A popular song from about 40 years ago proclaimed that one was the loneliest number.

If we're talking about relationships, I suppose that still holds true. Being fond of only yourself can get boring rather quickly, although going out to dinner and a movie sure is a bargain.

However, in the business world, standing alone is considered a good thing, at least by those who are in charge of an enterprise. With no other company to act as a legitimate competitor, organizations can pretty much do as they please.

For consumers, though, such a monopolistic scenario is bad news. It usually means higher prices, less variety and inferior products or services, unless company ownership is actually guided by a conscience.

Collectors better hope that's the case with those parties responsible for producing trading cards because, for the first time in three decades, the manufacturing landscape is completely devoid of clutter.

At least that's true when it comes to baseball and basketball cards, which are now the exclusive domain of Topps and Panini, respectively. The latter was formerly known as Donruss.

Upper Deck, which did not have its licensing agreement with baseball renewed, will join Panini in creating hockey cards for the 2010-11 season, and several companies remain in the mix for football. Never before has there been such same-year diversity when it comes to sports cards.

Returning to the one-stop-shopping format of yesteryear seems like a giant step backward. Granted, there was a need to streamline -- just a few years ago, the product lines for every sport were almost endless -- but that was pretty much accomplished when baseball limited its licensees to Topps and Upper Deck.

I refer to baseball because that's the engine that drives the trading card industry. The other sports have all had their spotlighted moments, but baseball possesses the most durable shelf life, and when card business goes bad for it, every other sport eventually feels the downturn as well.

Seeing as how older collectors have lived through a Topps-only existence once before, maybe it's not too big a deal to go back to that. Still, one can't help but be wary whenever any entity is left to its own devices -- as Exhibit A, I offer up our nation's political system.

Regardless of whether it's at the local, state or federal level, government is a mess -- and that's when both parties wield enough influence to offer some degree of checks and balances. Give either party complete control and it spells disaster.

Obviously, nothing of grave importance will be gained or lost because of a trading card monopoly. And given the current economic climate, I imagine both Topps and Panini will exercise a bit of restraint where price is concerned and not risk alienating a large consumer block.

But what about the public's response to having just one company? Will backlash occur in a collecting world grown comfortable with choice, and will greater product selection suddenly increase football cards' popularity?

Stay tuned.

This column is solely the writer's opinion. Reach him at kenneth.karrson@nwi.com.