Topps loses MLB license to Fanatics
robert67
Posts: 1,342 ✭✭✭✭
robert67
Posts: 1,342 ✭✭✭✭
robert67
Posts: 1,342 ✭✭✭✭
Comments
WSJ has the story as well. Have to have a subscription to read full article but the first few paragraphs are pretty revealing.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/fanatics-topps-baseball-trading-cards-mlb-11629401528
didnt topps just go public?
and i hate to even imagine this. but wouldnt be surprised. this whole entire hobby has changed so dramatically in the past 5 years.
Panini is bleep. This is terrible news to someone who has been collecting for many decades.
On the plus side, will give me time to finish my “every Topps set since I’ve been alive” project.
On the downside, this sucks.
panini isnt getting it either. 😉
Yes, earlier this year.
I believe Topps is working with a company called Mudrick Captial on the deal. Not sure if they are officially public yet.
Here is a link to the original announcement:
https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/06/investing/topps-spac-stock-nft/index.html
Obviously, this latest development may have an impact on Topps' plans.
This is bananas news!
I can only imagine the $$$ being throw around here to displace Topps with an online retailer, Fanatics. Egads!
5 more years for Topps.....that makes me 60 and a good time to stop collecting new stuff, although, Fanatics could just buy Topps and absorb them into their behemouth conglomerate.
Website
Ebay Store
Topps basically just got a dose of their own medicine.
Wow - this is sad news. I cannot imagine a new company run by Fanatics putting out something better. No more Topps, no more Heritage, Bowman, etc.
How will these be distributed - just directly from Fanatics and MLB owned shops and websites? Blowout, Dave and Adams, hobby shops across the country have to be so nervous right now. They could be completely shut-out of baseball.
Panini is done with baseball too because both MLB and the MLB Players association are going exclusive with Fanatics.
Will Topps print cards like it is 1987 until the license is up? Why not - no point in protecting the desirability of the brand and collectors value going forward. The NBA License whenever that goes up will go for enormous dollars as whoever gets it is still viable - but Panini or Topps without MLB or The NBA is pretty much toast. MLB owns a stake in Fanatics will the NBA do something similar with their cards?
This is a sad day for the hobby.
If I understand this correctly - which I may not - the last Topps set will be in 2025 (could also be 2024). That means Heritage will end with the 1976 design.
and just on the brink of getting borders back in ‘22.
Just another reason to collect older cards.
Will they move Wander to 21 Update?
they still get to print til ‘23 and ‘25. think the mlbpa agreement runs out in ‘23.
Bye Bye Heritage. THe long wait to see my beloved 1978 Topps set in Heritage will not happen. Just Awful. I will then bow out of new releases. But I'm sure I won't be missed!
ISO 1978 Topps Baseball in NM-MT High Grade Raw 3, 100, 103, 302, 347, 376, 416, 466, 481, 487, 509, 534, 540, 554, 579, 580, 622, 642, 673, 724__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ISO 1978 O-Pee-Chee in NM-MT High Grade Raw12, 21, 29, 38, 49, 65, 69, 73, 74, 81, 95, 100, 104, 110, 115, 122, 132, 133, 135, 140, 142, 151, 153, 155, 160, 161, 167, 168, 172, 179, 181, 196, 200, 204, 210, 224, 231, 240
Maybe I need the weekend to digest everything that’s happened, but I just don’t see myself buying Fanatics branded cards on a PWCC sponsored auction platform.
yes, but the good news is that the fanatics takeover occurs just in time for bulk subbing to reopen! 😉
Finally the stars are aligning. 🙃
Nic
Guides Authored - Graded Card Scanning Guide PDF | History of the PSA Label PDF
Topps better move fast on their plans for the Ohtani - Morris East meets West Dual Relic.
Kiss me twice.....let's party.
Topps non-sport revival!
Bosox1976
Fanatics is making a push for NBA and NFL as well I am hearing. I wonder if they will partner with current manufacturers or come out with their own stuff. Of course I do not like it, but this makes the eBay vs PWCC story seem small.
Not cool. But I don't collect modern. I just don't like change
Booooooo
Sucks
This is gonna be very complicated.
I can't believe how many moving parts are in play.
I believe the players have something to do with this also.
Remember when players realized that they weren't getting their "fair share from owners?"
I believe they're looking at the card industry and thinking the same thing.
On a small scale: Topps Chrome BB blasters just dropped and the retail went from 19.99 to 29.99 at Target and Walmart and already they're going on the secondary market for 2x and more! All these players are watching.
Plus there's Panini products in shops and the net that go for in the thousands!
Players see this and say "they want in!" Corporation suits see this and say: if flippers can 4X our product? We're "not" charging enough!
Couple that with Fanatics willing to negotiate (aka dump tons of $) with the Owners and players associations of different leagues? Who do they think they're squeezing out?
Topps won't be happy and also Panini won't be happy but more importantly? The consumer - "us" - we're in the middle of their little monetary corporate grab.
My take? This whole thing could backfire since possibly this will "weed out" the investors and flippers leaving them to deal with us - and we may just have to give them the finger like we did in 1994 when MLB cancelled the WS?
StockX - a 3rd party seller of this stuff is also "in" with Fanatics. Wow!
That's like PWCC getting in with Fanatics to - not to make a better product but - make sure they make loads of dough at our expense?
And last - for Fanatics to offer up a boatload of dough to ML sports? They must think we're schmucks and will pay just about anything for the privilege of buying cards?
Future? They better hope there's a ton of Gen(somebody) out there to pay ridiculous prices. Most of us who are "hybrid" collectors can turn back to exclusively vintage and other collectibles and they can keep their high priced products?
The "breakers" may have something to do with this whole psychodrama also? Again ball players see the amount of money exchanging hands. Phil Hughes (ex-Yank pitcher) rips on youtube; a new show The Card Life interviewed AJ Dillon who's buying up his and other cards - hosted by recuperating ML BB player Matt Strahm - just to name a few.... They see how much is involved. Layton Sports Cards rips - some evenings easily 50K in product - these like Jaspys - are full time businesses.
I apologize for the length - I'm not even sure I have this right? Seems crazy....right?
I’m out unless Fanatics buys the rights to the Topps brands. I know, big threat.
this will pretty much happen. only real question is when. 10 years, 50? 100?
much like topps did w bowman, turkey red, allen & ginter, t206s, gypsy queen, etc.
fanatics will beat them down, run them off then buy them up.
Mike, that’s a well written assessment of the situation.
Like with the EBay/PWCC story, the overriding issue here is about money and control.
It will be interesting to follow what happens in the short and long term.
I, like many others here, have zero interest in a Fanatics baseball card. Time will tell how collectors and “investors” will react.
I’m glad this is just a hobby for me and there are plenty of other Topps items to collect.👍
For football Panini was good from 2016-2019. Product was available and priced fairly for the content. Plus the multiple formats were a nice change. Since the pandemic Panini's insider distribution system just took more hobby dollars leaving nothing for the collector. 2020 was the lowest amount of new product I bought since 2010. 2021 is even going to be less than that.
Here's a free tip - I would start buying up older topps baseball boxes now. The hobby will still rip packs, but they may be from 2014 instead of 2025. Mid-1990's - 2010 football boxes all increased, even the years without the big rookies as collectors moved dollars from the newest product to modern vintage boxes.
Hiya Mike
Can't argue with your position - when hobby Topps Chrome went from $95 to 350 in just a few years? I'm gonna have to move on.
On the older wax - that may be affordable? Again - fun rips.
However, I enjoy ripping the current players that I follow. I'll miss that if I totally jump out e.g.
Also, thanx Robert!
I have not heard anything regarding this. When does PSA plan to reopen bulk subbing? Is there any word on the cost?
Many who have and still do wax poetic about the time when this was a child's hobby and think it still needs to be THAT to survive in the future don't have much of anything to show that this will come to fruition. I'd love to see it quite honestly. There are TONS and TONS of new sharks out there and they ain't old. Also, as much as I would like to think that guys like me leaving modern product over the very possible death of my fav issue (Topps Heritage) would have major ramifications for the hobby the realist in me knows there is a very good chance that this mindset will just fade away into history.
Ughhhhhhhh
ISO 1978 Topps Baseball in NM-MT High Grade Raw 3, 100, 103, 302, 347, 376, 416, 466, 481, 487, 509, 534, 540, 554, 579, 580, 622, 642, 673, 724__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ISO 1978 O-Pee-Chee in NM-MT High Grade Raw12, 21, 29, 38, 49, 65, 69, 73, 74, 81, 95, 100, 104, 110, 115, 122, 132, 133, 135, 140, 142, 151, 153, 155, 160, 161, 167, 168, 172, 179, 181, 196, 200, 204, 210, 224, 231, 240
I guess I better enjoy my Rookie Cup cards while they last. This is a stunner.
www.questfortherookiecup.com
i was just cracking a joke about bulk subs not being open until 2025. zero truth to that.
as for costs, zero real clue. have heard the time frame for bulk opening & its cost will be assessed after the onslaught the next level opening up brings. the $100 level will be the true test and supposedly doing it around 9/1. if its manageable, im thinking mid jan. if it gets crazy, which very likely could happen considering what happened at the national, it might not be until 2nd quarter 2022 and the possibility of a $50 level thrown in there with another reassessment after that. basically the plan is to not really have a hard plan. take it in strides and just dont repeat what got them in this mess to begin with. im pretty much very ok with that.
bringing it full circle with the fanatics announcement coupled with numerous other recent acquisitions, announcements and multiple well-funded investor groups gobbling up all things card related, its safe to assume a lot of smart, rich and well-advised folks think the hobby is headed for continued unparalleled growth. and this is even after 2020/21 and will only become much, much more popular & mainstream. the nerd thing definitely became the cool thing. which is what us nerds knew all along.
So with the MLBPA license set to expire in 2023, what products can Topps produce with just the MLB license through 2025?
Retired player sets? Team cards? In action sets?
Seems like a bleak future for Topps after 2022.
If I am misreading this please chime in. I won’t be offended.😂
You can get by without a League license as Topps did with the NFL for most for the 70's and some years in the 80's but without a players association deal I believe you are severely POP-TARTed
It's the singer not the song - Peter Townshend (1972)
i agree on thinking this line of thought is correct. unless you have individual player contracts like ud does w jordan, gretzky, lebron, etc then you cant use the players likeness or images, sorta like when you had the magic johnsons fast break on nintendo and the rest of the players were named like harry berd, carl stallone, etc.
Yeah I'm a junkie too and still buy some modern but it's way down in terms of boxes and total money spent. The card companies found the alchemy formula of producing less and making more money. Hopefully they don't kill the golden goose and push us back to the ice age that was 1991-1997.
Not shocking at all, in March Fanatics executive chair disclosed that MLB, and the NFL ventures are investors in the company.. Fanatics doesn’t need Topps at all, it has an estimated value of 13 billion! I wouldn’t be surprised a quick move by Topps towards non sports. Topps has been trading for months now under symbol MUDS, and it fell 2 percent today, and another 2 percent after hours.. from 10.37 to 9.18.
I don’t believe the deal for Topps to be acquired by the SPAC symbol Muds has been voted on or approved yet much less completed months ago so Topps would still a private company.
Also the drop from 10.37 to 9.18 seems like more than a 2% drop and for those thinking about shorting or buying put options on Muds because of the Topps news remember as a SPAC you could chose to not take the new co shares (if the votes end up go thru) and get $10 plus interest for each share you hold.
Join the Rookie stars on top PSA registry today:
1980-1989 Cello Packs - Rookies
This is crazy. Topps is baseball cards. Going to have to climb up and pull down my cards.
Lol fanatics????? Talk about watered down crap. If you take Topps away... You take the collecting world away.
Does this mean no more Topps Heritage??? And why this no name place of all places? And why do we need "exclusivity" anyway...isn't there a reason Topps lost that in 1981?
But I guess I'm partially to blame too...I have bothered to update my 1974-2014 Topps set run since well, after the 2014 set I suppose!
D's: 54S,53P,50P,49S,45D+S,44S,43D,41S,40D+S,39D+S,38D+S,37D+S,36S,35D+S,all 16-34's
Q's: 52S,47S,46S,40S,39S,38S,37D+S,36D+S,35D,34D,32D+S
74T: 37,38,47,151,193,241,435,570,610,654,655 97 Finest silver: 115,135,139,145,310
73T:31,55,61,62,63,64,65,66,67,68,80,152,165,189,213,235,237,257,341,344,377,379,390,422,433,453,480,497,545,554,563,580,606,613,630
95 Ultra GM Sets: Golden Prospects,HR Kings,On-Base Leaders,Power Plus,RBI Kings,Rising Stars
Yeah and all of us in the hobby must pay the price.
D's: 54S,53P,50P,49S,45D+S,44S,43D,41S,40D+S,39D+S,38D+S,37D+S,36S,35D+S,all 16-34's
Q's: 52S,47S,46S,40S,39S,38S,37D+S,36D+S,35D,34D,32D+S
74T: 37,38,47,151,193,241,435,570,610,654,655 97 Finest silver: 115,135,139,145,310
73T:31,55,61,62,63,64,65,66,67,68,80,152,165,189,213,235,237,257,341,344,377,379,390,422,433,453,480,497,545,554,563,580,606,613,630
95 Ultra GM Sets: Golden Prospects,HR Kings,On-Base Leaders,Power Plus,RBI Kings,Rising Stars
Do kids even collect baseball cards anymore?
NOT Pokemon or Magic or anything like that but good ol' baseball cards?
D's: 54S,53P,50P,49S,45D+S,44S,43D,41S,40D+S,39D+S,38D+S,37D+S,36S,35D+S,all 16-34's
Q's: 52S,47S,46S,40S,39S,38S,37D+S,36D+S,35D,34D,32D+S
74T: 37,38,47,151,193,241,435,570,610,654,655 97 Finest silver: 115,135,139,145,310
73T:31,55,61,62,63,64,65,66,67,68,80,152,165,189,213,235,237,257,341,344,377,379,390,422,433,453,480,497,545,554,563,580,606,613,630
95 Ultra GM Sets: Golden Prospects,HR Kings,On-Base Leaders,Power Plus,RBI Kings,Rising Stars
It’s official. Topps won’t be a publicly traded company:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.marketwatch.com/amp/story/topps-spac-mudrick-capital-terminate-merger-deal-that-would-have-taken-topps-public-2021-08-20
No surprise given the new situation.
The announcement which seemed to come from Tony Clark of the MLBPA was a mere 27 hours before the Topps and Mudrick deal became official. Eisner lost a ton of money. There is an interesting story somewhere on how this timing came to be.
POOF!
That deal disappeared like Keyser Soze...
Also, I'm very confident such a reputable organization that is quality focused such as Fanatics will continue good stewardship of the hobby by not flooding the market with a jillion cards in an effort to maximize profits and keep shareholders pacified.
Prediction 2022 Topps will have higher print runs than 1989 Upper Deck + 1990 Donruss combined.
The better question is how did SPAc / MUDDs whatever its called go through all this work to go public and not have a idea that Topps was in jeopardy of losing MLB license. I would love to see in the past month who and how much MUDDS stock was sold. The whole thing sounds fishy to me.