Sunday, March 18, 2018

Why Topps? Why?

I picked up this 2018 Topps Postseason Performance Autograph Relic of Paul Goldschmidt on eBay recently. I bought it knowing that the "game-used memorabilia item is not from the 2017 postseason". I also bought it knowing that the autograph is on a sticker.


Just because I bought it knowing its flaws, doesn't mean that I like it. I've seen multiple Postseason Performance Relic cards and Postseason Performance Autograph Relic cards of Paul Goldschmidt and almost all of them have a purple pinstripe through the jersey, so I picked this one specifically because it didn't have a pinstripe and so I can pretend that the jersey matches the jersey in the picture.

But why should I have to pretend? I get that postseason jerseys are probably hard to come by, by why make the set if you can't get them. How about using baseballs or a base, something that they could actually get and it would be from the postseason?

I paid decent money for this card, but had it featured a ball or base from the postseason I would certainly have paid double. If it contained a piece of jersey or bat that was used in the postseason I would have paid triple or more. I know some people might not think that Topps cares much about the after market price I'm willing to pay, but I think they have to care about that because it would help determine the price they could charge for boxes.

What are your thoughts on cards like this?
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6 comments:

  1. P-town TomMarch 18, 2018 at 5:39 AM

    First, one of my pet peeves with jersey cards is when the jersey swatch doesn't match the uniform the player is wearing on the card. So, I can totally see why you picked a card without a pinstripe in this case. Nice move.
    Second, I totally agree. Stick-o-graphs are bad enough, but they should definitely use a relic FROM the postseason.

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  2. Collecting CutchMarch 18, 2018 at 3:22 PM

    I agree with you on all accounts. I'm not sure if Topps purchased the Wild card game jersey or not, but I know they had a McCutchen postseason jersey from 2013 and I would see parts of the patch show up in cards produced in 2015. The jersey matching the uniform on the card has recently become more important to me.

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  3. AnonymousMarch 18, 2018 at 4:19 PM

    The Postseason/World Series relics really annoy me. That can be very misleading for novice collectors, but at least the disclaimer is printed on the front now. I had thought about buying some from the 2013 Red Sox - but why pay a premium for a non-specific swatch?

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  4. FujiMarch 18, 2018 at 5:37 PM

    I agree 100%. It's sloppy (or lazy) on their part.

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  5. night owlMarch 18, 2018 at 7:48 PM

    It's beyond laziness/sloppiness, it's plain false advertising, despite the disclaimer they put on the back.

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  6. acrackedbatMarch 24, 2018 at 3:27 PM

    agreed fully with all comments here. what was once a great idea, most "relics" have lost any sense of being special when they can be had so cheaply. I just picked up a $2 Sandberg with stripe which did match the picture. this is wrong! (Of course I didn't demand a higher price tag. this gal isn't dumb.)

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