46 Comments

They never said that they are stopping making football cards or any other cards for that matter. They simply stated, “we no longer plan to offer new cards each week.”

More death to an already struggling hobby?

Topps’ handling of this has been poor. They very quietly announced a shipping increase and discontinuance of reward points towards a shipping discount followed by another quiet announcement of the discontinuance of seemingly the whole program a couple of weeks later.

Combine this with their dodgy Diamond Giveaway site and I’m really not looking forward to any of Topps’ future digital developments.

cant even get last years (2011) baseball and t206 shipped yet

their etopps program has always been a rip off, they over charged you for s/h and wondered why people dont like the product. I personally have alot of cards in my account that I will never received because the cards a basically worthless and the s/h is 10x what the cards are worth.

shady business practices. sounds like extortion to me.

Why does it cost almost $13 to get one card ???

Topps (and Panini too) handling of this and almost every customer service (yes Topps and Panini……those are two words that escape your vernacular on pretty much everything you folks do these days !!!!) incident has been lacking for several years now. I remember a story, ok-several stories, about how MLB & the NFL & all of the alphabet soup agencies that comprise to run their seperate dictatorships…..and how they were going to bring the card manufacturers back in check and bring kids back into this awesome hobby, etc., etc., etc. That whole idea was good in theory….but from what I saw was it put Upper Deck on the right place (back shelf……where greed is kept) and shut down the Donruss machine….plus I’m sure several other items of mention-but wont be mentioned here. I thought, duh! to me, that with the oversight of the agencies & ther manufacturers onboard…….this awesome hobby would be brought full circle to bring us all together and make it a better business venture and a better trading world, etc. ONCE AGAIN…….I WAS WRONG

No suprise that Topps can’t be reached for comment. There will be lawsuits over the shipping changes unless Topps decides to do it at a reasonable cost.

@Toppssupport on Twitter just confirmed that eTopps is dead

Makes you wonder if any of the last few releases of cards have even been produced. Their are cards that were offered up to a year ago that the site will still not let you claim. hmmmm

95% of etopps cards that have not already been shipped probably never will be, and will end up 10 years down the road being removed from their cases and inserted into packs or included in the latest version of the “diamond giveaway.” Everyone who trades or sells cards online knows how much it actually costs to ship cards. These should cost 3 dollars for the first card and 50 cents for each additional card. Even then Topps would make a profit on shipping. Clearly they are charging a massive “handling fee” designed to rip us all off, because they can. I doubt anyone will sue Topps over this, unless some people with thousands of etopps cards decide its cheaper to hire a lawyer than pay the shipping fees. Though seems like a good case for a class-action lawsuit if you ask me.

Thanks Beckett for publishing the info on the borderline criminal conduct of Topps by more than doubling of the shipping rates at the same time they end the program to make it impossible for us to get our cards at a reasonable rate. I hope they get a whole lot more bad press over this conduct.

Agree 100% with Keith! Thanks Beckett for keeping the consumer informed. I have always believed that eTOPPS was a scam. Whoever is at the helm of a great American hobby company sure knows how to ruin a great reputation from my childhood years. What are we to do Mr. Olds?

It is what it is. They discontinued the program.

I don’t like the shipping fees, but, again, it is what it is.

How one sees it, takes it, is up to them.

Odds are, many of us here don’t have eTopps cards in accounts — because if more did, they might not be pulling the plug.

I do have a good chunk of cards in mine — some i will let rot, some I will claim.

(But not anytime soon at that price.)

I agree with the previous poster on Topps and Panini. Both companies customer service have gone to hell in a hand basket. Panini’s redemptions are the worst of all time! I personally spend over $2000 a month on cards and am no longer buying Panini’s products. It’s disheartening to open a box of their cards and half of the hits are redemptions. I had several outstanding redemptions, some almost a year old. 3 e-mails went unanswered and were never acknowledged and their customer service phone was never answered so I just gave up. Topps is getting almost as bad but at least they respond to the e-mails.

What happened to the card companies promises from a few years ago to end redemptions, improve customer service and bring life back to the hobby? I’m beginning to think that it was a very bad idea to give these 2 companies this much clout in the card world. It has created a monopoly where they know they can do whatever the hell they want and could care less about the customer. It’s all about the bottom line, dividends and answering to their shareholders who could care less about the sports card hobby. Sad.

Criminals

How did they announce this to their users? I get a product announcement for every release and never heard of this. Same with the shipping, no e-mails on that either. Topps used to be first class. This is slimmy.

So, what happens to the cards that are purchased but they have not produced yet??

Am I the only one concerned that this hobby may disappear completely in the next 5 or 10 years?

Lou there is no “maybe”, this hobby is dying faster and faster everyday. Personally I am begining to invest in guns because there is always going to be a market for them. Cardboard pictures are soon to be in the history books.

I rarely get upset by a company, but what Topps did here is simply unacceptable.

They say they’re going to hike the rates on shipping: fair enough. But a base price of $13? What are they doing? Having Manny Ramirez himself mail the cards in Gold Leaf?

It’s simple, what they did here: they raised rates and then pulled the plug so that you’d be forced to export your collection via exorbitant S&H costs.

I will never deal with Topps cards on any level again. This, after I resurrected my eTopps buying during the football season. Big mistake on my part, I guess.

Lou & Larry: It won’t. Because cards, unlike card makers, will always be around.

E-Topps died because they produced too many of each card for so long that it became
obvious that they were not going to retain value.

Part of the value that a card accrues is based on the odds of getting a card.
So a player #’d to 999 from a set of 100 tends to be worth less than a player from a set
of 300. Or, if you prefer, if that card comes out 1/box its worth less than the card that
comes out 1/case.

The more junk you have to wade through to get the “good” card the more that card tends
to be more expensive. If you just buy the card directly, there is less junk to wade through

In my opinion, once Topps stops the online trading or starts charging for same then they will
owe everyone the cards in their portfolio shipped at the actual cost of shipping with no
shipping and handling nonsense. This is something akin to the redemption card situation.

Almost all of my cards on E-topps lost value off of the ipo price I paid. This includes decent
players. The only player I made money on (assuming I had on hand) is Pujols.

I think it might be time to take advantage of social media to reflect our disappointment and
anger. This may require us to boycott Topps products, including their candy, for them to do
the right thing.

Yes Chris, cards may be around always, but that does not mean there will be anyone around to collect them. i would be willing to predict that if no changes happen soon, this hobby will be dead, though it’s not just the companies faults either, the consumers are about equally to blame, they have pushed for the hobby to go the direction it went. i am still surprised that Topps is still allowed to have the monopoly it does in baseball, well congratz to them when the hobby is dead completely.

I’ve never done any of the eTopps stuff except for maybe one card I think. A 2000-01 Reggie Miller I think, but don’t remember. Even still, it was a card I had in hand and only wanted to see what eTopps was about. Anyways, I do think it was blatant that they upped the prices of shipping first and then pulled the plug not too long after.

@Lou & @Larry – Cards will never die, but there may be a period of time where none are produced. However, even then, I don’t think that will actually happen. Here’s why. The leagues are getting money from the manufacturers to make the cards. If a card company thinks that they’re losing money and wants to pull out, they’ll make changes (either good or bad) to try and turn the charts around. If that doesn’t work, they may try to not renew their license. However, there will always be a company behind them that wants to get in on the action…in this case, more than likely Upper Deck (however shady their practices are). Also, as Chris said, cards are out there, boxes are out there, and there’s plenty of stuff to buy, trade and bust. So if there were to be a lull in production, there is probably enough stuff out there to keep us busy for some time until someone else steps up. Where there’s money to be made (cards in this case) there’s someone willing to make that money. That’s our economy and how it always will be.

People are still around collecting cards from all timeframes. New cards could disappear tomorrow and collectors will still have stuff to collect — even eTopps where there are no new cards to be had.

You know what I think is killing the industry? People who sit around and talk about how bad it is and have a clock ticking predicting its demise. Maybe you’re right — but … maybe you’re wrong. And, maybe your incorrect doom-and-gloom forecast is telling Little Jimmy or his older brother to not bother. (Meanwhile, there are hits and duds just like other industries.)

Big picture, it’s as simple as if you don’t like something, don’t buy something. Card companies will notice when their bottom line changes.

However, it should also be said that one collector’s interests and reasons for buying are not those shared by all, either. Same goes for the perceptions of the hobby.

Richard: The trends have changed — but there’s a reason many of the older eTopps cards’ quantities are high.

Because they sold at the time.

There’s also a reason that the quantities for IPOs in more recent years dropped — demand waned.

The open market does not stay the same way indefinitely. Things get “hot” and companies respond. Then, inevitably, people lose interest.

I had no idea about this etopps thing im old school as they say, as a matter of fact i dont even have an email address (i used my daughters computer and her email address)i usually just buy my cards and go home with my family, when i have time i like to read about the hobby and see what others are saying, i dont know how this would affect me but im not liking what im seeing, Im Officially Done after 37 years.
Craig

Craig: you don’t know how this will affect you and don’t collect etopps … But you are done collecting because of it? Sounds a bit illogical to me.

i imagine a lot of people are done collecting because of this. etopps = topps. shady business practices anyway you cut it. they are also deleting comments about etopps on their facebook page.

It’s not as simple as only buy it if you like it, when in the case of Topps and baseball, there is no other options, and im not saying the Topps products suck, for the most part they are OK, however I as im sure the majority of collectors feel, would Love to see OTHER options again. I personally do not see a way to make that happen.

Also on another note, i remember when Beckett price guides were considered the Bible of sports cards, even when they had atleast 2 other major competitors. Granted i took some time away, and not really sure what happened to the other 2, maybe they still exist, i just never see them anywhere around me. To the point, Beckett Used to be spot on and everyone could not wait to get the new Beckett EVERY month. Now the retail price is out of the atmosphere, very few articles, less worth actually reading, pricing is out of whack, and no one really cares what Beckett lists values as anymore. Im not just meaning new cards with internet prices, but cards from 5+ years ago. Now i understand its impossible to be perfect, but its like nobodys even trying. Today the majority of people consider ebay to be the new price guide, which that in its self is hurting the Hobby bigtime. Would love to see Becett step back up, and be what they used to be.

As for not trying to pass the Hobby on, im always trying to give some cards away to local kids, though most just giggle at the idea. i do have a nephew with promise, but with price of cards today, he never gets to buy any himself. But im always pushing for younger ones to get into the hobby, but the Hobby the way it is does make it very hard, and wheres the card advertisements thesedays, i remember when i used to see those on TV, not alot, but they were there, enough to get the idea acrossed.

Darrell: It really is that simple. Nobody is forcing you to buy every brand from any company in a given year. I pick and choose — I buy what I like, ignore what I don’t.

It’s also an instance where there are a lot of factors that come into play. MLB is not going to hand a license to any company, particularly if it’s a company that can’t produce products to its liking and can’t deliver on the financial side. It’s a business. MLB opted to go with one card-maker for all types of reasons.

why do people still call this a hobby

Darrell: Beckett magazines will never be what they used to be. The reason they were the “Bible” and everyone waited for the next one to come out is because the Internet didn’t really exist (at least not in the way it does today), and in order to get new pricing and find out about new cards or rare errors you had to read the magazine. Back in the 80s if you wanted to know a card price you had to look it up in a magazine or book. Also, back in the 80s the number of cards each year wasn’t even close to what even one manufacturer puts out each yet. The hobby is completely different and has evolved several times over since the 80s (and the time of the “Beckett Bible”). Along with the changes in the hobby the world itself has changed and the Internet has completely changed how we operate our lives. I too miss the old ways of the hobby sometimes, but there really isn’t any way to go back to that time.

Fyi: topps has an F rating from the bbb…..and that was before the etopps fiasco.

Great move mlb, hand over a monopoly to the company w the absolute worst poss rating .

This us the type of stuff that happens, along w the millions of other problems topps causes the bb card market.

David: Beckett’s online presence — and use of its OPGs — is quite healthy. So, the more things change the more they stay the same, too.

Chris,

To WAMPIER’s point above, any idea on the cards they haven’t produced yet? Will they still make them?

I talked with the manager of customer service yesterday and again today, and they will in fact print the cards that have already been sold. They are having issues with the quality from the printer, but they should be available soon.

I think Chris may have a different thinking on the health of the hobby because of his job and affiliations. He talks to the manufacturers, he sees what’s selling and what isn’t, and he sees many other sales figures. Well, that’s what I think, I could be completely wrong. However, from our standpoint (especially mine since the Basketball forum is the slowest of them all traffic wise) it appears that everyone is slowing down on their collecting, some are stopping completely and it looks like the hobby is dying. Now, there are options out there for kids to buy. For instance, I bought a few packs of Score Football at Wally Wonderland the other day for $0.98 a pack. All other packs were around $2.98. Even when I was a kid, I never had the money to buy boxes, it was always a pack here and there, and never the expensive stuff. 19 years later, it’s still the same story (even though I’m trying my darndest to start buying hobby boxes). Panini has a Hoops product coming out where the retail packs will be $1 each. Now, this doesn’t give kids a crazy amount of options, but the hobby isn’t JUST for the kids, it is for adults who are also kids at heart, so more expensive products are needed and wanted.

The Topps and Panini “monopolies” have hurt some, but as Chris said, the leagues don’t just hand out the licenses, it’s a business. Some companies don’t provide the renevue the leagues want or think will happen while other companies do. In 3 years, we could see a completely new manufacturer out there that blows everyone away (maybe I should start my business plan now, lol). People know there is money in cards therefore cards will more than likely continue to be created. People may even get into buying unlicensed cards, who knows. I’ve donated cards to the local Children’s Hospital in hopes of getting kids into the hobby (I started at 8 after having a surgery, so who knows).

No, the hobby isn’t necessarily looking healthy (especially when people ONLY bust wax for profit rather than the joy of collecting), but at the same time it isn’t dead and it is us, the collectors, who can and will keep it alive. I’m not going to be able to get Panini to stop everything and make me a Pistons Patch card of the starting 5 of the 1989 Championship team, but I can keep hoping. And I guess it also depends on what type of collector everyone is. I collect to collect. I don’t necessarily care about grade or resale value, to me it’s a perk.

I never got into Etopps. 13.00 to ship a card sounds like a bad joke. Its like the sorry people on Ebay ripping me off charging 5.00 to ship a card and have it delivered to my house USPS first class mail in a envelope with no toploarder.

I never bothered with etopps,someone told me how it worked.They told me it would take 6 months to get a card.Now I’m hearing about the INSANE shipping cost.Nothing topps does makes sense. People are right about panini,redemption city.Redemption is a dirty word in this hobby.
Does any one know when topps exclusive contract with mllb run out?

If you’re expecting the hobby to die and want to unload your cards, I’ll be happy to take them off your hands for a discount.

THANKS!@

I only bought 5 etoops cards over the years for about $39 total. The current selling price for all of them is less than $7.50. OUCH!! Theya re PC cards so I’ll have to spend around $20 to have them shipped to me? for real! I think I’ll just bend over and take this one and buy some from someone that already has them in hand for cheaper than that. Thanks for the sham job Topps!

What’s with all these people who seem to think Topps = The Hobby? Topps can die and the hobby will live on. The hobby is made up of it’s collectors, not just of the companies that produce cards. Besides, Topps has never been the only card producer in the hobby, and never will be. My little piece of the hobby is only marginally affected by Topps (and that’s just when they produce a new Emerald Nuts-sponsored SF Giants team set so I can get another Hensley Meulens card).

And even if all of the current manufacturers closed up shop at the same time, there are still some 120+ years worth of cards out there to sustain the hobby. There is nothing wrong with “The Hobby”. There is plenty wrong with certain companies that currently have a part in it.

Topps is wrong, what they did to us collectors who have brought hundreds of cards from them is very wrong. We should boycott all Topps product to show the company that the custumer has rights. You just do not rasie the shipping and handling cost that high. I’ll pay for the cards I have left with E-Topps, but I will never buy any Topps products again, and I will tell my family and friends to not buy. Boycott Topps, and see how much power we as costumers have. Bring the greedy CEO’s down to their knees. Lets see how they react to have their pay checks cut down. They forgot the custumers give them life, so if we keep on buying their products, they will only keep on being greedy. Stop those greedy people in their tracks. DO NOT BUY TOPPS PRODUCTS…..

I want to start a class action suit against panini and their “redemption” cards. Its BS! Why put redemtion cards in there anyway – if you don’t have the autograph don’t put a bogus card in there. We are serious collectors and are still waiting on redemption cards from April of last years – hell I don’t think the players even made it (they were rookie redemptions). It’s borderline fraud. I have spent so much money on Panini and Topps and when I request a replacement card (several times), I should get it! Their excuse is the player hasn’t signed the card yet – then don’t sell that card! So now we’re stuck with some no name possible replacement who may have hopes of being on the training squad – it’s not right!