I'll kick this blog off with a note from Topps regarding its eTopps cards:

With the start of the 2009 World Baseball Classic, eTopps is excited to offer cards featuring players taking part in this year’s WBC tournament.  eTopps is issuing a special limited 12-card collection of cards featuring the biggest stars from some of the participating countries.  
 
Collectors who acquire the complete 12-card set of eTopps 2009 World Baseball Classic cards will receive a free patch card. This card will highlight a patch commemorating the winning country, and will be featured in eTopps technology.  For each 12-card eTopps 2009 WBC set in your online portfolio as of 10:59 PM (EDT) on Monday, March 30, you will be guaranteed one free patch card in your portfolio as well (at $0 value).
 
The first eTopps World Baseball Classic cards are available for purchase via online offering. Each card will be available for seven days, and will be sequentially numbered to limited quantities.

Next Monday (March 16), additional eTopps World Baseball Classic cards will be offered as the tournament kicks into high gear. Like the first one, this IPO will begin at 1:00 PM (EDT) on Monday, and will remain open for one week, closing at 3:00 AM (EDT) on the following Monday.


That's not a bad deal for folks into the eTopps line. But I'm curious - is this appealing to collectors or is this mostly geared toward younger collectors?

I never really caught on to this branding of collecting or trading, but I guess it's another option, especially in this online world.