Earlier this year, I wrote an article called Rediscovering Baseball Cards, where I chronicled my son George’s venture into the hobby and my reconnection with it. During this time, I started to get deep into the research on the modern sports card market. I came to realize that Topps, the longtime icon on baseball cards, had been bought out by Fanatics. This was going to change the card market in a major way. It was unclear yet what direction that would take.
At this point, baseball card hobbyists have a much better idea what Fanatics plans to do with the Topps brand. Fanatics has been known primarily for sports team apparel and merchandise. They have been involved in the collectibles side as well. However, the acquisition of Topps really shook up the sports cards industry. According to Geoff Wilson of Sports Cards Investor, Topps announced at their annual conference they plan to grow the industry 10x over. The Fanatics/Topps plan for growth involves making the collecting experience more interactive.
Cards 101 Series
Topps is working to make the card experience more interactive. They are getting ballplayers involved in the marketing process. Topps is also working to get more people into the hobby through publicity and education. One way they’ve begun the education process recently is through a video series. The Cards 101 series is aimed to give new collectors a better understanding of the modern hobby.
How to Be a Set Collector
Grading
Breaking
Scarcity
Superfractors
Parallels
Cards on Deck
In 2023, the Legends on Deck Podcast released two episodes centered around baseball cards. First, was our inaugural on location podcast Episode 23: The Nona Collects Card Show (Orlando) with event host Patrick Mangold of PLM Collectibles. The second was Episode 26: Cooperstown South with Joe Massoni (A-Mays-ing Sports Cards). In both episodes, we explored the world of baseball cards with guys who are involved in the cards and collectibles market.
From what I’ve been able to gather from what’s coming out of Fanatics, the future of Topps is very exciting. As kids, many of us learned about the players in the game through our card collections. The technology available today allows for so many creative ideas to be applied to the baseball card market. There’s an incredible opportunity to engage young ballplayers and fans in the game through the hobby. And it looks like that’s what Fanatics (Topps) have in mind.
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