The end of Topps football cards

Allen

I am sure those of you at the National already know, but Panini has inked a deal with the NFLPA to be the exclusive licensed trading card. This is much like what they did with basketball. So prepare for all college uniforms or airbrushed solid color shirts on your favorite Topps football cards.

NFL Players Inc. (NFLPI), the licensing and marketing arm of the NFL Players Association, and Panini America announced Thursday that the two entities have entered into an exclusive contract that will make Panini America the sole manufacturer of NFLPA-licensed trading cards and collectible stickers beginning with the 2016 NFL season.

Panini NFL PlayersThe agreement doesn’t include the NFL Properties license as yet, but one could reasonably expect that negotiations between Panini and the league will continue in the coming months. Their current arrangement expires in March of 2016. Otherwise, Panini wouldn’t be allowed to use team logos or league trademarks. An exclusive deal with the NFLPA, however, would preclude another trading card company from using photos of NFL players.

The move means exclusive deals are the norm among all four major pro sports leagues. Panini currently enjoys an NBA license, Topps has MLB locked up through 2020 and Upper Deck became the NHL’s lone partner after the league decided to drop Panini after the recently completed season.

“We feel very confident in Panini America’s ability to deliver quality and value to consumers at all levels, while providing long-term stability to the football trading card category,”said NFLPI President Keith Gordon.“Significant investments in product innovation, quality, authenticity and creative player marketing have endeared Panini to the existing fan base, while actively cultivating the next generation of collectors.”

Topps was on the verge of losing its NFL license in 2010 but hung onto it just after Panini replaced Upper Deck as a football card manufacturer.

At a meet and greet session with collectors Thursday night, company officials indicated they were “disappointed” by the news, but indicated they would continue to produce football products on some level.

The historic announcement was made during a special luncheon at The Westin in downtown Cleveland featuring ESPN analyst and former NFL quarterback Trent Dilfer, Pro Football Hall of Famer Anthony Muñoz and officials from the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Pop Warner, NFLPI, Panini America and trading card distributors.

“This is a monumental announcement for Panini America and we are honored to have earned this exclusive long-term agreement with NFL Players Inc.,” said Panini America CEO Mark Warsop. “It’s a tremendous honor to be moving forward on an exclusive basis and it will give us greater ability to work together more strategically at growing the football trading card and sticker category.”

Panini has exclusive deals with NFLPI, NBA and FIFA World Cup.

alifaxwa2

<< <i>So prepare for all college uniforms or airbrushed solid color shirts on your favorite Topps football cards.. >>



This means I won't have any favorite Topps football cards

belz

Thanks for the info...not sure I like it but now I'll know where my box run ends.

yankeeno7

Very unfortunate. No more Chrome or Triple Threads.

bounce

i can't imagine this is ultimately good for the leagues, although maybe it's just not enough money to really care

i know i speak for most when i say the airbrushed stuff is terrible, and all the college autos like we're getting in the NBA products are just terrible

i can't imagine me collecting current cards now, especially considering all the issues uncovered on the panini supposedly "numbered" cards

slum22

This is brutal news. I love basketball and hate that Panini has an exclusive license there. They don't make horrible products but it is always better to have the diversity in manufacturers. College uniforms are awful for pro players. Topps Chrome is my favorite product so it sucks it will no longer be made in either basketball or football.

EAsports

<< <i>i can't imagine me collecting current cards now, especially considering all the issues uncovered on the panini supposedly "numbered" cards >>



I'd love to read more about this. Have a link?

LarkinCollector

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<< <i>i can't imagine me collecting current cards now, especially considering all the issues uncovered on the panini supposedly "numbered" cards >>



I'd love to read more about this. Have a link? >>


I can't find the article for some reason at the moment, but quick summary: they listed at least one card as being SP to 25, but w/o serial numbers. One person collected more than the stated print run, sued them and won. There are several other of their cards suspected of having a higher print run than stated.

NickM

A NFLPA deal is about player likenesses, not team logos.

Nick

Porkins

<< <i>Topps Chrome is my favorite product so it sucks it will no longer be made in either basketball or football. >>



Mine too, absolutely.

byronscott4ever

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<< <i>

<< <i>i can't imagine me collecting current cards now, especially considering all the issues uncovered on the panini supposedly "numbered" cards >>



I'd love to read more about this. Have a link? >>


I can't find the article for some reason at the moment, but quick summary: they listed at least one card as being SP to 25, but w/o serial numbers. One person collected more than the stated print run, sued them and won. There are several other of their cards suspected of having a higher print run than stated. >>



Sounds like a story about Russell Wilson or Kaepernick and others I saw a while back, never heard about a lawsuit. I know someone did that with Topps and hockey twenty years ago or so.

bounce

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<< <i>i can't imagine me collecting current cards now, especially considering all the issues uncovered on the panini supposedly "numbered" cards >>



I'd love to read more about this. Have a link? >>



Here's one thread that gets at the point, there are others as well
Contenders Rookie Ticket discussion

The question out there is this - if you do pop reports on the Wilson and Griffin auto Rookie Tickets, there's actually more (or pretty close to it) that have been graded than what the print runs stated were possible (combine both PSA and BGS reports).

there's been some discussion of cards being crossed and not removed from original registry, i definitely think that could account for some of the perceived overpopulation but who is honestly going to try and cross a BGS 9.5 to a 10 very often on a modern card? not many, and certainly not dozens which is what it would take to get things back in line.

add those pops to the raw cards still for sale and it seems pretty clear the print runs are not correct, and some have speculated for these two specifically it's probably close to double at least the stated run if not more.

There's also been speculation that there were blank cards produced and that there were autograph forgeries going on them and then those were leaking into the market - don't know what i believe on this, it's probably a more plausible explanation for overpopulation but it gets kind of tricky - if you've seen wilson's signature, how the heck you'd ever decipher a real one from a fake one i don't know since it's basically just an "R" initial and a loop. on griffin, see more comments below. i think the forgery idea is a nice conspiracy theory that makes it easy to explain, but i'm probably not buying into it (at least not any further than the cards were sent to and returned by the player, who signed them could always be in question but the chain of custody was as expected).

so, if you assume like i do that the autos are real, it seems pretty clear that griffin for sure did at least 2 signings of them because there are 2 distinct types of his signature that appear on his cards (i'm a baylor alum and know his autograph well since i was getting them as early as his sophomore year). the first set looks more like his early autograph, the second set is a little sloppier and loopier which isn't inconsistent with some of what he started doing shortly after he was signing like crazy. this second group bothers me a little bit, either they are forgeries or they account for the overpopulation, i'm subscribing to the latter for now.

anyway, because they aren't numbered there's obviously no way to know for sure unless you could accumulate enough to prove it which is what a couple folks are trying to do.

for example, there are supposedly only 25 of the white jersey's available on wilson - 7 of those are currently for sale on eBay
griffin passing variant is supposedly 50, 10 are currently for sale on eBay (and there are 21 at least in the "sold" bucket, i didn't cross ref the case numbers but you get the point)

again, only talking about these specific cards but where there's smoke…

based on what i've seen, i think the 2X estimate of print runs is actually much closer and can be accounted for by an "extra" signing by each player

panini of course has said the print runs are correct, I suspect the wilson guys are getting pretty darn close to proving there's more out there than said so what happens after that is anyone's guess

Tabe

Personally, I love college football cards. Press Pass? Love it. Bought a box of Leaf earlier this year. That said, this is terrible news. Exclusives are bad for the market and bad for product quality.

DanBessette

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<< <i>

<< <i>

<< <i>i can't imagine me collecting current cards now, especially considering all the issues uncovered on the panini supposedly "numbered" cards >>



I'd love to read more about this. Have a link? >>


I can't find the article for some reason at the moment, but quick summary: they listed at least one card as being SP to 25, but w/o serial numbers. One person collected more than the stated print run, sued them and won. There are several other of their cards suspected of having a higher print run than stated. >>



Sounds like a story about Russell Wilson or Kaepernick and others I saw a while back, never heard about a lawsuit. I know someone did that with Topps and hockey twenty years ago or so. >>



Calling mesapsa !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

dtkk49a

I will miss Topps Chrome and Bowman Chrome Football, especially the refractors.

bounce

those 2004s are just awesome - forgot about them

Allen

<< <i>A NFLPA deal is about player likenesses, not team logos.

Nick >>



It is the first shoe to drop as outlined in the article. I guess you are hoping for Topps Chrome with Pittsburgh Steelers #7 jersey with an airbrushed silhouette in it.

tennesseebanker

Could Topps go back to air-brushing helmets like they did in the 70's and still produce a set ??

NickM

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<< <i>A NFLPA deal is about player likenesses, not team logos.

Nick >>



It is the first shoe to drop as outlined in the article. I guess you are hoping for Topps Chrome with Pittsburgh Steelers #7 jersey with an airbrushed silhouette in it. >>



No. I'm hoping for players signing individual deals with Topps for their likenesses to be on cards.

Nick

Allen

<< <i>

<< <i>

<< <i>A NFLPA deal is about player likenesses, not team logos.

Nick >>



It is the first shoe to drop as outlined in the article. I guess you are hoping for Topps Chrome with Pittsburgh Steelers #7 jersey with an airbrushed silhouette in it. >>



No. I'm hoping for players signing individual deals with Topps for their likenesses to be on cards.

Nick >>



It could be a 300 card set of all LaVar Arrington.

elsnorto

Wow, this really sucks. Competition is GOOD.

The only new product I rip every year is a case or two of Topps Chrome.

I guess I won't be ripping any new product now since I generally don't care of Panini's offerings.



Snorto~

billwaltonsbeard

Wow, I was a loyal Topps Chrome fan for over a decade. I bought the basketball and football every year. I had just recently gotten over my withdrawals from the basketball and now this?

I guess this will be the end of my new card purchases

mygotta

For what its worth, if Topps is gonna have exclusive to MLB, I think its ok another company had a different sport.

WhiteTornado

<< <i>For what its worth, if Topps is gonna have exclusive to MLB, I think its ok another company had a different sport. >>



Not for me as all I collect is football. Card manufacturers are going to get greedier and greedier and find themselves with less customers in the long run. I may rip some Panini stuff but I preferred Topps. Topps Chrome product seemed to have the highest demand.

Stingray

I have not really liked the last couple of years including this years designs, but why not have a couple of companies to give buyers a choice??