Telling long time collectors to "Get over it" isn't good for business. We've already lowered our expectations and "complete" standards several times. I get that you don't collect like the rest of us. But, that doesn't make the rest of us wrong, or crazy, and doesn't give you the right to tell us what we should want just because you don't agree. So, now we're expressing our reactions, and buying a boatload LESS product than we did before. I'm sure Topps will "get over that", but I'm afraid it will be by cancelling new Wackys.
I hope Topps isn't telling collectors to "get over it".
This really does come down to, in my opinion anyway, something that is a big question in modern trading cards and stickers; that question being "Are ultra-limited chase cards, or mail-order only specials (as these Topps Vault white back stickers are) ultimately good or ultimately bad for the hobby?"
I don't think there's a terribly easy answer. I'm not a chase-card chaser, but I try to look at how they work. If you make it too easy, many people hate it, and call common pieces "swill" no matter how cool they are. So, there's a balance that must be achieved, within the contemporary marketplace, of creating these limited run items, and how they fit within a set.
That said, it's not Topps' fault that Plastered is frustrated, in this instance, at least not the way I read his post. It was one high-spending collector, who was simply outbidding everyone else on these blank-backed cards, and frustrating all other bidders, Plastered included.
If Topps makes hundreds of each of these blank-backed cards, so everyone can get a shot at one, does Plastered still want them? Does anyone, when they've become so "common"? I don't know, but I don't think these types of limited run releases hurt overall sales. I hope they don't.
