Topps loses Baseball license in 2025

[Ty Cobb]

I remember buying packs for 10 cents each at the Giant in downtown Midland, MI. must just be an old *****r!

Originally Posted by ThatSeventiesGuy

Weird. I figured if Topps ever lost the license, it would at least go to Upper Deck or some company I've heard of. Meh, Topps did themselves in by going the route of charging ever more money for a pack of cards. I miss the bygone days of my youth, when I could get two for a buck. Probably was even less for a lot of you guys.

The good ol' 80s, when Donruss would print enough of those puppies to endanger a Pacific Northwest forest. When three, then four, then five companies were making cards...and then Upper Deck got all upscale, and charged the princely sum of 89 cents a pack! What's wrong with you guys, my grandma ain't made of money!

Remember when it was a hobby for kids? Yeah, it's been a bit. I can't think of the last company that didn't try to milk every last dollar out of sports cards. Maybe Pro Set, but they didn't last long, alas. To heck with those snot-nosed punks, they ain't got any cash!

[BMW]

Here in New Jersey during the late 1980s, Topps was always the least expensive brand. By the time I got into it in 1985, the quality of Fleer and Donruss was way past those dismal 1981 and 1982 sets.

Fanatics is paying literally billions it seems for the licenses. Topps was paying the MLBPA $20 million a year. Fanatics is slated to pay in the ballpark of $100 million a year between 2026 and 2045. They surely aren't forking over that kind of cash to put some halfhearted effort into it. I imagine it's going to be a full-court press into completing the transition from trading cards to collectible memorabilia.

I don't think the old style of cards is coming back. Children's toys have become more sophisticated over the years. My daughter was into a fad where these little toys (probably 10c a piece to make) had levels of rarity which she was super excited about regardless of the fact that it was just the same tiny figurine in a different color.

Baseball cards beginnings and heyday were before the ubiquity of television. The Cards were the only way of visually seeing these players outside of going to the ballpark and occasional blurry black and white photos in newspapers. It was virtually the only way to see the career history of players.

Now seeing the player and getting their career stats is trivial on the internet. Rather than just see the player, you might interact with them and get a "like" on social media. The landscape has changed so much and, from what I can see, the reasons for kids to collect these cards have cratered.

I can't think of many things where you collect a simple, same-odds 660 things anymore. Everything like that today either has a game mechanic that makes it more difficult to get certain parts of a set (Pokemon you have to play and evolve creatures, blind bag toys you simply have different odds for different toys).

That's essentially what Topps has become. See that table below? It's the odds breakdown for all the different cards they have. And that's just their base set. And that's just for Series 1 of that set.

[BBGiovanni]

Originally Posted by joefromchicago

Can you still buy the slabs of gum that used to come with Topps cards? I need to replace some shingles on my roof.

In some of these articles they report that Topps has a "confectioneries production" arm that they'll rely on as their business. They MADE that gum ON PURPOSE.

I'm glad I'm not one of their creditors!

[ThatSeventiesGuy]

Originally Posted by Ty Cobb

I remember buying packs for 10 cents each at the Giant in downtown Midland, MI. must just be an old *****r!

Midland? That’s where I live now. Small world!

[ForeverRoyalKC]

I have to say I am sad to see Topps losing baseball.

Baseball cards are one of my favorite childhood memories. I don't know if it was like this where you live, but living in Kansas City, it was all but impossible to find a Royals player in a pack. And this was in the late 70's when the Royals were great. It was like finding a holy baseball grail!
And sitting with one of my friends on his front porch, trading cards in serious negotiations . I am 53 and still pick up a pack here and there. I watch a couple of Youtube card pullers. The baseball card flame is smaller, but it hasn't burned out.

[zappa1]

The players union and Topps are done at the end of 2022. Couldn't be happier.

[ForeverRoyalKC]

I have to admit though...the thing that has sorta soured me on the baseball card industry is the oversaturation of the product. There's regular cards, glossy cards, thick cards, thin cards, "painted" cards (Gypsy Queen), museum cards, sapphire, holiday, finest, icons, etc., etc.

I like the regular cards, stadium club and maybe museum. That's about it. Holiday and Big League are good for kids along with those mentioned to the left.

JMO.

[BMW]

Topps Says It Was Blindsided by Fanatics’ MLB Deal

https://www.sportscollectorsdaily.co...ing-card-deal/

“Not only were we unaware that Major League Baseball was negotiating with anybody other than Topps regarding our rights beyond 2025, but we were abruptly informed yesterday at 2:00 p.m. ET…that a deal was completed, finalized and exclusive with Fanatics,” stated Andy Redman, Topps’ executive.

[BMW]

Originally Posted by ForeverRoyalKC

I have to admit though...the thing that has sorta soured me on the baseball card industry is the oversaturation of the product. There's regular cards, glossy cards, thick cards, thin cards, "painted" cards (Gypsy Queen), museum cards, sapphire, holiday, finest, icons, etc., etc.

I like the regular cards, stadium club and maybe museum. That's about it. Holiday and Big League are good for kids along with those mentioned to the left.

JMO.

Oversaturation is an understatement. Even with only one company being able to make MLB licensed cards, Fernando Tatis Jr. had 1,531 distinct card variations made by Topps in 2020. Panini produced 700 and Leaf produced 99.

Exactly who wants 2300+ different cards of one player in a year?

And ironically, in 40 years if Tatis is in the Hall of Fame are you going to want the 2020 Bowman Platinum Gold #81 Fernando Tatis Jr.? Or the 2020 Topps Triple Threads Onyx #77 Fernando Tatis Jr. ? Or the 2020 Topps Update Coin Card Autographs Fernando Tatis Jr. ? Or the 2020 Donruss Optic Red Cracked Ice #111 Fernando Tatis Jr.?

Exactly what meaning do any of these cards have to any fan, even a Tatis fan? Will someone in 2040 know what a 2020 Topps Brooklyn Collection Purple #13 Fernando Tatis Jr. looks like? Or that one even existed?

[ForeverRoyalKC]

Great take, BMW! I got overwhelmed just reading that. Make your head explode!

[ThatSeventiesGuy]

Wait, Michael Eisner, the former Disney honcho, runs Topps now? Now I’m both far less sad about Topps losing the license, and less surprised they’ve been grabbing for every loose dime via five billion variants on every card.

[BMW]

News is now that Fanatics has taken over Basketball from Panini. It was rumored earlier and still not officially confirmed yet.

[GeoWar]

I enjoyed looking for the packs with jersey and bat chips , etc.

[BMW]

This is a really good read.

Leaf’s Gray Says Card Companies Must Be Allies In Wake of Fanatics Deal
August 23, 2021 By Jeff Morris

https://www.sportscollectorsdaily.co...fanatics-deal/

[mytreds]

In the modern era of quick information at your fingertips, baseball cards purpose of knowing who’s on a team that you’re not avidly following is now obsolete. I know a lot of players who played in the 90s because of baseball cards. Why buy them now when a)they look dumb b) are overpriced and c)I can look up baseball reference stats on a whim?

[GeoWar]

Questions I have ---

What does the Collective Bargaining Agreement with Major League Baseball and the Player's Union have to do with this ?

Is TOPPS still able to print Minor League cards - future stars - top College and High School players ? ......... this is a revenue stream now for young players.

Can TOPPS , Fleer, Donruss, Upper Deck etc. print historical cards -- or player/team event cards or for younger players "cartoon" cards ?

**** I have cards baseball, football, basketball, hockey,from the 50's - 60's 70's on --- mostly base sets ........ My brother travel to card shows in the east in the mid 60's and purchased tobacco cards he says his 1910 set is complete but wants to upgrade a couple ****

[Syd Thrift]

I hate to be the person to break this to you but Fleer and Donruss have been out of business for over a decade now.

[BMW]

Explaining the whopping $10 billion valuation for Fanatics’ nascent trading card business

“The trading card companies are good manufacturers, but they didn’t have a vision for building much more of a direct-to-consumer model and then bringing all the pieces together to create a great collector’s experience,” Fanatics chairman Michael Rubin said Thursday on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”

"Fanatics’ plan for the physical trading card space is to expand it by opening the market to leverage it more via direct-to-consumer offerings. For example, should collectors purchase a trading card, they’ll be able to insure the asset, grade, store and even put them on a marketplace to sell or trade all through Fanatics. The company would likely collect transaction fees."

I can't wait for corporate synergies for my baseball card portfolios.

Fanatics isn’t expected to start its trading card business from scratch and will likely seek to buy an existing company in the space like Upper Deck.

Asked about this on Thursday, Rubin responded: “It’s possible that we’ll buy one of the trading card companies because they are good companies.”

Basically sounds like Fanatics will take it the FanDuel route of "hey, you like sports? what if you could like sports and had the chance make money off Fernando Tatis Jr. being good?!"