Campaign to Bring Back Stadium Club Baseball

Join the Campaign!

Looking at some of the photos on recent Topps base sets, I wonder if sharp photography has taken a backseat to the peripherals and gimmicks. If they can get a politician into a World Series celebration, write "Joba Rules" on a baseball and manipulate pictures at will you'd think they could get an in-focus shot on the front of a card.

I love pretty pictures and it seems that in baseball Upper Deck believes the same thing. Cards are meant to be an extension of our joy for the game. Therefore cards should capture the game's best moments - that means stats, biographical info and photography. In my books, if one is missing the entire product suffers. You can include all the inserts, autographs and fabric scraps you want, but it's still the base set that should be the meat of any product. I know this is a somewhat dated view in a lot of circles where the chase of the rare cut autograph or patch is a driving force. I acknowledge and recognize this but it's simply a trend and once a trend is overdone it will become commonplace and an expectation. Game-used, anyone?

Let's get back to basics. Rather than proposing a complete overhaul, let's stick to one thing right now - making sure the pictures on the fronts of the cards capture the passion, action and emotion of baseball. Upper Deck - keep up the great work. 2008 Upper Deck Series One is gorgeous. It's doubly gorgeous when you place the cards alongside of 2008 Topps Series One. Topps can only rest on its laurels for tradition for so long. I'm getting sick of ripping open packs or sorting through sets and finding second- and third-rate pictures on my base sets. Maybe not this year, maybe not next but someday soon I'll become so disenfranchised with the poor photography on Topps' cards that I'll either go exclusively to their competitor or perhaps stop collecting all together. That's how serious this issue is. It's not a threat, it's not me calling someone's bluff, it the truth. If cards are supposed to encapsulate my joy for baseball and they don't, why would I continue collecting?

Here's where I think Topps needs to start - bring the Stadium Club brand back to this side of the hobby. And by pushing this single brand and its attention to photography, other Topps brands will likely fall into place as well.

• Read more thoughts on why I think Stadium Club should return.

Join the Campaign

My goal is to have collectors create an avalanche of support and outcry for Topps to bring back Stadium Club Baseball. How? Here's a handy way to do so:

1. Write Topps a letter. Don't have time to write one? Here's a template I encourage you to "Cut and Paste" into MS Word or write out by hand:
   
   To Whom it May Concern,
   
   I am an avid baseball card collector and I love great cards. I am a big fan of Topps products and would like to see your Stadium Club brand return. To me Stadium Club represents beautiful cards and gorgeous photography. In all honesty, I feel as though photography has been lacking in recent years at Topps. When it first launched in 1991, Stadium Club represented the best in baseball photography. It remained this way for several years before the brand was tinkered with and its identity was lost.
   
   I believe a relaunch of Stadium Club with a focus on photography would go over very well with today's collectors. I know I would support it if the cost was reasonable and the focus was on bright, vivid action shots and portraits rather than high-end inserts and a hard-to-build base set.
   
   I have enclosed one of my favorite photos to help illustrate why I want to see Stadium Club return to baseball. Feel free to use it to decorate your office walls or just toss it in the garbage. Whatever you choose, thank you for considering my request for Stadium Club's return.
   
   Sincerely,
   
   
2. To emphasize the photography aspect, include a picture or copy of a picture you hold dear. This will draw further attention to your request, much like Jericho fans did by sending peanuts as a symbol of support for their TV show.
   
   
3. Mail your letter to:
   The Topps Company Inc.
   One Whitehall Street
   New York, New York 10004-2109
   
   
4. Phone Topps at 1-888-GO-TOPPS
   
   
5. If you own a website or run a blog, please consider linking to this page. I have also created the following image that you can cut and paste the code:

<a href="http://www.tradercracks.com/stadium_club.html">
<img src="http://www.tradercracks.com/Pics/bring_back_Stadium_Club.jpg" alt="Bring Back Stadium Club" width="150" height="150" border="0" longdesc="http://www.tradercracks.com/Pics/bring_back_Stadium_Club.jpg">
</a>

If you do send Topps a letter or give them a call, please email me and let me know if you have a chance. Also, if you send me a copy of the photo you sent them and want to tell the story behind it, I'll post them too.