Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth
Wasn't it 2006 that the new rules came into play? Rich are you sure the impetus was Pujols and Ichiro, that was 5 years prior?
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Yes I'm sure about the impact. And yes it did take 5 years to get everything lined up. Contracts with the manufacturers had to be concluded because Topps would have had, in my opinion, a real good case against the MLBPA if they changed the rules while the contract was extant.
By 2006 Donruss/Leaf/Playoff was eliminated by MLBPA as a producer and Fleer went out of business in 2005 so yes it took a few years to get things to calm down.
And frankly, for the first few years the world was a lot easier for the world as the # of major sets went down from the 90s in 2004 to the 30s in 2006 with the RC change as well.
So yes Ichiro and Pujols was a realization but it takes time to make those changes. A note about 20 years later is to look at how Fanatics will take over the NBA and the NFL Licenses from Panini but those Panini contracts had to be allowed to finish before Fanatics made the official cards.