Comments on: Do you have what it takes to be a member of the Topps Five Star Club?

By: Andrew

Andrew — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 15:26:20 +0000

Joe R

Couldn’t help it notice the same things regarding condition while I was browsing eBay. You’d think that a lot of these cards are 4-5 years old, seeing how banged up they are, let alone 2 days old. I don’t have a problem with high end, exclusivity, etc. But I do take offense to poor quality and a categorical lack of respect for the core collecting fan base. This monopoly has to end, it’s one of the reasons the card monopoly ended originally back in 1981. THERE IS NO QUALITY CONTROL OR ACCOUNTABILITY AND THIS SUCKS FOR EVERYONE, DEEP POCKETS OR NOT!

By: Mike

Mike — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 11:50:26 +0000

So topps cant topload cards in a $500 pack BUT ITG H&P ($40 pack) has every card in a toplader.

By: Jamie Case

Jamie Case — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 03:28:01 +0000

Pay $500 and get autos like Tiant , Blue , Buckner , Griffey Sr, Ventura , C Fielder , Napoli , Cj Wilson , Kruk . Get real worse than Triple Threads .

By: Jeremy Robinson

Jeremy Robinson — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 02:46:37 +0000

Complete BS, what they didnt tell you is that you wont get your rewards for like 5 years…. on year 2 of waiting on 2 redemptions i sent in….. i hope I never get a GD redemption again…..

By: Joe R.

Joe R. — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 01:15:15 +0000

here is what makes this worse. i just bought and opened a case of five star and every card has chipping from one or two white spots to heavy chipping on all sides. this product was packaged very poorly for the price and now i am torn beween selling then in this condition or trying to get replacements for some. a 500 per pack product needs to be done better than it is. alot of cards that have hit ebay already are chipped too. these cards are not ever going to be gradable. I think Beckett and/or Chris Olds should do a story on why a 500 per pack product was treated like this in shipping and packaging

By: Heino Skovgaard

Heino Skovgaard — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 23:59:28 +0000

baseball cards are crap,worth less than the cardboard it was printed on-

By: James Yellis

James Yellis — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 23:18:25 +0000

What a Joke, there are better ways to spend 10K in the hobby then that! Forget it Topps, your making me want to spend more on the other companies product then yours now

By: Frank.D.

Frank.D. — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 22:26:41 +0000

One more reason why the exclusive Topps MLB contract must be ended – they are totally out of touch with collectors. A few wealthy collectors cannot replace the passionate , long time collectors who are either leaving the hobby or decreasing what they are buying because of this agreement.

By: Fran Membrino

Fran Membrino — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 21:31:26 +0000

WHAT A JOKE !!!!!!!!!!!!

By: Charlie DiPietro

Charlie DiPietro — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 21:13:31 +0000

There are over 100,000 sports card collectors (safe guess because Topps Facebook Page has 72,503 likes). My guess is the San Antonio area has about 500 sports card collectors. Only half of these collectors come into my store more than twice a year. And, I only have about fifteen customers who spend $10,000 a year or more in my store. While I try to make all my customers feel I appreciate their business, my top spending customers need to know I want them to come back and I do a little extra for them without making it too obvious to my other valued customers.

It is smart business to do a little extra for Topps’ top spending customers. About 13% of the people who answered this poll said “They’re in.” However, not all of my top spending customers want in for one reason or another. At the same time, it is a good idea to do something extra for those who spend a significant amount of their entertainment dollars buying Topps products. Since Topps is requiring these Five Star Club members to attend conference call meetings and provide input to questions about products, my guess is that membership is expected to by quite limited. I just don’t see 7250 people (10% of Topps’ Facebook followers) on a meaningful conference call.

While I agree it is a good move to provide exclusive rewards to these top spending customers who also agree to abide by membership requiring restrictions, I believe it was a PR mistake for Topps to publicly announce this exclusive club in this manner. I am not saying the club should be kept secret. However, you don’t want ANY customers to misinterpret your intentions and feel you don’t appreciate their business.