Topps signs Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig to exclusive autograph deal
By Chris Olds | Beckett Baseball Editor
Yasiel Puig has a new team.
The second-year star outfielder for the Los Angeles Dodgers has signed an exclusive autograph card deal with Topps, the company announced on Friday.
“Joining the Topps family is yet another dream come true for me,” Puig said in a prepared statement. “It’s exciting to be pictured on a baseball card and to be part of such a long-standing American tradition.”
Puig, 23, is in his second season in MLB after arriving from Cuba where he was star player. In 74 games this season, he’s hitting .309 with 11 homers and 45 RBI.
He joins Bryce Harper as a Topps-only signer. Puig appears on a total of 977 different baseball cards in the Beckett.com database (click here for a checklist or OPG) with 207 of those autographed. The total value of Puig’s cards, excluding rarities, is more than $35,000.
Chris Olds is the editor of Beckett Baseball and Beckett Sports Card Monthly magazines. Have a comment, question or idea? Send an email to him at colds@beckett.com. Follow him on Twitter by clicking here.
Topps make no apologies for monopolizing the baseball card market. They must spend money on exclusive contract to bring more saturated, overpriced cards to your local hobby store!
Healthy competition is important in the card industry. Some of the topps products are overpriced and are single handedly oversaturating the market. While panini is coming out with 5 or 6 products a year, topps has 25 to 30 baseball products released each year! These exclusive contracts just give fuel to put out more product to pay the bills. Reminds me of how the usfl ran.
Speaking of Saturation…Panini has 15+ brands for its Monopolized Basketball line.
Imagine what Panini would do if they had a MLB license….15+ Baseball brands?
I think not!
Still awaiting Topps Finest Basketball
Peace
The leagues select who they want making their cards. They have their reasons.
They are also not a monopoly. Other companies can and do make cards for basketball and baseball — they just can’t use league’s intellectual property without paying for it and having permission.