NBA Gives Sports Card Contract to Panini

The NBA gave the new sports card contract to Panini an Italian company rather than keep it in the United States and give it to Topps or Upper Deck.

Now I have to admit I'm not happy with some of the products Topps or Upper Deck have produced but the commissioner of the NBA should have gone out of his way to give the contract to them since the United States is in such financial trouble. Will there now be layoffs at both companies that they will no longer be producing basketball cards only increasing the unemployment lines?

Wouldn't it have been better to have given all 3 a piece of the pie so that everyone could make money rather than just giving it to one company creating a monopoly?

Major League baseball cut Donruss out of the picture in sports cards and now they are out of business as the same Italian company Panini has purchased them.

Will we reach the point where not even sports cards are made in America because of greed leading to more unemployment?

How Card Companies Ruined the Market

If you pulled a Babe Ruth bat or jersey card 5-10 years ago you would have gotten about $300 for it. Now you are lucky when you get $150-175.
The reason is that Upper Deck, Topps and Donruss have flooded the market with jersey, bat and autograph cards.
There was a time when you would get a plain insert card and be very happy with it especially if it was numbered. Now no one wants a numbered card because they are a dime a dozen.
The card companies are charging $200-250 for a box of really special cards and giving you no more than 1-2 packs of maybe 5-10 cards at most. The Beckett book price for the best card can be no more than $30! Something is wrong with this picture especially in a bad economy. It makes it harder for dealers to sell the single cards and make a profit. Most people buy a box of cards today and are lucky if they break even.
Wouldn't it be better to have less jersey, bat and autograph cards and more regular inserts with things like stats and information about the players so that the fans could really be fans rather than being led by the nose by the cards companies to financial ruin?
Its time to make card collecting fun again and not all about money and at the same time make it profitable for both the fan and the seller. The only ones making money should not be Upper Deck, Topps and Donruss.

Baseball Cards Only. No Celebrities or Presidents!

The new 2009 SPX is out today and I don't know about other fans of sports cards but isn't it annoying when you get a box of baseball, basketball, football or hockey cards and you get celebrity autographs, material or common cards.
A box of baseball cards should be just that and nothing else. If your a baseball fan you want baseball cards and not cards of a long dead President like Grover Cleveland or an autograph by Carrot Top.