cards... Kids are already out of touch with the hobby, this would push them back further... unless they went back to true "tobacco packs"... that would be kind of cool... I'd start smoking again.

I guess the point I am making, is that it is not up to the retailer. Grocery stores do not reprimand you for squeezing oranges to determine which one is ripest, or picking up and analyzing a t-bone before you buy it... It should not be their responsibility for regulating baseball cards...

I find it hard to believe that with an exclusive contract, adding extra dummy cards with bullshit stickers or varying weights, would add too much cost on their end... It would take some planning, but if done right, could be done well enough to throw off pack searchers and limit their profitability.

Same here. See my post http://www.beckett.com/forums/thread-151...pid2099346 and pictures on the next page. I called Topps support. They said I didn't have to mail the pack which was nice, but still unsure if they'll do anything without proof, but said to mail a letter to Duryea, PA and they'll replace it. I printed all the pictures and sent them in with details written on each. Not sure if they are going to give me the purples, a whole pack, or anything. I have not opened the regular packs still because they look tainted and wanted to open them in front of anyone who cared to see.
Also, this is what my Target less than a mile away looked like the day before that ^ happened. http://www.beckett.com/forums/thread-1510929.html
When discussing the mess that is retail recently Topps said it is "very unlikely that they will ever require stores to keep their product over the counter."

[uvaspina]

I made a comment recently along the lines of, 'If Hershey's can find a way to make money selling their crappy Good & Plenty out of individual cardboard boxes, why can't Topps?' Maybe a better example is gum, which nowadays comes in little cardboard boxes with sealed, lift and pull cellophane tabs (like cigarette packages). I almost never buy rack/loose packs because I don't want cards that have already been pawed through. I think must people feel the same way and retailers have pretty much gotten the drift, electing to stock less and less, and virtually eliminating cards from the check out lane. It would seem to me that the 1-2 cent investment (probably less) in better individual packaging would return good dividends to Topps, especially when they charge $2/pack on the low end.