Well, Topps has gone and done it now–used to be, I pretty much just disliked Upper Deck–and even that was only after a couple of the stories I heard, about their response to Hurricane Katrina and about how they’ve treated my local card shop as he tries to get up and running.

But now, I have to start considering adding Topps to my list too.  What crime did they commit?

I think I’ve mentioned a few times in recent days that one of my favorite sets each year has been Topps Draft Picks & Prospects.  Before last year’s brownish/orange bordered mistake, they always had what I thought were sharp looking designs, some ok inserts, and perhaps most importantly, reasonable prices.

In fact, the only thing I can remember being a screw up with Topps Draft Picks & Prospects was the year that they decided to follow Ultra’s lead, and make the top rookie cards Insert Only–so the only way you could get them was to pull (or buy) a very tough to find autograph card of Reggie Bush, Matt Leinart, Vince Young and so forth–which they tried to rectify last year, by offering the same cards (sans autographs) as inserts.

Well, in 2008, in what can pretty much only be interpreted as a response to Upper Deck’s Draft Edition, Topps has changed direction, by offering 2008 Rookie Progression, apparently killing the Topps Draft Pick & Prospects line.  I just realized they made the change last week–I knew Progression was coming, but I wasn’t aware that DP&P wasn’t (funny how they don’t publicize that).

The stranger thing is, other than upping the number of hits per box (now 2 autographs and 2 relic cards per box, plus an autographed relic card #’d to 50 or less in each case), the breakdown isn’t really any different than DP&P was, from what I can tell.  There’s still one rookie per pack, 10 inserts per box, which have numbered parallels at a platinum, gold, silver and bronze level.

So, by all appearances, all they’ve really done is kill a brand that had some equity built up over the years–which if I remember back to marketing 101, isn’t the wisest move in the books.  And in doing so, they now look like even more of a follower than they did before, especially with their set hitting the shelves a full month after Upper Deck Draft Edition.

Smooth moves, Michael Eisner.