I honestly think they are playing games to see how crappy they can make cards and have collectors still buy them. If the letter is too small to sign have them sign the jersey piece beside the letter....the stickers look like crap.
Think about it from the other side - Topps sends someone to view the items being signed for all cards, stickers and what not. It's not exactly easy to co-ordinate things like that between the companies, teams, representatives and players. If you're sending someone to obtain autographs from one guy for maybe 100 items total - it's not exactly an efficient deployment of resources.
I may not like it, but I understand it. Just remember - no matter who goes the extra mile for something, someone always pays for it in the end - the collector/purchaser of the product. Added input costs always get passed onto the consumer - it's a basic fact of life. For all the bells and whistles collectors demand - we all end up paying for it - and then grouse about how much it cost to get it. It's a never-ending circle, caused by collectors always wanting more and more, and the demands are never-ending, while the companies try to keep up until it's just not doable anymore from a viability standpoint. Collectors want more autos and GU - the companies comply, then get yelled at for putting 1) too many of them out there, or 2)not putting enough out there. No matter what happens - someone is always complaining.
If you want a shining example - take a look at what Razor did this year with this year's baseball draft picks - they signed exclusives with quite a few players - yet if you pick some of their autos up online, the price that they're going for is considerably less than what they paid on a per signature basis - combine that with shallow demand for the product = a company that is losing money - the question is for how long? Or UD with Howe autos? Folks complained that there were far too many out there in the last couple of years - chances are the price paid by UD is probably more than what they're selling for now, but you get the folks who want to be able to get his auto for a reasonable cost, but you also get those who treat pulling one like the plague now.
It's a Catch-22 of enormous proportions - and it ends up being a no-win situation for EVERYBODY.
