Can Eisner Save Topps?

The 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle rookie card is an iconic card in the card collecting game. It is also an example of the kind of card Topps used to produce. Like the Mantle of 1952, those days are long gone.Last week, Major League Baseball Properties signed an exclusive agreement with the Topps Company to be its exclusive supplier partner of baseball cards. That means that beginning next February, only Topps can manufacture baseball cards with the player and the MLB team uniform. And that's bad news for collectors because it means less choice and fewer options. The Topps news is like a death knell to the Upper Deck Card Company, a Topps competitor that produces a better product. That's right, the photos are vibrant, intersting and depicting action. When I collected as a kid, it was as if Topps waited for the players to pass through New York--so all the shots are in the in Yankee Stadium taken during batting practice or long-toss. Topps was bought by Michael Eisner's Torante ...