Having to do a minimum of one story a month is a blessing and a curse. Seems like it would be so easy to jot down an article but so difficult to synthesize what you want to say.
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But actually, this one is a bit easier than I thought it would be to come up with a subject. My final Klein's Korner for GTS was something to the effect of "The World has not ended" and we'll keep on going. Well 18 or so months after the earth shattering announcement about Fanatics getting the exclusive card licenses for baseball. football and basketball, you know the world has gone on. There have been some adjustments based on we're still sorting out production and supply chain issues. In other words, nothing like having a 2020-21 product get released early in 2023. Nothing says 2023 as much as going back three seasons to see who the rookies were then. The good news with many of these products is the rookie classes are established and your "investment" in players have a much better chance of success.
Here are a few other things to note. 2023 Topps 1, which is usually considered the most important and biggest seller of any set issued during the year delivered big time, The design was original, the names and numbers were readable and there are enough twists and turns to keep most collectors interested in breaking the product. I have enjoyed what I opened of this year's cards and if this is any indication of the future, this has been a very encouraging project. How about how obvious it is you pulled a really good card from a pack. Pretty clear, I'd say.
How about the brilliance of Fanatics getting the hockey jersey license. Can you imagine if Upper Deck does not airbrush out the Fanatics Logo on the front of each jersey. Brilliant, I tell you, just brilliant!
And while I'm doubtful this will work as well as Fanatics hopes, it's nice to see they have a long-term contract to make Tennis Cards. As a person who loves tennis and did stats at both the U.S. Open and Wimbledon, I can tell you from 1st hand experience the biggest issue with any tennis set, That reason is, the sport is very transient and does not stay in any place for more than about 3 weeks at a time (The Grand Slams) and thus you have to be a fan of certain players and not really a team such as with what we consider the major sports. But, let's make an effort to get the word out, get the cards into fans hands, and try to make the sports more popular than it currently is. Right now, unlike when I was younger, Tennis is very much a niche sport. In reading one of the articles, a young lady by the name of Ons Jabeur is the 5th ranked woman in the world, That will be the biggest issue for any Tennis set, which is introducing the rest of the top 10-20 players to the few names we all now.
I'd like to see Tennis cards get more popular and hope that is the first of many new sports Fanatics goes into as a manufacturer.
So the world has not ended, and if you look for bright spots in new cards, there are a ton
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