The 1994 MLB Strike Shows Us Possibilities for Topps with the Current MLB Lockout
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With the baseball lockout hovering over Major League Baseball, there are lots of areas that are going to be affected by a potential work stoppage. It doesn’t look good that Spring Training will start on time, and now fans are worrying about Opening Day.
A work stoppage would have wide-reaching ramifications that could involve the baseball card industry.
This wouldn’t be the first time baseball cards hit the market during a strike or a lockout.
In 1994 and 1995, six major card companies still released products despite the strike, which caused a massive loss for companies at the time. Some such as Topps reported a loss of 75% of their revenue, according to a 1995 NY Times article.
With trading cards as popular as they are right now, it’s a wonder if similar losses could be felt at Topps especially later in the year similarly to how in 1994 companies didn’t feel the effects of the strike until the end of the year and into 1995.
2022 Topps Baseball Series 1, which comes out on Feb. 16, shouldn’t be affected. This product is already sold by Topps to stores and distributors.
If there is a prolonged lockout, the problems for Topps would arise later in the year. If store owners see collector interest waning, they are apt to purchase less product from Topps. And, remember, Topps is made-to-order company, which means they usually only make what has been purchased. That’s why they solicit products so far in advance.
Nothing has yet been lost in baseball, just a lot of finger wagging and free agents wondering about their future.
But as popular as cards are right now, can Topps/Fanatics afford to lose collectors due to lack of interest in baseball?
It would be an inauspicious way for Fanatics to kick off its move into the trading card world.
A deeper dive into the 1995 NY Times article shows some interesting passages. First, the fact that there were six MLB trading card partners is always a nice reminder of the hobby before all the exclusivities.
Then there’s this:
Collectors have also been turned off in recent years by the companies' past practices of overproduction and increasing the numbers of sets.
Yes, I promise this is from an article that came out 27 years ago. It seems like many of the same complaints collectors had decades ago are still the same complaints that are happening now. However, it doesn’t seem like anything is going to change because each year the contracts with MLB and MLBPA get more expensive. And the only way to deal with the increased costs is by making more money.
And the card companies make more money by selling more cards.
You can only increase the cost of a pack of cards so much before you move on to creating more products.
The strike clarified even more the loss of enthusiasm for baseball among fans and collectors. Once, baseball cards almost always served as youngsters' entree into collecting, but basketball has made serious inroads.
And basketball card collecting has been growing ever since. Also, despite the challenges with new releases coming out this year, football has also made huge gains with collectors.
Collectors have more options now, especially considering they aren’t limited to just the big four North American sports. There is soccer, F1, WWE, non-sports, and even collectibles outside of the card landscape such as NFT.
Baseball card collectors are a rabid fanbase (Source: Me), but if the lockout lasts well into the spring and effects Opening Day, the lingering bad feelings could have a serious effect on cards later this year.
Topps 70th Anniversary Party
Topps held its 70th Anniversary Party this past weekend. Here’s one partygoer’s breakdown of the event. Check out the thread on Donald’s Twitter:
Waiting on Balkovec Cards
The New York Yankees named Rachel Balkovec their minor league manager for the Tampa Tarpons, making her the first female manager in affiliated baseball history. She has a few trading cards, all minor league issues, and I’m waiting for Topps to add her to a set like Allen & Ginter.
Currently, there is a card of hers while she was with the Johnson City Cardinals that she signed. As of this writing, it was sitting at $100 with one bid and a week left.
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Thank you for the advice to delay my pursuit of Project 2020 and Project 70 Mike Trout cards for a year. They should be much, much cheaper by then.