Razor Entertainment, makers of cards of poker players has recently thrown their hat into a different ring. They have taken a page out of the donruss playbook and decided to manufacture unlicensed cards of major league draft picks including exclusive autographs. Donruss released 2007 elite extra edition with a ton of signatures from popular players, many of them rookie year exclusives like Mike Moustakas and the most popular one Matt Wieters. The product was universally thought of as a success. However even with the Donruss name backing this product, MANY collectors including myself backed off of the product. I did not open the first pack of elite because it was unlicenced. However sales proved that the majority accepted the product, and aftermarket sales have been stable. Although singles from the product demand less of a premium on the secondary market, the set has gained more attention than any other unlicenced product could ever hope for.
Razor poker, by signing the #1 overall draft pick Tim Beckham to an exclusive autograph and card deal (as per thier website http://www.razorcollectibles.com/) have announced themselves as a competitor in a crowded market. The kings of this buisness is of course the topps owned bowman company, whose flagship product Bowman Chrome Draft sells out every year. Razor cannot hope to do anything but make the topps company angry with its exclusive contracts. Going aginst an angry company that has much more money than you and almost all of the current market share can be quite dangerous.
