"Topps…for the fun of it!"
That used to be their slogan. It seems ridiculous now after the events of the past few weeks. It seems even more ridiculous that I might have believed that old slogan had any relevance to the way Eisner-Topps now does business.
The idea of a loyal opposition has always been one that fascinated me when I was a political science undergrad. The idea that the minority government agrees to play by the “rules of the game” established in a Constitution. The opposition doesn't take up arms. They don’t revolt. They bide there time and wait for the next election.
In my mind, this is the same sort of thing with Topps and Upper Deck. One company might be on top for a year or two [clearly in my mind Topps is the company on top in terms of quality of product.] and eventually the other company will rip the title from the champ. But it seems to me like both companies should agree to the “rules of the game,” that both companies should have the right to make licensed baseball cards. The idea is to make a better product FOR ME, not put the other company out of business. That doesn’t help ME! It isn’t FUN! That is the sort thinking of Gordon Gekko in Wall Street, not for a baseball card company. Topps should strive to make the best product they can and the only way to do that is to have Upper Deck giving them dirty looks on an equal footing.
I want to have FUN. I want to be able to buy an Upper Deck baseball card with a major league logo on it. Topps, you’ve stopped me from doing that, and for that, you suck.
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