The hobby of sportscard collecting has been an ever evolving one for the past few years, but I don't think there has ever been a time of change quite like the one we've seen this year. While problems at Fleer/Skybox (or more importantly with their parent company, Marvel Comics) have not affected the cards we collect too much as business has been mostly as usual at Fleer. When Scoreboard (formerly Classic) closed up shop and stuck so many of us we were annoyed, but not shocked. Now, following months of rumors, we find out that Pinnacle Brands Inc. has filed for bankruptcy protection. This is no minor matter.
The early rumors had it that Upper Deck was looking to buy Pinnacle and keep it basically operating as always much in the way Pinnacle had purchased Leaf/Donruss last year. If anything I thought that when Pinnacle bought Donruss it was a great move as it started to seem like Pinnacle was starting to learn some of the tricks Leaf and Donruss had for keeping collectors happy. Unfortunately I guess the lesson was learned too late.
When it started to seem like Upper Deck wasn't going to make a move we heard that they were trying to salvage Leaf/Donruss from the financially troubled Pinnacle. Only days after that rumor hit we heard the sad truth that Pinnacle had indeed filed to bankruptcy protection. I've followed the story and things haven't gotten better. Major League Baseball has apparently pulled their license and baseball card products due out the past few weeks have not been delivered. As Pinnacle had already lost their hockey license we've been limited to a few football issues and the new WNBA series that premiered last week.
Even more disturbing is that many employees have been laid off including some of their card designers. The inside word is that they probably won't be able to reorganize and unless another company (like Upper Deck) is able to come in and make ammends with their creditors to salvage some of the company. So, where does this leave our hobby?
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Upper Deck is making a comeback with both dealers and collectors by making some great looking cards, like this Griffey from SP Authentic Baseball, and keeping production limited. |
I think the first place this leaves our hobby is looking at what's left. Of course the old standby Topps is still going strong and while it won't be long until we start to tire of Chrome products the way we've tired of Finest, I'm sure that Topps will just find something else new and exciting for us to buy and collect. Upper Deck is currently reworking their contract with the NHL and also making quite a comeback with collectors. Products like SPx Finite with slick looks and numbered base and parallel cards are making even the toughest critics take a new look.
With Fleer/Skybox doing business as usual in baseball, basketball, and football cards and Topps having a very limited NHL license, it's up to Pacific to pick up the slack for hockey card collectors. If Pinnacle doesn't recover then we should look to Pacific to step up in other ways. They recently secured a Major League Baseball license and are now solidly embedded as a three sport company.
| Bowman Chrome hit the streets hot last week, but will it only be a matter of time until we tire of Chrome products the way the hobby has started to turn on Finest products? |
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Basically that means we now have four major sportscard companies and a bunch of smaller ones that mostly deal with single sports (Playoff, Wheels, Edge). Is this a bad thing? No. I think anyone who's been trying to collect all the cards of their favorite players will be quick to tell you how frustrating it's become in recent years. I'll miss Pinnacle, and I'll really miss Leaf/Donruss, but years of overproduction by all of the manufacturers led us to this point and hopefully it will be a lesson well learned.
Is this all that we need to look at when we consider the state of our hobby? Not in the least. Look for part two in a few days when we'll discuss everything from Beanies to Beckett and PSA to Ebay and how they are changing our hobby with every card we buy, sell, trade, and put in our collections. Do you have an opinion about anything you've read here? Why not let me know your feelings either by e-mail or on our free bulletin board.
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