A Sad, Sad Day

Looks like Topps has gotten exclusive rights to produce baseball cards for 2010.

I can't say I was particularly fond of the Upper Deck base product this year, but I've very much enjoyed collecting the Goudey set.

No matter what you are talking about, competition always benefits the consumer and when that's removed from the equation things tend to get stale. Just look at what exclusive rights have done to the sports gaming industry. Arguably the best baseball video game series (MVP Baseball) was killed in favor of the 2K series which has been horrible/unplayable for years. On the football side of things, Madden and NCAA football have gone completely stale in recent years thanks to the lack of competition.

I understand this is a business move and providing the license to the highest bidder probably equals bigger money for that sport, but it still makes me angry, and sad.

Thanks for the good times Upper Deck, especially the Summer of Goudey '09. Maybe now is a good time for me to try and collect the '89 set. I've been meaning to look into that for quite some time.