Another Topps Gimmick...

[Dalkowski110]

...but unlike the others, this one isn't "slapstick." This is more in the mould of 2006 Topps Alex Gordon. In a few Series 2 packs, it would appear that Topps made a rookie card of Alexei Ramirez in a Cuban National Team uniform (a bit odd, though kinda neat). They only did two obvious things wrong...
1) They used the World Baseball Classic logo in conjunction with Team Cuba. Upper Deck has exclusive rights to the logo and Topps is breaking a pretty big copyright by slapping that on the card.
2) They short-printed it to an extreme.

Topps DID follow the rules when it came to numbering the card, however. With no number, it's legal to produce as an insert under the MLBPA Rookie Card Rules (where a manufacturer can't portray a player in anything other than his MLB uniform except in the cases of Negro Leaguers and a handful of other exceptions in a base set). Thus, the card is fine to produce with the MLBPA. However, the violation of Upper Deck's exclusive rights to the World Baseball Classic logo will undoubtedly stir something up there. Here's pictures of the front and back of the card...

AlexeiRamirezFront.jpg

AlexeiRamirezBack.jpg

[Dalkowski110]

Would seem Topps also did this with Japan's WBC team and Kosuke Fukudome and Yasuhiko Yabuta. The folks over at stalegum are fuming and boycotting Topps (I think that's an overreaction, unless you're counting the card of Arnold Schwarzenegger they also threw in the series with the caption "2012?" [uhh, does Topps know you have to be born in the US or at least a US Territory, Commonwealth, or Dependency to actually be eligible for president?]), and presumably Ramirez, Fukudome, and Yabuta will get their true rookie cards in the '08 Updates & Highlights set. But there is one legit concern that they're overlooking...the MLBPA granted the rights to use the WBC logo and all related stuff to Upper Deck, not Topps. UD now has grounds to sue Topps, something they've really been wanting to do for a while. Of course, Topps will call it an "accident" and thus UD will merely be left seething and powerless. Then again, the same situation last year inspired IMO the best parody card ever made: "756*" (along with a cheesy card parodying Michael Eisner, but I really liked the "756*" card).