Among the people who were happiest to hear of Upper Deck’s plan not to purchase Topps are the folks who own card stores. While most card stores generate plenty of revenues from Upper Deck products, they also generate plenty from Topps products, as well.

For the most part, retailers believe the marketplace is better off with two very strong competitors. Here’s a sampling of the reaction I received:

• Ken Hoffman, Card Stadium, Harrisburg, Pa.: “Everybody’s happy that it’s not going to go through. Everybody wants competition. I don’t think anybody is interested in just one company controlling the marketplace. But I don’t think it was a concern to most of our customers.”

• Jeff DeGraw, Matt’s Sportscards, Joliet, Ill.: “I didn’t want to see (the takeover) happen. Right now, in my opinion, the hobby is as strong as it has been because of what both companies have been doing. Now they can focus on their own products and stop worrying about what the other is doing.”

• Rob Veres, Burbank Sportscards, Burbank, Calif.: “Having two competitors is much better than having one. I think the reaction (to a takeover) would have been minimal at the collector level, because people would have just collected the cards that were available.”

• Rob Vandorick, All-Star Baseball Cards, Las Vegas: “Anytime there’s some waves going around in our industry, there are going to be some concerns over how things will end up. I had customers who were worried about the future of some of the popular Topps brands. There had been some trepidation.”

• T.J. Schwartz, Tuff Stuff columnist and owner of Porky’s Baseball Cards in Woodland Hills, Calif.: “As a 20-year store owner, I must say that it is good news. To us store owners, having that cardboard competition is everything and I'm sure collectors like it that way, too. Now hopefully, the Eisner deal will go through and bring some fresh, competitive capital to the hobby. It's good to know that they'll both be keeping each other on their toes."

• Mike Fruitman, Mike’s Stadium Sportscards, Aurora, Col.: “I'm very happy. Should it have happened, I would have been concerned about the potential reduction of the Topps brand name. Over the past two years, Topps has repositioned itself as a serious player in the high-end product category. Their recent releases have been complete sellouts and I wouldn't want that to change anytime soon. Now it's up to see if the Eisner group can move ahead and acquire Topps. Since hearing that he might get on the scene, both myself and my customers have been excited to see what his company might do both in terms of content and with the overall direction of Topps.”