2024 is almost done. It’s been one of those years that seem both endless and short.
We have been looking closely at the Fanatics release schedule this year. It has shown signs of strain, and changes have been coming down the pike that hasn’t been to everyone’s taste.
Some releases have been officially discontinued, others have fallen by the wayside and haven’t been mentioned, and many were grouped at the end of the year in a way that we found puzzling and frustrating.
Topps has released the schedule for the rest of the year, and it seems a few crucial releases are missing from the 2024 calendar. Does that mean they will be released in 2025, or have they been discontinued? Let’s find out why there are problems with the Fanatics release schedule.
We are running out of days for 2024, so there aren’t many baseball releases left to look forward to. That means we have reached the time of year when we look at what is left and start figuring out what has been delayed until next year.
Let’s take a look:
November 27 – 2024 Bowman Baseball Chrome Sapphire
December 4 – 2024 Bowman Draft Baseball
December 10 – 2024 Topps Chrome Update Series Baseball Sapphire
December 11 – 2024 Topps Definitive Baseball
December 19 – 2024 Topps Triple Threads Baseball
December 27 – 2024 Bowman’s Best Baseball
That is all left on the schedule—admittedly, a lot for such a short period. But there are a few notable omissions here. Those are Topps Archives, Platinum Chrome Anniversary, and Heritage High Number.
That means there is much uncertainty surrounding these releases. They are not on the release schedule for 2025. However, that doesn’t mean much because the list doesn’t have any Topps baseball items on it yet. Therefore, it is likely we will see them sometime in early 2025.
Releasing 2024 products in 2025 is not a good thing. Sure, Panini does that kind of thing all the time, but Fanatics has mocked them for it in the past, including in their antitrust lawsuit.
If these minor releases are released around the time everyone expects 2025 Topps Series 1 Baseball, they will be completely obliterated by the noise surrounding the flagship release.
What is happening with Topps Archives? No one was alarmed when we began approaching the season’s end, and Topps Archives hadn’t dropped yet. 2023 Topps Archives Baseball was released late, on November 8, 2023.
But that date has come and gone. Not only have we yet to see the release, but we still need to have a date or mention of it anywhere officially.
Is it getting canceled? Archives do have a faithful audience. It is an enjoyable product, with autographs that are off the beaten path and include many fan favorites instead of the same players every other release has.
One Reddit user spoke for many of us when they noted, “The cards aren’t the most valuable, and the hits aren’t the biggest, but every year Archives is one of the most enjoyable sets to rip, IMO.”
However, it is undoubtedly an addition to the Topps release calendar. One Blowout Forums user observed, “I don’t know how well Hobby does, but retail is still EVERYWHERE around here six months after release. Boxes and boxes of it collect dust until they put a $17 sticker on it.”
Topps had issues with several of its 2023 releases, but one that was an absolute slam dunk was the 2023 Topps Platinum Chrome Anniversary. These fantastic, classic-looking cards had a chromium spin and a very rich checklist, which is why many fans were waiting for the 2024 release.
Indeed, it was so popular that prices skyrocketed, and it appeared that some distributors were hoarding the boxes to create shortages and raise the prices.
However, at Fanatics Fest, some company executives were heard discussing the possibility of discontinuing the Platinum Chrome Anniversary release. That wasn’t very pleasant for fans who finally had an excellent release to enjoy. The fact that we do not see it on the 2024 release schedule will do nothing to dispel those concerns.
Indeed, Topps has announced that it is canceling the Topps Archives Signature Series, an unsuccessful spinoff of Archives. Could that be a sign that the whole line is in trouble?
A user on our sub expressed concern about this, writing, “Since it’s now November 17, 2024, one has to wonder if Topps will be releasing the 2024 Topps Archives. (Normally, this comes out in the fall.) And I’m talking about the regular Topps Archives, not the “Topps Archives Signature Series.”
We should also note that the 2023 Topps Archives also had severe issues. Many users were outraged to see visible print lines all over the cards.
A Reddit user complained that they “Ripped a hobby box, and all but about 10 cards had noticeable surface scratches/lines. Another 30 or so came out of the pack with visibly damaged corners. Seems like something went wrong on the production line with this release.” I have seen the same issue myself.
Only some people had this problem, but too many people complained that this was an issue. That, together with the cancellation of Topps Archives Signature Series AND the delay to Archives, shows that this release is deficient on the company’s priority list. We hope that doesn’t mean they are axing the product. But either way, the long-term outlook for Archives doesn’t look great.
This release is a Heritage version of Update. It includes the players who debuted late in the season and trades. It is also a relic of a period when Heritage had a sort of Series 1 and Series 2 split with high and low numbers.
The truth is, the last few years have not been kind to Topps Heritage Baseball. It is a fundamental set completist product, and that kind of collecting has declined in recent years. So, while it was once considered one of the more important releases of the year, it has fallen by the wayside. The values of the cards have indeed declined.
Heritage itself is not in danger of being cut. There are still too many people who are into it. It is one of the few products I collect regularly, and I am not alone. However, with declining importance, the extravagance of having an extra annual edition has been questioned. I am unsurprised that this one needs to be added to Topps’s priority list.
Still, plenty of folks are trying to complete sets of this. The hardcore Heritage folks will be disappointed if High Number is canceled, so let’s hope it gets released in early 2025.
I don’t get the obsession with advent calendars, probably because I am Jewish, but they look fantastic. Fine, I get it.
There has been a run on the 2024 Topps Advent Calendar, and they sold out online immediately. Then, people were waiting to get them at the card stores on Monday, November 25, 2024, but they were delayed by two days.
The details for the product also changed, from the initial advertising of 10 packs with 5 cards each to 10 packs with 8 cards each, which is a good thing but needs to be clarified.
Topps is theoretically on top of the world. It has owned the rights to baseball for many years and is about to get the rights to the NFL and NBA. That is a monopoly of the top three sports in the United States.
Meanwhile, their rival Panini is struggling and desperately trying to hold on to its market share and relevance with a series of lawsuits.
That is all true. However, things are not all rosy in the Fanatics/Topps garden. Something is rotten in the kingdom of Denmark. There is a fly in the ointment and other such tired cliches.
The recent financial reports regarding the company’s health are anything but reassuring. The company’s evaluation has gone down by 19% over the last year or so. From a peak of 31 billion in 2022, it has been reported that Fanatics is now considering a tender for employee shares based on a company evaluation of 25 billion dollars.
It became clear that Fanatics had further problems when it indefinitely delayed an IPO purported to be on the cards for late 2024, with a public statement to the effect of, “There will be a moment in time where it will make sense. Right now, we’re heads-down on building our business.”
Finally, the credit rating companies need to be more impressed with their business model and the debt that Fanatics is dealing with.
In October, Moody’s downgraded the Fanatics credit rating for the second time. They explained, “While reported second quarter June 2024 earnings and cash flow usage improved year-over-year, EBITDA and free cash flow remained negative.” Considering that the credit rating for the company was already bad, this is not a good sign.
Indeed, Fanatics stocks now have a Baa3 rating. That means their stocks are one further downgrade from being considered junk bonds.
Fanatics has not yet purchased the rights to the NFL and NBA. However, they have already begun to move their production over to basketball and, to a lesser extent, football.
The release of Bowman University, Topps Chrome Basketball, and Topps Mercury are examples of heavily promoted products for these sports. They all take resources like printing, promotion, and production away from baseball.
In September, we reported:
“Topps has specialized in producing baseball cards since losing its basketball and football products over a decade ago. Those of us who collect the “national pastime” have gotten used to having many lines available to cater to our tastes.
We are also used tothose releases being significantly cheaper than their football and basketball equivalents in many cases. Like most good things, this situation is unlikely to last. Fanatics is starting to cut a large amount of baseball releases.
That comes as they ramp up the production of football and basketball cards. This trend will likely be exacerbated when they get back the NBA and NFL rights in less than two years.”
The importance of this trend is exacerbated by the financial trouble that Fanatics is experiencing. With more resources for new sports and a need to tighten the proverbial belts, Fanatics will understandably be tempted to cut out lower-performing baseball card products.
That makes perfect sense for them. But it is also a reminder of why having one company produce all the cards for all the major sports is not optimal. We enjoyed having Topps specialize in baseball cards. Sadly, those days are over, and their offerings will likely decrease.
There are multiple reasons why releasing card products early the year after the relevant season is not a good move. All the excitement regarding the 2024 season is long gone by the time you hit 2025.
Everyone is looking forward to spring training at that point. The release of Series 1 is near and all that. In addition, people generally break early in the year. Or to be kinder, saving money after the extravagance of the holiday season.
Compound that with the fact that the releases in question, Topps Archives, Platinum Chrome Anniversary, and Heritage High Number, are not most people’s favorites, creating a recipe for these releases to fail.
Of course, that assumes Topps wants these releases to stick around. There is reason to believe that they may not. Topps is having some financial issues.
They have been making cuts, and their latest credit rating from Moody’s was less than stellar. In addition, they are preparing to bring on basketball and football. Combining those two factors could lead Topps to cut down on baseball products they see as superfluous.
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